Buying a house in my name - but girlfriend will be living with me.

Suzi.Q_3

Not bitter at all hey Mick?!

silvercar

I don't see how you can live with someone without accepting that your finances are joint.

Say one partner earned a lot less than the other does that mean the she (or he) cannot eat out as often/ buy so many clothes / forgoes a holiday etc just so you both contribute equally to the house?

If a child comes along is the woman going to be compensated for her time out of the workplace etc

If you do buy a house and you get a "rent" out of her, say your house goes up in value 30% on 5 years, are you going to financially compensate her for that fact that she was living in your place instead of buying a place of her own and gaining capital growth for herself?

johna999

silvercar wrote:

I don't see how you can live with someone without accepting that your finances are joint.

Say one partner earned a lot less than the other does that mean the she (or he) cannot eat out as often/ buy so many clothes / forgoes a holiday etc just so you both contribute equally to the house?

If a child comes along is the woman going to be compensated for her time out of the workplace etc

If you do buy a house and you get a "rent" out of her, say your house goes up in value 30% on 5 years, are you going to financially compensate her for that fact that she was living in your place instead of buying a place of her own and gaining capital growth for herself?

What about the flipside? if in 5 years prices FELL by 10%, would you expect her to pay half that cost to him if they split up?

He is the one taking the risk of buying a place, the stress of what is probabaly a sizeable mortgage, also all the sacrifices he has had to make to save up a deposit. If I a man move in with a girlfriend who has a house it doesn't stop me buying a place and taking on that risk and benefiting from any capital growth.

billbob

Is it possible to get some kind of agreement setup with the solicitor in the event that you split?

ethank

plane_boy2000 wrote:

I think you are safe on this one, but to be sure it might be a good idea to have her pay you rent for living in your house. I think that she may have some claim if she could demonstrate that she had been paying the mortgage, wheras if you can demonstrate that she is your lodger then no issue. Another safe guard is to make sure that you do not have a joint bank acount, and that all teh bills are paid solely by you,

I had some legal advice on this. I was in a similar situation. I was advised that by giving them a rentbook, I may be granting a tenancy. And if things went pairshaped they might be difficult to remove.

I did some research and found the following agreement in the Tesco Legal Store for a flatshare with a resident owner which should give you some legal protection from this. It's a bargain at £4.49 http://www.tescolegalstore.com/tenancy_agreement_resident_owner.asp

rozeepozee

Bloody hell! I am amazed about the amount of confusion that surrounds co-habitees and their entitlements. There really needs to be an education campaign because it seems that people do not know their rights and that's no good for either party.

My view (as a former family lawyer) is that if you buy the property in your name and you pay all the mortgage then your girlfriend will have no entitlement to it (unless you marry her in which case it will be decided on the particular merits of the case). If you charge her rent, so long as you are living there with her, she will not have a tenancy, she will simply have a 'licence' to live in the property (a 'licence' is just legal terminology to describe a lodger and means she has very limited rights to stay in the property, she would simply be entitled to 'reasonable notice' if you wanted her to leave, which would likely be a month at the most). The situation would be different if she made a contribution to the mortgage or paid or did significant renovations to the property. In this case she could possibly claim that she had an 'equitable' interest in the property and if she applied to court it might rule that it was only fair to grant her a right to a portion of the property because of this.

I'm not going to get into the moral debate about what she should be entitled to because you are intending to share a life together. Legally, there is nothing to stop you sharing the bills or the cost of furniture or other household expenses. Just ensure that the house is in your sole name and the mortgage and any large expense directly relating to the fabric of the house (e.g if you pay for a new kitchen or bathroom) are paid through your bank account. Be aware that having children would change the situation (you would need to check this out as the law has changed since I stopped practicing family law and I'm no longer up to date)

If I were still practicing as a solicitor, this would be my busiest time of the year for divorces: couples (usually the woman) who can no longer stand the thought of another Christmas stuck with their spouse battering the door to my office down! Not all marriages fail and we all hope our own won't become part of the statistics but almost one in two do, and, I'm sorry to say this but co-habitees split up even more frequently. I think you are wise to protect yourself. This is not being unfair to your girlfriend so long as you both know where you stand.

Jay-Jay_4

Awww... Poor OP has been bombarded with info


If It was me.... and it HAS been me in the past..... then I would pay the mortgage, bills and any household improvements from my own bank account and accept a contribution towards the food shopping from your GF. This means that you can prove that you've been solely responsible for everything should the need arise, not just legally but if mud begins to be slung you can confidently say that it's your house, paid for with your money.

In a couple of years, if things are looking rosy you can change the situation but for now I think you would be sensible to protect your own interests.

Your GF still gets to live with you and relatively cheaply, it won't really cost you much more in bills for two people rather than one and you know that you've protected your investment.

MrsC_5

dean_ham wrote:

last night she made a threat that if i was to cheat on her when we have a home, she would be entitled to half my home. And that she would take half of it for revenge!

For BOTH your sakes - run like the wind!! Not the sort of conversation you should be having when planning a future together

Bossyboots

rozeepozee wrote:

Bloody hell! I am amazed about the amount of confusion that surrounds co-habitees and their entitlements. There really needs to be an education campaign because it seems that people do not know their rights and that's no good for either party.

My view (as a former family lawyer) is that if you buy the property in your name and you pay all the mortgage then your girlfriend will have no entitlement to it

She does though. I know couples (one a good friend) who have been stung for a share of the equity when their partners have left. In my friend's case, she bought a house with her divorce settlement, let her boyfriend move in and she ended up paying him £5000 along with her legal fees. I will ask her permission to put more details here but without that, I don't think it right that I explain her whole story.

dean_ham

Thanks for all the helpful replies! I will take all onboard.

One poster mentioned that to get all the bills in your name and make her pay for the food - which is exacly what i was thinking as she has no comeback.

I will visit the CAB closer to when i will be looking for a home to get clarification on the matter.

Thanks