If the property was always in my family and I am now getting…

Hello, and thank you for the question. Are we talking real estate property or goods? What province are you in?

OK, is it a house? Is that where you lived as spouses, what we call the matrimonial home?

OK, so was the property an actual inheritance, transferred to you by a deceased pursuant to a will?

OK, so it was essentially a gift. Yes, your father intended you to have it, but it was legally owned by your mother and she gave it to you before her death. Is that right?

Or did your father leave it to you in his will, with your mother to hold it as trustee for you until you were old enough?

Are you sure there was no will at all? Your mother got the land by right of survivorship, then?

Alright. So the land was a gift. I'm sure that's not what you want to hear, but the land was a gift from your mother.

And by putting your ex's name on title it's now jointly hers. Now, let's get to your question.

Do you think your ex really wants the property, or does she know that you really really want it and she's using that as leverage over you?

You need to take a step back and appreciate something here.

This property is not an inheritance in law. It's a gift from your mother. The fact that it has been in your family for 2 or 10 generations is completely irrelevant.

It's a joint marital asset, and it needs to be divided either as the two of you agree upon or as ordered by a court.

I'm not saying the court would give it to her.

I need you to understand that neither of you has no better rights to physical possession of it over the other.

No. It's jointly owned, the matrimonial home, a family asset.

That's up to the judge, and you don't want it to even get that far. The court doesn't really care who gets what, as long as each spouse gets close to half the value of the family property. It's when spouses go to court because they each want a specific asset that the court rolls its eyeballs and thinks that both spouses are nuts.

So, she wants it for one of a few reasons. She knows that you're emotionally connected to this land and that it's driving you nuts that she might wind up with it. If I were her lawyer, I'd tell her to keep that up, then when you're really desperate, make some other unreasonable demands in exchange for the property, then she walks away with more than she's entitled to because you'll do anything to keep this property in the family.

Another reason might be that you have children, and she thinks that who ever gets the kids' home is more likely to get the kids. Are there children?

But are they still at home?

How old are they? In school?

All right. So if the 20 year old wants to continue living in that home, then whoever gets the home gets the child, and gets child support. Even for a 20 year old, if the child is in school full time.

So, if she wants to make it look like she's "won" by getting the house, and then having the child under her roof and getting support from you, she's on her way to being able to actually afford the house. Does she have a lawyer to your knowledge?

You need a lawyer of your own. We could talk about this all night and not get any further. I'm glad I've given you food for thought. Here's where I ask you to Accept so that I may receive credit for assisting you, and you can then leave feedback for the site if you wish. Good luck.

I was thinking about your matter more. Firstly, if this is farm property then you'll definitely need to consult with a lawyer who is well versed in such matters. There are some special rules about transferring/dividing farm property, especially in Alberta, that you need to consult with a lawyer personally about.

Secondly, it's open to either of you to go to court to seek an order for exclusive possession of the property, which essentially evicts the other. You'll need some good reason to get that, and if she refuses to leave and this is going to turn into all out war, then if you have any evidence or legitimate concerns that she has or might damage the property then you might well get that order. This wouldn't deny her the right to half of its value, but it would get her out and you in solely, and then "custody" of the child too by default. As well, this isn't something you want to bring to court by yourself, there's no point in trying unless you think you're likely to win.