Buying with boyfriend- but I'm putting up the deposit

Worried

If I buy a house with my boyfriend, but I am putting up the deposit, fees etc., what is the best way to protect my money should it all go horribly wrong and we split up and have sell the house. I've read elsewhere on MSE that it's best to have a tenannts in common agreement and a deed of trust where by I wouldn't just be protecting the lump sum I put in, but a percentage of the property, so that my deposit money is an investment for me. Is this correct?

Say we are buying a house at £200k and I am putting down a 20k deposit, do I get an agreement drawn up saying that I own 10% of the property and the remaining 90% would be split between us, so if we should have to sell up, he would get a 45% share of the overall sum and I would get 65%? So I would get 65% of whatever we sold the place for and have to pay back my half of the borrowed sum to the lender and would have whatever was left on top? Is that right? Is this relatively easy to do and is it fair on my OH?

Rosie75

This is perfectly fair, and the normal way of doing things. As far as I know you have to have your share expressed as a percentage not as a set sum.

mjfusent

Sounds good & perfectly fair to me, but your share would be 55%

carrielouise80

hi there,

i would get a separate agreement drawn up by a solicitor between yourselves to protect your invested interest. This should be relatively cheap and quick to do.

Good luck!

Sisyphus

There are different views on this.

The pragmatist in me says that statistically a large number of relationships end in separation and you are right to be cautious at the start.

Apologies if you find what I'm about to say is harsh: I would never dream of arguing a 55:45 vs 50:50 toss with my partner. If you feel the need to ask the question then are you in the right relationship ?

hobo28

I guess your intention is to protect the deposit rather than the percentages but I'm not sure the way you are going about it would work for you.

Say for arguments sake you split up after paying off 5% of the mortgage. (5% of £180k) Thats £9k additional equity. So if you "own" 55% then you are entitled to 55% of £29k. ie. £15.9k. He would then get the remainder. Would you see that as fair? Probably not.

So you'd either have to up the percentage that you start off owning or find another way to do it. Look at it another way. On day 1, you will own 100% of the equity and your boyfriend 0. As time goes on, that will of course change.

People are funny when relationships break down. I think your very wise to protect your "investment" but I would say that the bottom line is if you can't afford to lose it, don't do it.

Worried

Sorry I meant 55%.

Sarahpuggy

I think thats tosh to ask if shes in the right relationship!

I am in a similiar situation..i would be the one putting up the deposit/fees etc which was left to me by a relative.

I absolutely want to make sure my money is protected should we split up. We have been together 7 years and i dont see a split at all in the future, but things can and do change. People, circumstances change..and i think if you are putting up a big sum of money it is totally reasonable to want to protect it and be sensible without it having any effect on the relationship.

My Oh says he would do exactly the same if he were the one putting in the money.

Anyway Worried, i think your doing the absolute right thing, and your solicitor should explain how to go about it with you. We got a letter stating all the different options and how we wanted to proceed.

Good luck x

Worried

This was why I was asking hobo28, as I wasn't sure if the percentage we're talking about is a percentage of the equity, or a percentage of the the property price. So say we sold at £210k and had still had £170k left on the mortgage, so I get 55% of 210k which is 115500K. I then repay 50% of the 170k back to the mortgage lender, so I'm left with £30,500. My partner would get 45% of the property price, so £94,500, he repays 50% of the 170k owing to the lender, so if left with £9,500 of the equity. Or is it that I am entilted to 55% of the equity when we sell, in which case, I'm better off protecting the lump sum. Am I completely wrong in thinking this is how it works?

Def. in the right relationship, but I have saved hard for the past 5 years to give us both a good start and I am happy to put the money up and for my beloved OH to benefit. I am fortunate that I've been in the position to save (living with family), whereas he hasn't been neccessarily, but he earns a lot more than me, so if, heaven forbid we should split up, I would need the extra I've invested to be able to go it alone. I love him to death, but I have to protect my own interests.

Worried

Thank you very much Sarahpuggy.

My OH wouldn't have it any other way and I would want him to protect his investment if it were him.

Sisyphus

As I said there are 2 ways of looking at it.
Call me a romantic fool, I would have been happy to, and did, give every penny I owned to my partner without counting. For me a partnership is total trust, otherwise it's not worth it. A pre-nuptial is just an agreement on a future divorce - self fulfilling imho. If it works for you fine.