Investing in your partner’s home? Don’t make these mistakes!
Keytrade Bank
keytradebank.be
April 17, 2025
2 minutes to read
Paying for a new bathroom, solar panels or to update the kitchen: if you are moving in, investing in your partner’s home can make perfect sense. But how do you make sure you won’t be left empty-handed if you break up or they pass away? Let’s take a look with the help of Jasmina Sadek, property lawyer.
Suppose I help pay for a new kitchen in my partner’s home. Does this mean I now own that kitchen?
“No. The homeowner generally becomes the rightful owner of any renovations, modifications or repairs. This is known as the right of accession. Suppose two partners build a house together on land owned by one of them. In principle, the partner who owns the land will also own the house,” explains Jasmina Sadek.
“This basic rule can lead to problems, of course. Imagine that the relationship doesn’t work out, or your partner dies. You’ll want your money back. This is why if you’re planning to build something together on a property belonging to one of you, the first step should be to visit a notary so you have that certainty.”
“You’re hardly likely to involve a notary just for a new kitchen, though. When nothing was ever written down, this can easily lead to disagreements. If you pay to replace the kitchen in your partner’s home, it will still belong to them, even if you can present an invoice or proof of payment. That’s the basic idea.”
Can you recover your investment even if you are not the owner?
“You can… but definitely not always. First of all, it matters whether or not you are legally married. There is an extensive legal framework for married couples. That means there are clear rules in the event of divorce or death.”
“Most marriages in Belgium follow the default regime. Any property, including a home, acquired before marriage remains your separate property. Only those assets added during your marriage will be communal property. That means there are three possible types of assets; your own assets, your partner’s assets and your shared marital assets.
“Suppose you invest in your partner’s home, which they already owned prior to your marriage. You make this investment using your own income, which is technically actually part of your shared assets. In that case, you can have the investment you made taken into consideration if you get divorced. The division of property is regulated by law, and is almost always recorded by a notary.”
“One important detail is the ‘free admissibility of evidence’ for marital partners. Between marital partners, any means of proof is considered valid: documents such as invoices, account statements, emails and text messages, witness statements, even suspicions or confessions. That makes it easy to prove you used ‘your own money’ for an investment.
“This ‘free admissibility of evidence’ also applies in case of the regime for separate property, where in principle, there aren’t any shared assets. In case of the regime of universal community, everything is shared, including any assets acquired by either partner before marriage. That makes evidence irrelevant, as each partner basically owns half of everything.”
Is the situation very different in case of cohabitation?
“For cohabitants, the situation becomes much more complex. This is because case law states that each cohabiting partner must contribute to the shared household’s expenses to the best of their ability and in proportion to their resources. If you live in your partner’s home, you are expected to share in the daily expenses. That includes buying groceries, for example, but also water heater maintenance. You cannot recover such contributions to shared household expenses, as it is only normal for you to be making them. Suppose you lived with your partner in their house for five years and never paid rent. You would then have a very hard time convincing the court your partner owes you for those new windows for which you paid EUR 2,000.”
“A second important point is that in case of cohabitants, the Belgian Civil Code’s usual rules on admissibility of evidence apply. This means any legal transaction or claim with a value exceeding EUR 3,500 requires a signed written document as evidence. “In other words, other types of evidence such as witness statements, suspicions or confessions generally will not be accepted. In principle, only a written statement signed by both partners, stating that one partner owes money to the other, is considered valid evidence.”
“Does that mean no recourse in possible? Well, no. You can still attempt to recover your investment if you can prove that it exceeded the usual cohabitation expenses.”
How can you prove that your investment exceeded normal expenses?
“In that case, you will need a legal basis for your claim. If you have a signed loan agreement or acknowledgment of debt, it is relatively easy to provide such proof. Often, though, no such document was ever drawn up. Waving around an invoice for EUR 10,000 generally won’t do you much good. Examples of acceptable legal grounds on which to base your claim:
1. Benevolent intervention: This applies when someone spontaeously and voluntarily performs a necessary action for someone else. An example could be repairing your partner’s roof after a storm to prevent further damage while they are away on holiday. Unnecessary investments, such as a new kitchen, are unlikely to be accepted as benevolent intervention by a judge.
2. Undue payment: This refers to payments that weren’t repaying a debt, such as a transfer to the wrong account or an accidental double transfer. In affective relationships, this argument will often be rejected because the investment is seen as a voluntary contribution.
3. Necessary expenses: This principle states that you can recover investments necessary for preservation of the property. Suppose you are a tenant with a broken front door and your landlord is not responding or refuses to pay. In that case you can replace the door yourself and recover the associated costs through the court afterward, as a front door is a necessary expense. Some cohabitants invoke this principle. However, this legal basis is difficult to apply for cohabitants who are in the habit of consulting each other daily.
4. Unjust enrichment: This principle states that no one should be enriched at the expense of another without justification. You can attempt to demonstrate that your partner’s financial situation improved as a result of your investment. These are complex legal grounds, as a judge may decide that such investments were made voluntarily in the context of an affective relationship.”
Suppose I didn’t contribute much financially, but did do extensive work to improve my partner’s home?
“You can try making a case that this resulted in lost income, for example because you put your career on hold. If you did the work in your free time, a judge is less likely to accept this kind of reasoning.”
What about mortgage loans you helped pay off?
“In that case, the judge will look at what payments you made. You should not expect to get back the portion representing the rental value, but you might recover the excess. Anything exceeding the normal rental value is worth trying for.”
What specific steps can couples take before moving in together into a home that is already owned by one of them?
“For cohabitants who aren’t married, it is recommended to have written agreements in place. A cohabitation agreement will specify the distribution of expenses and investments. It can also contain provisions on how assets will be divided in the event of a break-up or death. De facto cohabitants may or may not visit a notary to make such arrangements. Legal cohabitants will need to visit a notary anyway to draw up their cohabitation agreement. Remember to also review this document from time to time and check if any updates are required.”
“If one partner makes a significant financial contribution, for example to pay for a new kitchen, you can draw up an acknowledgement of debt. This is a document explicitly stating that the investment must be repaid in the event of a break-up or death. The document needs to be signed by both partners. Note that an acknowledgement of debt must be entirely handwritten. Also, do not forget to include an indexation clause to ensure the amount is adjusted for inflation. Another approach is to stipulate that a qualified appraiser must determine the investment’s capital gain at the time of breaking up.”
Can it be better to buy in and become a co-owner?
“You can, but as a legally or de facto cohabiting partner you will not only have to visit a notary, you will also pay registration duties. It’s a sale, after all.” “Married couples can decide to make a home owned by one partner communal property. As this is not a ‘sale’, the registration duties will be much lower: a fixed fee of EUR 50. Do make sure to agree on what happens if you decide to divorce: will the house return to the original owner’s assets or will it remain included in the communal property?”
