WhatsApp Messages: Are They Legally Binding or Simply Informal Discussions?

When couples decide to divorce, efforts are often made between them to discuss their assets and how these will be divided between them. These efforts can be made before or during court proceedings and can take place before or after the divorce itself is finalised. It is also commonplace for these discussions to take place through various social media and messaging platforms.

When no agreement can be reached and in the event that court proceedings are instigated the couple might try and rely on those previous, informal discussions as evidence of one another’s intentions.

Without a formal agreement in place, how far can those discussions really be relied upon? A recent case heard by the High Court has provided some helpful guidance.

Case Analysis: Reid-Roberts & Ors v Mei-Lin & Gudmundson [2026] EWHC 49 (Ch)

In 2017, the wife started divorce proceedings. In December 2018, the parties had discussions over WhatsApp over how their assets should be split. In a message to his wife, the husband suggested that she care for their children full time in exchange for him transferring his share of the family home into the wife’s sole name, which the wife accepted. In the messages, the husband later changed his mind and so the parties did not reach an agreement at that time.

The final hearing for the financial proceedings took place in February 2019, but the handing down of the judgment was delayed for various reasons including pressure of judicial work, further submissions by both parties and due to one of the husband’s creditors being investigated for fraud, and a solicitor connected to the creditor being imprisoned.

During this delay and whilst the parties awaited judgment in the financial remedy proceedings, a statutory demand was served on the husband in November 2019 and a bankruptcy petition presented in December 2019.

The judgment from the financial remedy proceedings was eventually provided at a hearing in March 2020. At that hearing, the husband informed the court and the wife that a bankruptcy order had been made the week before. This meant that the husband’s share of the family home had automatically vested in the husband’s trustee in bankruptcy which in turn meant that the Judge was unable to order the husband to transfer his 50% share of the family home to the wife.

The Judge nonetheless made such an order though it was overturned on the husband’s appeal.

In 2021, the wife made an application to annul the bankruptcy petition, but this was dismissed by the court. As such, the wife and Trustees in Bankruptcy each owned 50% of the family home.

In 2023, the Trustees in Bankruptcy made an application to the court, seeking a declaration as to the ownership of the family home and an order for the immediate sale of the family home so that their share of the proceeds could be used to pay the husband’s creditors. The wife opposed the making of this order and argued that the husband had signed over his 50% share in the family home before the bankruptcy had taken place. She disclosed the WhatsApp messages between her and her husband from 2018 which, in her view, suggested that he had signed over his interest in the family home to her prior to his bankruptcy. She further argued that the messages constituted a formal written agreement.

The Trustees in Bankruptcy argued that, as the WhatsApp messages did not include the husband’s name and were not signed by him, they couldn’t be legally binding. The wife argued that as the husband’s name appeared at the top of the WhatsApp messages, then they should be considered as having been signed by him. The Trustees disagreed, arguing that the name appearing at the top of a WhatsApp message is not one chosen by the sender, but the recipient themselves. They also argued that the contents of the messages themselves could not be considered as the husband disposing of his share of the home, but merely discussions between a divorcing couple.

The High Court heard the Trustees’ application in 2024 and decided that the WhatsApp messages were not capable of forming a legally binding contract. It was the court’s view that the wife was not the sole owner of the property and in fact still owned 50%, with the remaining 50% being held by the Trustees in Bankruptcy.

The wife subsequently appealed, and in 2026 it was held that the husband had not transferred his interest in the family home to the wife before he was made bankrupt. The family home will therefore be sold in 2027, with the proceeds split equally between the wife and the Trustees in Bankruptcy.

What can we take from this case?

In short, WhatsApp messages are unlikely to be viewed by the court as legally binding, and therefore it is important that any discussions or decisions you and your partner make about the division of your assets on divorce are recorded in a formal agreement and/or Order to ensure you are both legally bound by its terms. It is imperative that you obtain legal advice to ensure you are protected and understand the implications of what is being agreed.

Written by Megan Hearsey, Trainee Solicitor, Judge & Priestley LLP. 

If you would like some advice on your divorce or separation from your partner and would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of Family Law, please contact us on 020 8290 0333 or email info@judge-priestley.co.uk

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