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My parents purchased a condo under my name, is there a way for them to legally take the condo back?

The law does not help your parents at all if the title to the condominium is registered in your name and they have nothing registered against the condominium – especially if there is no mortgage or anything else registered against the title. At law, it is yours and they have no legal claim.

However, Judges in Ontario can also apply the “Principals of Equity.” The Principles of Equity are more fully described in this podcast on Common Law Couples and Property Division. This is not because you and your parents are considered “common law” but because common law has no right in law to each other’s stuff, but they can make claims in equity.

Your parents would say that you are the legal owner, but they are the beneficial owners – or the owners in equity. This means that nobody intended that you would be the owner of the condo, but instead, the intention was that you would hold the condo in “trust” for your parents and they would always be the “real owners” even though the title is registered in your name. To succeed, they have to prove that it is more likely than not that this was the case and that they did not intend to give you the condominium as a gift. You will need some evidence that they did intend to make the condo a gift to you.

If your parents cannot show that the property is a gift, or there is some ambiguity, they can also try to make a claim for “unjust enrichment.” Essentially there is a claim it is unfair that you should profit from getting the condominium because they have suffered a large, unjustifiable, loss. This is explained more in that podcast. To summarize they need to prove to the judge:

  1. you received a benefit
  2. your parents suffered a loss that corresponds to the benefit (i.e. they are out the money from buying the condo)
  3. there is no “juristic” reason (meaning a reason in law), for you to get the benefit and then to suffer a loss.

If you have been looking after the condominium, and paying the associated expenses without their help, it is hard for them to succeed because:

  1. it shows that they did not intend to be the owners
  2. you would suffer a loss and they would receive a benefit if they got the condo back and so they would be “unjustly enriched” – assuming you have paid more for those expenses than you would to rent the condo from them.

The Principles of Equity are tricky. Little things can have a big effect on those cases (again that is all explained in the podcast). So, it would be best for you to speak about the specifics of your case with a lawyer who knows about these kinds of cases.

Parents often want to help out their children with first home purchases, but they are also often concerned about a new daughter-in-law or son-in-law getting their hands on that property and getting it away from their child, and possibly the whole family, in a separation or divorce. The second podcast above goes over the dangers in that situation and how parents can protect any gift they make to their children – especially in the context of marriage. 

John Schuman Guide to the Basics of Ontario Family Law book cover

You can get a lot more information about Ontario Family Law issues, including a comprehensive explanation of parenting cases (parenting time and decision making), child support, spousal support, property division, and most other common family law issues by downloading this $9.99 Kindle eBook, Kobo eBook, or iBook for your iPad or iPhone or ordering it from Amazon as a paperback. But to understand how the law works precisely in your situation, it is always best to speak to a good Family Law Lawyer.

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