A London-based painter has lost a High Court battle to keep her £1.5 million home after a judge ruled that WhatsApp messages from her ex-husband did not constitute a legally binding transfer of ownership. Hsiao Mei-Lin, 54, argued that messages sent by Icelandic financier Audun Mar Gudmundsson, 54, before his bankruptcy amounted to a signed document handing her sole ownership of the property in Tufnell Park, north London.
The couple married in 2009 but separated in 2016 amid allegations of drug addiction and abuse. In March 2020, a divorce judge ordered Mr Gudmundsson to transfer his 50 per cent share of the home to Ms Lin. However, unbeknownst to her, he had been made bankrupt just a week earlier on a petition from a former friend, owing more than £2.5 million to creditors.
Ms Lin claimed that WhatsApp messages sent by her ex-husband before his bankruptcy showed he intended to give her his share. Her barrister, Tom Robinson KC, argued that the messages were 'written and signed' because they appeared under Mr Gudmundsson's name on her phone. But Mr Justice Cawson rejected this, stating that the header identifying the sender was analogous to an email address added by a service provider and was not part of the message itself.
The judge also found that even if the messages were considered signed, they did not show an intention to immediately transfer the property. Instead, they were part of negotiations towards a future divorce settlement. The evidence fell 'well short' of proving an immediate relinquishment of his share.
The court ordered Ms Lin to vacate the property by the end of July next year. The house must be sold to allow Mr Gudmundsson's creditors to recover their money. A previous order delaying the sale until 2032 was overturned on appeal. The trustees in bankruptcy, Maxine Reid-Roberts and Brian Burke, successfully argued that the WhatsApp messages did not validly dispose of Mr Gudmundsson's interest.
