can my ex force me to sell my property....

bigpoops

I don't know if anybody out there can advise me. My ex partner who came to live in my property 7 years after I started the mortgage, never added his name to the property, lived rent free for 3+ years, then only added his wage to mine for 26 months, is now trying to take my property from me. We never married. I saved for 9 years towards the deposit, paid the mortgage except the aforementioned 26 months alone now for 17 years. He has already tried to get a restriction against the property with the land registry, which has not yet come to a hearing, and he has now applied to high court to force disposal of the property! This seems very unfair, and I cannot believe a solicitor is going along with it, but they are. We lived together at the property for 6.5 years. He was out of work for 3 months during which time I gave him over £3,000 to help him. Also at the beginning of the relationship I gave him over £3,000 to pay his debts. He moved from rent free at his mothers to rent free with me, but for 26 months we had our wages paid into one account. All outgoings including the mortgage came from this account.
Just want some advice, or at least my mind set at rest.....

opinions4u

I hope you have a solicitor.

Without legal training and a lot more information, nobody can give you the reassurance you want.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

You're biggest danger comes from not defending fully.

Go get a solicitor/cross rottweiler now.

On the limited facts you have given you should be OK but you need to take it seriously and act appropriately.

Caz3121

As you were not married I believe your worst case scenario (from a friend that went through similar) is that he can claim 50% of the increase in value for the period he lived there so what is important is how much the property was worth when he moved in and how much 6.5 years later. I don't think who paid for what comes into it and the fact you gave him cash, unless you had an agreement that he was to pay you this sum back, is just clouding the issue however your lawyer may decide to use this in the calculations (or not)

Depending on the market conditions. eg did he move in at property peak and out when prices had dropped there may be nothing to worry about here but you should get legal advice

Froggitt

Caz3121 wrote: »

he can claim 50% of the increase in value for the period he lived there so what is important is how much the property was worth when he moved in and how much 6.5 years later.

Make sure he knows that you also intend to clam 50% of the decrease in its value from him!!!

handytips

I would get some legal advice on this straight away, as his name is not on the deed i cannot see where they are coming from. However the law can seem very unfair at times.
Good Luck to You.

bigpoops

So even if he lived in a house for 6.5 years but paid nothing for most of it, living off me, he can still claim the increase in it's value? His name is not on the mortgage or the deeds to the property. Also trying for 'disposal of the property' seems insane. As he harassed me for a long time I am treating this like another way of harrassing me........But thanks for the replies. Any more would be gratefully received.....

Lazzza

Go find a good solicitor.

You're right in that it is generally very hard for him to assert any right against the property. The point of most concern is that for 26 months the mortgage was paid from a joint account, so he will likely try to assert a right based on his contribution to the house equity over that time but it should be limited to that. The thorny part is he will likely claim he contributed more than he did before then and whether he can prove that.

Put the unfairness of it all to one side if you can and use it to motivate you to get good advice and a good outcome.

missjy

depends on
- whether you are married or in a civil partnership
- he has protected his rights under any 'charges' on the property
- what his contribution was

Pee

From what you have said, no, it's very unlikely he would have any interest, but if he has a solicitor, then I suspect he has told his solicitor something slightly different to what you have said.

Of more interest is what if any work did he do on the property and how did you refer to the house, i.e. our house?

You should speak to a solicitor and get proper advice so that you can agree a settlement if need be without incurring hundreds or thousands of legal fees taking it to the high court.

Nic2011

My ex tried this and my solicitor said a resounding NO!! When I went on to ask something else he just said NO!! He backed off but then he did get arrested for harrassment, charged and convicted!!

If your's is harrassing you - look it up on the internet loads of advice - report him to the police and go from there.