Is my ex entitled to 50% of equity if not contributing to mortgage?

SBrookes

I hope that this is okay to ask on here.

My ex and I, not married, have a joint mortgage on a property. He moved out 12 months ago and has not contributed anything to the mortgage, at that point I had it valued and the equity was £0.

He is refusing to sign the house over, instead saying he will wait 2/3 years for the value to increase and he will take his 50% of the equity.

Is he entitled to 50% of the equity even if he is not paying towards the mortgage?

dunstonh

Is he entitled to 50% of the equity even if he is not paying towards the mortgage?

Was he contributing in other ways? i.e. childcare, covering other costs etc

SBrookes

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. No, he is only paying his bare minimum child maintenance which is a seperate issue to this. He has made no other financial contribution to the house or any costs associated with it.

crazy_lady_3

as far as I am aware (dear friend going through a similar issue) as you are both on the mortgage you are both either entitled to any equity out of the sale (50/50) and you are both responsibile for 50/50 of any negitive equity that may result from a sale. This is the case even if one half of the couple put down say a 50k deposit and the other one put nothing, unless there is a specific contract inplace. However I dont think you have to wait for his say so for it to go on the market, I "think" (not 100% sure) that the Solicitor can force a sale due to the break up, but Im not sure how they do it or how long that process would take!!

Good luck

Cannon_Fodder

SBrookes wrote: »

He is refusing to sign the house over, instead saying he will wait 2/3 years for the value to increase and he will take his 50% of the equity.

If your valuation was 12 months ago, it pretty likely to be in Negative equity already;

Check the regional figures in the Quarterly 4 release http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media1/research/halifax_hpi.asp for a rough idea of how your area has done recently.


Another 2-3 years is more likely to see further negative equity than positive, so tell him to sign or start saving his half of the debt that you are jointly accumulating.

silvercar

You may not like this, but it appears to be the way things are calculated.

He moved out so you (and the children) are occupying his half of the house, for which he is entitled to rent! He is liable for half the mortgage. So you take one from the other and decide if any payment is due. If the market rent for the property would be £600 per month then you should give him £300, but if the mortgage was £800 a month, he should give you £400 to pay the mortgage. So netting one off the other, he should give you £100 a month.

His child maintenance payments will include money for you to provide a home from them, they aren't entitled to a separate home allowance.