WA Personal Loan - Can Ex Sue with No Signed Contract?

[Curious george]

I'm in a relationship with a girl whose ex (also female) is talking of suing over money which the ex's mother loaned them while they were together.

They made a verbal agreement when separating that they would each pay half and started making payments into the mother's bank account.
My girlfriend believed she had paid what she needed to because the money loaned to them mostly paid for the ex's stuff, and so asked for an itemised list of exactly what her payments were paying off. When the ex(and her mother) failed to provide the list, my girlfriend stopped her payments.

They have been broken up for almost 6 years and the last payment my girlfriend made was almost 4 years ago.

Does the ex have a leg to stand on?

 

[Sophea]

Hi Curiousgeorge,

As a general rule contracts do not need to be in writing, and oral agreements are valid and enforceable and able to be sued upon. It is just more difficult to prove contracts that aren't in writing and it will depend on the evidence your ex or her mum are able to provide. Therefore, the loan between your girlfriend and her ex and her ex's mother is enforceable.

While there are time limits for taking legal action in respect of debts, I don't think that this debt would be statute barred yet. If it was you would have a complete defence to any action or law suit for recovery of the funds. The relevant time period for debt recovery actions is 6 years, either from the date the debt became due or the date you last made a payment. So you are still probably 2 years off that.

At this stage, I would write to ex's mother setting out evidence of what you have repaid and why you believe that you have full paid your share of the loan. If she wishes to dispute that ask for an explanation and proof in writing, that you owe more than that.

 

[Curious george]

thank you for your help