Ownership Query

dave1983_2

Hi,

Maybe not a question for this forum but I can't think where else to ask this. I live in Scotland, currently live alone and have been living in my house since Dec 06. Hopefully in June my girlfriend will be making the move North to come and live with me and the question is what rights / claim to the house will she have should we split up?

I earn £36k, she currently earns £10k and will earn a similar amount up here. The mortgage is in my name only and I will continue to pay the full amount each month. She will contribute towards food, utilities and council tax (the extra 25% when she moves in, currently on single-occupancy discount) once she has got a job up here and, until she has a job, I will be giving her a few hundred a month to get by on.

I am worried that if we split up that she will be able to claim a portion of the house, even though she would not be able to afford a place of her own if we weren't together. Any thoughts?

Thanks, David

dave1983_2

Any thoughts anyone?

david29dpo

I think the general guide is to have a rent book. Iam sure someone will know better will come along soon.

m_13

dave1983 wrote: »

Hi,

Maybe not a question for this forum but I can't think where else to ask this. I live in Scotland, currently live alone and have been living in my house since Dec 06. Hopefully in June my girlfriend will be making the move North to come and live with me and the question is what rights / claim to the house will she have should we split up?

I earn £36k, she currently earns £10k and will earn a similar amount up here. The mortgage is in my name only and I will continue to pay the full amount each month. She will contribute towards food, utilities and council tax (the extra 25% when she moves in, currently on single-occupancy discount) once she has got a job up here and, until she has a job, I will be giving her a few hundred a month to get by on.

I am worried that if we split up that she will be able to claim a portion of the house, even though she would not be able to afford a place of her own if we weren't together. Any thoughts?

Thanks, David

How romantic! I'm guessing you aren't planning to surprise her with a proposal of marriage?

Whilst it's sensible to plan for these things there a limit to what you can plan for. She's presumably leaving her friends and family to move up to be with you whilst you are worrying about her having a claim on your house if you split up! This could be considered to making her financially disadvantaged.

However, you've asked the question. There is a document here that relates to Scottish Law on cohabitation which includes:

The Scottish Parliament decided that the law should be updated to reflect the way families live today and that any rights that already existed for cohabiting couples but were restricted to opposite sex couples only should now be extended to include same sex couples. This has been done by the 2006 Act.

The 2006 Act also provides a set of basic rights for cohabitants whose relationship ends covering:

• the sharing of household goods, bought during the time the couple lived together. This means that if you cannot agree about who owns any household goods, the law will assume that you both own it jointly and must share it or share what it is worth;
• an equal share in money derived from an allowance made by one or other of the couple for household expenses and/or any property bought out of that money. It is important to understand that this does not apply to the house that the couple live in;
• financial provision when, as a result of the decisions the couple made together during the relationship, one partner has been financially disadvantaged. This means, for example, if the couple decided that one partner would give up a career to look after their children, they can ask the court to look at the effect that decision had on that partner's ability to earn money after the relationship has ended;
• an assumption that both parents will continue to share the cost of childcare if they had children together; and
• a right to apply to the court for an award from the estate (property)
  if their partner dies without leaving a will. Before this, if a cohabiting partner died without leaving a will the surviving partner was not entitled to anything from the deceased partner's estate. Sometimes this meant that they had to move out of the house they had lived in together. The surviving partner will now be able to ask the court to consider giving them something from the estate. If the deceased partner was still married at the time of death, the spouse will still be legally entitled to a share of the estate.

dave1983_2

Thank you both for your replies, I know it's not the most romantic thing to be thinking about but my job has a very high divorce / split-up rate due to being deloyed overseas quite regularly in the RAF! She is moving up away from her friends and family so it might sound inconsiderate that I'm worried about my house, and I aplogise, it wasn't meant to!

Thanks again gents and hopefully when we're living together an engagement ring will be making an appearance!