House bought in my name.........

Nix143

Quick advice needed please


5 years ago i was in a relationship and we bought a house. Due to the fact my then partner was on benefits and i was working the house was purchased in my name only. 2 years after the house purchase the relationship broke down. At that point it had jumped in price by 60k and so there was a verbal agreement that I would pay my ex partner 30k. Obviously I didn't have 30k so i paid 10k with an understanding that when I sold the property I would pay the additional 20k. This was all only ever a verbal agreement as they didn't want anything that would mess with their benefit claim.

In the ensuing 3 years my ex partner has refused to leave me alone, I have been harrassed despite repeated pleas i wanted to just get on with my life. This culminated with the police being called to my house in the early hours of Saturday morning as they were trying to break into the house and wouldn't leave.

They are now pressing for the 20k. What do I do? In the 3 years we have been apart I have fought like !!!!!!y to keep my house and provide a home for my son and I have done so much work on the house. It is MY home and I do not want to give the money and I don't have it to give.

I am about to go to see a solicitor but I wondered if anyone on here had been in a similar situation and had any help or advice to give me?

Thanks in advance xx

Jeewhizz

This is bordering on benefit fraud, and I would remind him of this. Your solicitor will be obliged to let the authorities to know if that's the case, so I would tread carefully.

seven-day-weekend

I think it makes a difference if you were married or not.

AFAIK, if the house was in your name only and you live there with the child, and you were not married, then the partner has no claim over it.

However I may be wrong and it is very important that you get a lawyer's advice asap.

Good luck!

thesaint

You are going to see a solicitor, but it depends whether you were married, and whether he contributed towards the deposit of the house.

I can't see anything bordering on benefit fraud.

prudryden

The only way, without your agreement, to force you to honour the verbal contract would be for him to get a court decision.

The proof would rest on his shoulders. He would have to provide evidence that you paid him the £10,000 as part settlement of this contract. He would also have to prove that you had agreed to a further £20,000 payment.

He could possibly call in witnesses who are/were aware of the agreement, but they would have to be witnesses who actually heard the conversation or someone you had told about the agreement yourself. Witnesses that heard the story from him or others would probably be dismissed as HEARSAY information.

PoorDave

From what you put in the original post, the agreement was the remaining £20k to be paid on sale of the house, so even if this verbal agreement can be proved to exist, surely if you're not selling there's nothing to pay yet?

zoejones_2

seven-day-weekend wrote:

I think it makes a difference if you were married or not.

AFAIK, if the house was in your name only and you live there with the child, and you were not married, then the partner has no claim over it.

However I may be wrong and it is very important that you get a lawyer's advice asap.

Good luck!

My husband was in a similar position with his ex partner, only it was his ex who stayed in the house despite the fact that he had paid the mortgage and bills whilst they had the house together (although the house was only in her name). When she sold it she made 50k profit and promised to give him something back. We never saw anything and saught legal advice. Basically because the house was in her name soley and because they weren't married he had absolutely no claim, despite having proof that the had been paying for everything.

There are free sites where you can search for legal advice on this type of matter, but it sounds as though you need a restraining order.

Needless to say we've never seen any money!!!

hearts

Try and remortage to pay the person. Remember you have 20k of his money many bad things have happened to people for a lot less.

Kinnairdy

So...
5 years ago you & ex partner bought house
Ex partner was at that point in receipt of benefits?
Did ex partner contribute financially to the purchase of said property?
Presuming here that Ex Partner did not have the money to put up his/her share of the purchase price given that they were in receipt of benefits at the time?
3 years ago relationship ended
During the 2 year relationship what financial contribution did your ex partner make towards the Mortgage/Utility/Food Bills etc?
So property value rose during the ensuing 2 years you were together
2 years after you split up you 'gave' him/her £10,000? (presumeably in 'used notes' given that he/she did not wish to 'mess up' their benefit claim)
For the past 3 years your ex partner has repeatedly 'harassed' you resulting in Police being called according to your post.
OK here it is - No contest - Ex has contributed little if anything to the property and even less to the relationship, because they were in receipt of benefits they did not want to be named legally as joint owner (you have not said whether they actually invested some of their own money in the purchase so am assuming not) they have deliberately defrauded the Tax payer by failing to declare the £10,000 to the Benefits Agency, they have in your words harassed you for 3 years and are now demanding a 50% share of the value of the property? Verbal Agreement What Verbal Agreement?

MJMum

Legally - see a solicitor.

Morally - well, you seem to have had no qualms helping your ex commit benefit fraud, so I'm sure you won't break a sweat telling him where to shove his claim for another £20k when you sell the house. :rolleyes:

stolt

I'm not going to make any judgements here but I would say just pay the 20k and get him out of your life. otherwise its always going to be like this, I'm a great believer in what goes around comes around. Was the house purchased soley with your money or did he front some money up for the house when buying it.
Trust me I do understand where your coming from i had a similar situation about 6 years back and paid my ex girlfriend 11k i kept the house sold it two years later for a 50k profit, you might get lucky and it happen to you when you finally come to sell it yourself.

you will know in your own mind then that you own this house yourself without any of the other crap coming into play.

good luck