What rights do I have as a 'Common in law wife'?

Fritillary

KatP wrote: »

Do you hold the land as joint tennants or tennants in common??? And is there a mortgage on it? If so whose name is on the mortgage?

Sadly there is no such thing as a common law wife and partners living together but unmarried have no rights. You may be able to recover something but as most of it was bought with his money it may well be less than half. You need proper legal advice, find out if you have a local Law Centre, they should be able to assist.

The land is owned outright by us together.

feelinggood_2

Fritillary wrote: »

I suppose what I'm trying to ask is would it be unreasonable for me to want half the value of the plot? I don't want to be seen as moneygrabbing from him because I do realise he has worked really hard for what we have. I do feel though, like you say, that I have worked in the home and well, basically waited on him hand and foot. I have always supported him emotionally through thick and thin.

Tough one. I think it depends on the relationship, and how much you both 'put in'. Personally, if OH & I split, I wouldn't want to take half, despite being entitled to it. He is a very hard worker, and I've not worked much during our relationship (various reasons, illness, pregnancy, moving for his work). I personally don't feel that my contribution matches his, so I wouldn't go for half. However, if you feel your contribution was as valuable as his, go for it. Its a bit personal really, hope you can find a figure you are happy/comfortable with.

Nicki

Fritillary wrote: »

Sorry I should have made my post clearer, my head's all over the place atm.
We do own the plot jointly as we have our other homes before. I always paid my way when I was working. Both sets of parents paid the deposit for our first home together.
I suppose what I'm trying to ask is would it be unreasonable for me to want half the value of the plot? I don't want to be seen as moneygrabbing from him because I do realise he has worked really hard for what we have. I do feel though, like you say, that I have worked in the home and well, basically waited on him hand and foot. I have always supported him emotionally through thick and thin.

Do you know whether you own as joint tenants or tenants in common? You can find this out by looking at the deeds of the land. If it says tenants in common, this will be definitive, if it says joint tenants, has your OH or you ever served a notice to sever the joint tenancy and convert to tenants in common.

If you are JT, then you both own 100% of the land! So if one of you died, the other would own the whole piece without having to worry about what the deceased's will said. For practical purposes, if you sell, then the proceeds are split 50:50 regardless of who paid what.

If you own as tenants in common, then the proceeds are split according to your financial contributions. So if you bought it outright to start off with, the court would look to see where the money for this had come from. This might entail tracing back how you owned your previous properties if it was bought from the proceeds of the sales of these. If you bought it subject to a mortgage which has since been paid off, the court would look at how much you each contributed to the deposit, and at how much each of you paid towards the mortgage.

You can probably see already that this isn't necessarily going to be straightforward to resolve, and you would be sensible to take legal advice about it. Be warned though that this will not necessarily be cheap, and even if you qualify for legal aid, you will have to repay the costs of the advice out of any property you recover in the split, so achieving a settlement quickly and by consent is much preferable than fighting it all the way for a small benefit.

smartpicture

I think after a 25-year relationship, most people would regard any assets as 'ours', regardless of who paid the most. Therefore half and half would be the starting point, with you willing to negotiate downwards if he makes a reasonable offer, but digging your heels in if he's showing no respect or acknowledge of your contributions over the years, whether financial or not. Has he mentioned any actual figures so far? You need to know the current value of the assets to know if it seems reasonable or not.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Nicki's post has absolutely hit the nail on the head.

Do get some legal advice, as in a relationship breakdown you can't trust him to be fair.

For everyone else this sort of thing is a lesson in why if you share significant assets with someone who you are not married to you should have a contract drawn up. A friend recently did this when she bought a house with her boyfriend and it wasn't expensive compared with the cost of buying the house and the risks they faced if things had gone wrong.

Pee

I think if he's the one deciding that it's all over, then you should try for all you can get. A solicitor will do a free 30 minute interview, ask the CAB about it, and that should give you a better idea of where you stand.

Fritillary

He's offered £15,000. The plot's worth £90,000. He said I haven't contributed enough to warrant more. I said a a split of 60/40 in his favour was fairer. He got really angry and upset, said he would move out and I could sell the plot and have it all if I was going to be 'like that'.
I now feel like the worlds biggest b..tch.

Thoughts please?

celyn90

Fritillary wrote: »

He's offered £15,000. The plot's worth £90,000. He said I haven't contributed enough to warrant more. I said a a split of 60/40 in his favour was fairer. He got really angry and upset, said he would move out and I could sell the plot and have it all if I was going to be 'like that'.
I now feel like the worlds biggest b..tch.

Thoughts please?

Don't let him bully you. I know it's hard to keep emotions out of this as a split is very hard to deal with and you sound like a very nice person, but I think you need to get your head together first.

You say that you both sold your homes to buy the plot. Can you have a guess at what percentage you put in over the years?

msb5262

feelinggood wrote: »

Personally, if OH & I split, I wouldn't want to take half, despite being entitled to it. He is a very hard worker, and I've not worked much during our relationship (various reasons, illness, pregnancy, moving for his work). I personally don't feel that my contribution matches his, so I wouldn't go for half. However, if you feel your contribution was as valuable as his, go for it.

Feelinggood, don't you feel that pregnancy was in the interests of your OH and the family? What about the subsequent childcare and housekeeping? And what about moving for your OH's work? I think women contribute an enormous amount to their partners but often seem to be unaware of it! You sound very kind and reasonable, but don't sell yourself short...you have clearly contributed in many ways, even if you haven't contributed 50% in financial terms.
MsB

seven-day-weekend

Much easier and more straightforward just to get married, but I don't suppose that helps the OP now.

I think the OP needs to take specialised legal advice. Many solicitors and accountants give free first appointments.

Good luck.