Man ordered to hand over £650,000 house to ex-girlfriend

Updated
Greta Cerniauskaite
Greta Cerniauskaite



A millionaire plumber has been ordered to hand over a luxury £650,000 house to his ex-girlfriend, who claims he gave it to her as a gift.

Lithuanian Greta Cerniauskaite, 47, was a cleaner at the National Portrait Gallery when she met 62-year-old John Hoggins, who owned several plumbing and heating businesses.

He told a tribunal he bought her 'the contents of most of the shops in Bond Street', as well as a £160,000 Bentley and £8,000 worth of monogrammed sheets and towels from Milan. He also paid her an annual allowance of £93,000 for a 'job' that didn't involve any work.

He bought the house in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire - one of several that the couple owned - in 2009, but never actually lived there. Mr Hoggins, says the Evening Standard, claimed that she refused to move in because there wasn't enough wardrobe space - while Ms Cerniauskaite said they had only ever intended it as a weekend home.

And, he claims, he paid the £100,000 deposit, the mortgage costs and all the bills. While the house was in his girlfriend's name, he said, this was simply to make it easier to get a mortgage because he had debts in his own name.

But, Judge Ann McAllister has ruled, all this represented a gift, and the house belongs to Ms Cerniauskaite.

"There is no doubt that John was extremely generous in these years and that considerable sums of money passed through his hands," she said.

"It is clear from all the evidence I have heard and read that John now feels very bitter towards Greta and has convinced himself that, from the outset, her intentions were to get what she could out of the relationship financially."

But, she added: "I accept Greta's evidence and in particular that John reassured her that, whatever happened, she would have the property."
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In this case, the house goes to Ms Cerniauskaite because the judge accepted that it had been a gift - but cohabiting partners without children don't usually do so well when they split.

Despite what many people think, there's no legal basis to the idea of 'common law marriage': it doesn't matter how long a couple have been together, their assets remain their own.

Where there are children, the situation may be different, and the partner looking after them may win the right to stay in the home.

There's more information from Citizens Advice, here.

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