Joint mortgage and potential bankruptcy

BrightonMum_2

I have a joint mortgage with another person in an investment property. The other person may be about to go bankrupt and I am worried that I will lose the property. I have an informal agreement that I have taken over the property and gave him some money to buy him out a year ago but I have not re-mortgaged as my salary would not satisfy the mortgage company although I can afford the mortgage payments and have been paying them on my own for over a year. Will the informal agreement which is substantiated in emails and signed letters protect me if he goes bankrupt or will the mortgage which is in both names overrule it? The property is not in negative equity and is not either of our primary residence.

fiveyearplan

Hi and welcome. I would have thought you would be able to buy the beneficial interest (possibly less the payment you already made to your partner). How much is the property worth and how much is the mortgage? I suppose you can also prove that they have not been contributing to it for the period you have been paying it yourself? All that could help your case that the other person has less than 50% equity in the property.

BrightonMum_2

Thanks for the response.
I'm afraid I don't understand what beneficial interest is. The mortgage is £300K and the property is worth £360K. I paid him £30k a year ago when he was in financial difficulty to buy out his 50% of the equity. I don't want to sell as we redeveloped the property together and if we sell I will make a loss and at the moment with low interest rates it makes a good rental income so I want to hold onto it for 5 years if possible.
Could you explain beneficial interest please.
many thanks