Beneficial interest..help please

luckylady45

Hi all

I live with my BF in his house, his name only on deeds and morgage.
I pay utility bils and food.I have lived here for 11 years

Who decides if I have a beneficial interest in his house either in IVA or bankruptcy.

If I am deemed to have such an interest how do you work out how much and what it would cost for bf to buy it back ??

There is currently approx 50K equity in property.
In IVA I understand you can opt for a release of equity towards end of IVA but I cannot put a charge on his house can I ?? and if I could how would I afford it as all my dispo income would be going in IVA.Also BF cant really afford to put extra on the morgage as his income doesnt allow

If I went BK would the OR decide about the beneficial interest but again how would the money to buy the BI be sorted if bf couldnt afford it.

Do they have the power to make BF sell his house to cover my debts ???? that cannot be fair surely that he be made homeless when the debt is in my name
Thanks
LL

backontheup

I was in the same position. My name are not on the deeds of mortgage, and when I went bankrupt, they were not interested in my current property atall. They asked my status at the address and I told them that I just live there without paying rent (which is true)

As long as it is seen that you are not handing over big chunks of money to your boyfriend every month, you should be OK, as you are not directly contributing to the mortgage. The money that you are paying for food and bills are just that - you would have to pay that wherever you lived.

zzzLazyDaisy

If the your BF already had the house when you moved in it is very unlikely that they will be interested.

If you were already living together when you bought the house then they might be interested. However, if there is a mortgage you would almost certainly have had to sign a document confirming that you have no beneficial interest in the house. If such a document exists, you can rely on it as evidence.

luckylady45

thanks backontheup and zzzlazydaisy for the replies.

BF moved in with me in my rented house for 2 months as we were going to rent somewhere together but he then decided to buy.

I didnt sign anything about the morgage as its in his name other than I was an occupier in the house.

The solicitor put a restriction on the deeds saying that BF could not sell without my consent/knowledge as essentially I would be homeless.

Thanks again
LL

Sooty0404

BE CAREFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 11 years the OR may well decide that you have contributed enough to have a beneficial interest in the house in much the same way as you may make a claim if you and your boyfriend were to separate.

You need to clarify this position before entering into bankruptcy or an IVA.

I have just made similar enquiries and, although our house is my wife's name it is not guaranteed that the house would not be taken into consideration with regard to my debts. The law changed some time ago to prevent people putting all their assets into other names before going bankrupt - this was a common loophole - you may wish to post details of your debts to see if anyone here can offer alternative advice.

luckylady45

thanks sooty
I am in process of IVA at the moment and BK would be PLAN B.....

I wonder if I could go to a solicitor ( free 1/2 hour ) and see what they think

Lots of posts on other sites seem to be of the opinion that there are NO hard and fast rules and that its up to the individual OR.

Also if I do have BI then again it depends on the OR as to what % they would say ???????

Thanks
LL