TOLATA claims — what they are, when they apply, and what they cost

What TOLATA is, in plain terms

TOLATA is the legislation that governs disputes between people with an interest in land or property held on trust. Most commonly: two people who own a home together, or one person who is on the title and another who has put significant money into it.

Section 14 is the section that does the work. It allows a person with an interest in the property to apply to the court for an Order about what should happen to it. The court can be asked to decide three things, broadly: who owns what share of the property; whether the property should be sold; and, in some cases, who is entitled to live in it in the meantime.

A few terms it helps to settle now, in plain English:

Legal owner — the person or people whose name is on the title at Land Registry.

Beneficial owner — the person or people who, in substance, own the value of the property. The two can be different. A name on the deeds is not always the full picture.

Declaration of trust — a written document, signed at the time of purchase or shortly after, that records who owns what share. Where one exists, it usually settles the question.

Why this matters for unmarried couples

Unmarried couples in England and Wales do not have access to the same financial remedies as a married couple on divorce. There is no equivalent of the family court’s wide discretion to redistribute assets between two spouses based on what is fair. “Common law marriage” is a phrase people use; it is not a legal status. Length of relationship, shared children, intermingled finances — none of these create automatic property rights for an unmarried partner.

Cohabiting couple families are the fastest-growing family type in England and Wales. There were 3.5 million in 2024, up from 3.1 million in 2014. The legal framework available to those couples on separation has not kept pace. TOLATA, written for trustees of land rather than for separating partners, is what is available.

When a TOLATA claim applies

A TOLATA application is the relevant route in any of the following situations:

• An unmarried couple jointly own a home and cannot agree on whether it should be sold, or how the proceeds should be divided.
• One partner is on the title, the other is not, and the partner who is not on the title says they have a financial interest in it — through contributions to the deposit, the mortgage, or significant capital improvements.
• Family members or friends bought a property together and now disagree about ownership, occupation, or sale.
• A parent or third party put money into a property and is now seeking to recover it.

TOLATA is not the route on divorce. Where a couple is married or in a civil partnership, the financial remedy provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 apply, and the family court has discretion to adjust property entitlements. TOLATA’s court has no such discretion.

What a court can — and cannot — order

This is the most commonly misunderstood part of TOLATA, and the part with the highest cost of misunderstanding.

A court hearing a TOLATA application can:

• Declare the percentage of the property each person legally and beneficially owns.
• Order that the property be sold, and give directions about how the sale is conducted.
• Decide whether one party can stay in the property pending a sale.
• Resolve disputes between joint owners about how the property is dealt with.

A court hearing a TOLATA application cannot:

• Adjust the shares to reflect what would be fair in the round.
• Take into account the dynamics of the relationship in the way the family court can on divorce.
• Award maintenance.
• Treat the property as a “matrimonial asset” available for redistribution.

The court’s job is to find what the parties’ interests in the property already are, based on property and trust law principles — and then to give effect to those interests. Not to design a fair outcome from scratch.

How a TOLATA claim works in practice

Before any claim is issued, there is a pre-action stage. The party who intends to bring the claim writes to the other, setting out the dispute, the evidence relied on, and the Orders that will be sought. There is no specific pre-action protocol for TOLATA claims, but the general Practice Direction on pre-action conduct applies — which means the court expects both parties to have tried, in good faith, to resolve matters before issuing.

Most TOLATA claims that proceed are issued in the County Court, under one of two procedural routes:

• The shorter route, used where the facts are not significantly in dispute — for example, where ownership is recorded in a declaration of trust and the dispute is really about enforcing a sale.
• The longer route, used where the underlying facts are contested — typically where one party asserts an interest the other denies. Formal statements of case, disclosure, and witness evidence follow.

From issue to trial, a contested TOLATA claim typically takes more than a year. Cases that resolve through correspondence or alternative dispute resolution can resolve in weeks to months. The variable is how far the parties dig in.

What TOLATA claims cost

This is the part most readers underestimate.

A TOLATA application to determine ownership or order a sale is usually filed as a non-money claim in the County Court, and there is a court fee to pay to issue it. The figure changes from time to time, so check the current one on GOV.UK before you file. That is the cost of the door. Everything after the door costs more.

Legal fees on a contested TOLATA claim that runs to trial are commonly in the tens of thousands. Where expert valuation evidence is required, where the dispute involves multiple contributions over years, or where there is a counterclaim, costs rise sharply. A claim that settles at the pre-action or early correspondence stage costs a fraction of one that proceeds to a final hearing.

The other point — the one most easily missed by those who have heard about how divorce works — is that TOLATA is a civil claim, and the civil costs rule applies. Costs follow the event. The losing party is ordinarily ordered to pay a substantial proportion of the winning party’s legal costs. This is not the position in financial remedy proceedings on divorce, where each party generally pays their own. The change of regime makes TOLATA significantly higher-risk.

Before any of that: what to think about

The decision to issue a TOLATA claim is one worth taking slowly. Some of the questions that matter most:

• What is the actual outcome being sought — an Order for Sale, a determination of share, possession? Each leads to a different kind of application and a different evidential burden.
• What documentary evidence exists of contribution — deposit, mortgage payments, capital improvements, written agreements at the point of purchase? Documentary evidence carries weight. Recollection of conversations does not.
• Is there a declaration of trust? If there is, it usually settles the question of shares. If there is not, the court is being asked to construct the answer from the available evidence.
• Has mediation been attempted, or at least proposed in writing?
• What is the proportionality of the cost — including the costs risk — against the size of the asset in dispute?

If you do not understand how your interest in the property would be assessed, do not negotiate as if you do. And do not issue a claim form until you have taken advice on the costs exposure attached to losing it. The cost of getting either wrong is almost never recoverable.

The reform question

The current framework is not stable. There has been pressure on government for years to reform the legal position of cohabiting couples. The Law Commission’s 2024 report on financial remedies offered four potential models for change, and the current government has committed to consulting on reform following its 2024 manifesto pledge.

A public consultation on cohabitation and divorce finance reform opened in June 2026 and closes in August 2026. Whether reform follows in this Parliament, and what it looks like, remains to be seen. Until something replaces the current framework, TOLATA is the route. The point of mentioning reform is not to suggest waiting for it — most people separating now will be resolving matters under the existing law — but to acknowledge that the awkwardness many people feel about the gap is real, recognised, and the subject of slow legislative attention.

In short

TOLATA is the principal civil route for resolving property disputes between unmarried couples in England and Wales. It is narrower in scope and harsher in costs treatment than the family law framework that applies to married couples. The court is asked to find what the property interests already are — not to redesign them.

The procedural reality matters. The cost of the claim form is not the cost of the claim. The civil costs rule applies. Mediation is expected before issue. Documentary evidence of contribution carries the case.

If you are considering bringing or defending a TOLATA claim, take advice from a solicitor before any letter goes out. This article is preparation for that conversation. It is not a substitute for it, and nothing here is legal advice about your own situation.

Questions people actually ask

Who pays the costs in a TOLATA claim?

Ordinarily, the loser — a substantial proportion of the winner’s legal costs on top of their own. That is the civil costs rule, and it is the single biggest difference from financial proceedings on divorce, where each side generally pays their own way.

Do I need a solicitor to bring a TOLATA claim?

There is no rule requiring one, but the costs exposure is the reason to take advice before any letter goes out. A claim issued without understanding the costs risk can end up costing more than the share of the property in dispute.

Can a TOLATA claim be avoided?

Often. A declaration of trust at the point of purchase settles most ownership questions before they become disputes, and mediation resolves many of the rest. The court expects both to have been considered before a claim is issued.

— Clarity