rental contract advice-renting from SO and his ex.

bagginslover

My chap has asked me to move in with him to the house he owns jointly with his ex partner (she no longer lives there, but is currently still paying her share of the mortgage). I would take on her share of the payments, effectivly renting half the house. They aren't on the best of terms, and I can forsee trouble if I don't have some sort of rental contract drawn up between us, I just don't know enough about it.

Would the contract have to be with both of them, or just her?
How do we go about drawing up a contract?
Does it have to be done by/involve a solicitor?
Are such contracts usual?
How much protection will a contract afford me against being thrown out etc?

The eventual plan is for me to take on her half of the mortgage, but that can't happen just yet for certan reasons (not finacial)

Any help and/or advice would be wonderful :beer:

bagginslover

Can no-one advise?

BitterAndTwisted

I don't know about the contractual ins-and-outs but on the face of it, it sounds like a terrible idea to me. I just wouldn't go there until there's been a full and final settlement between the two of them

poppysarah

You smell trouble.

You won't be wrong.

He needs to end the ties with the ex financially.

DVardysShadow

What poppysarah says. A contract will only be a vector for trouble. You are actually better off, I feel, to move in, pay up half the mortgage and have no contract. But you must count it as dead money on which you have no further claim and you must be prepared to move on. If you go in with that in mind, it will probably work out better.