Girlfirend moving in with me - what should I ask for?

BitterAndTwisted

Unless you want your g/f to be able to make a claim on the property at a later date, should your relationship end (and at your age they often do) I would not accept any money from her which could later be construed as making a contribution to your mortgage payments.

Half of the Council Tax and half of the utility bills all in your name. Provably half of the grocery shopping but nothing else. No contribution to improvement works or furnishings.

If, further down the line you marry, none if this will be important but you just have to read threads on this forum for a while to see what an awful mess some people find themselves in by going into this sort of arrangement without considering the worse-case scenario.

GDB2222

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Unless you want your g/f to be able to make a claim on the property at a later date, should your relationship end (and at your age they often do) I would not accept any money from her which could later be construed as making a contribution to your mortgage payments.

Half of the Council Tax and half of the utility bills all in your name. Provably half of the grocery shopping but nothing else. No contribution to improvement works or furnishings.

If, further down the line you marry, none if this will be important but you just have to read threads on this forum for a while to see what an awful mess some people find themselves in by going into this sort of arrangement without considering the worse-case scenario.

I would still get a contract drawn up by a lawyer, and take his/her advice on what payment you can reasonably accept. Effectively, you want the girlfriend to come in as a lodger. Not very nice, put like that, nor very romantic if you think things may develop long term, but you need to be practical.

J_i_m

I'd say half of the utility bills is fair. I wouldn't charge rent, nor take contributions towards the mortgage. That way you retain sole ownership of the property and foot in the door so to speak if the relationship goes tits up.

mundibananas

J_i_m wrote: »

I'd say half of the utility bills is fair. I wouldn't charge rent, nor take contributions towards the mortgage. That way you retain sole ownership of the property and foot in the door so to speak if the relationship goes tits up.

As above, I'd say split the bills (utilities, food, council tax etc) and don't charge rent - so you're more or less allowing her to live rent free, but as a return of favour - she should perhaps pay for treats such as holidays (eg she pays the hotel bills, and such like) so more or less your on an even keel money wise. How does that sound?

mundibananas

mundibananas wrote: »

As above, I'd say split the bills (utilities, food, council tax etc) and don't charge rent - so you're more or less allowing her to live rent free, but as a return of favour - she should perhaps pay for treats such as holidays (eg she pays the hotel bills, and such like) so more or less your on an even keel money wise. How does that sound?

edit: I meant you're !

devotee

Payment in kind at least twice a week?

cwcw

devotee wrote: »

Payment in kind at least twice a week?

You beat me to it.

twirlypinky

When i moved in with Hubby - we weren't married, been together 6 months, it was his house - i paid half of everything. BUT there was no equity in the house then, we knew that his entire deposit was gone anyway, so it became and still is irrelevant.

If your situation i think i would say that she should pay half of all the bills and then put the difference between that and what she's paying out now away as savings so that if you DO decide to tie the knot in a few years, that money could go towards the wedding, or you could both overpay your mortgage with it and add her name to the deeds, or IF for some reason you split up, then she can use that money to sort herself out a new place.

Within a year you'll probably know which of those roads you're likely to go down anyway.

swimsink

A year is not a long time to share such a thing as a mortgage, I agree with all above that she should pay 50/50 bills, etc otherwise in the long term if you split up you could be screwed for % of the house that she will apparently own. Congrats on your first home btw

theartfullodger

Girlfirend moving in with me - what should I ask for?

Breakfast in bed each morning, all the cleaning, washing, ironing, cook & wash-up all meals, always agreeing with you, no interruption when watching footy, tidying without disturbing what-I-want-to-find-tomorrow.. - you know, what all blokes expect of wimmin....

Cheers!!