Buying a house - what is a fair split between partners?

**sparkles**

Panda78 wrote: »

I'm having a document drawn up which states that i get £80K back in the event of a split, whether our property value falls or rises. If my partner doesn't like it, he doesn't have to sign. At the end of the day, he is not putting a penny towards the deposit and we are not married, so i have to protect my own future.

Hi Panda,

can i ask what the document is, who's drawing it up for you and the costs involved?

myself and my partner are looking to get something similar drawn up, but i dont know much about it.

thanks

BitterAndTwisted

It's called a Deed of Trust. You need a solicitor to draw it up for you once you've arrived at your decision about every eventuality you can think of.

Mojisola

There's lots of useful stuff about living together here - https://www.advicenow.org.uk/living-together/

Panda78

greenjellybean wrote: »

You are like me Panda. I would also be happy just to secure my deposit but then I think if the property increases in value, why should my partner make £10k (for example) when he hasn't really done anything for that? That makes me sound very mercenary but really, he has only been able to live in this nice house because of the money I have previously saved. Who are you getting to draw up your document?

**sparkles** wrote: »

Hi Panda,

can i ask what the document is, who's drawing it up for you and the costs involved?

myself and my partner are looking to get something similar drawn up, but i dont know much about it.

thanks

Hello to you both. BitterandTwisted has already replied now, but just to confirm, we are getting a Deed of Trust signed, which as far as i know can specify anything you want, it's basically just a legal agreement. My local solicitor will arrange this. I haven't got an individual cost yet, as we are still looking for a house.

There's a good article about it here;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2005/aug/20/divorce.jobsandmoney

Sleepy_head_2

Hi

I recently sought legal advice regarding my house and was told that as it's in my name along with the mortgage and I pay all the bills my (now ex) BF had no claim to anything as a court would simply see him as a lodger. He simply paid me a weekly rent and I sorted the rest. I was told however that if we got engaged, married or had children the whole legals changed and to protect myself I would need some sort of cohabitation agreement.

So although he said he could draw something up for us now, there was no point and I should spend my money on something else.

My advice would be to see a Solicitor as they will be able to assess your personal circumstances and work out exactly what you need

Hope this helps

Sleepy head

AMO

It's interesting to see how the morals and values of people change over time. There is no right and wrong, but here's my view.

In the old days, people got married and shared everything. In today's try before you buy test drive world, people travel more and see a lot more of the world and so people change a lot so that they may no longer be compatible over time.

On the one hand, if you split tomorrow, you don't want the deposit to be split equally. Looking at the other end of the scale, if you were together for 50+ years, isn't it right that things are split 50/50?

At the moment, I would say that the deposit should be refunded to you if you split but that that drops by 20% year on year. At the end of 5 years if you are still together, there should be no concern over the deposit because by that time you've shared so many things in different ways that you can't measure an intimate partnership just by the initial deposit of 5 years ago.

With regards to equity, your partner is 100% correct. Equity is vapour money. Whilst you're both sitting on the house, whether the house goes up in value or down in value, after any deposit portion is removed, it should be split 50/50 (and this could be a debt if property prices drop). Equity is measured over time and both of you are accelerating through time at the same pace building up the same equity.

If I was to list a few things in our relationship:

1) My wife is better at arranging furniture and has a keen eye for what to look for in the next house in terms of house dimensions and playrooms for putting away toys for kids and a second large room if a couple (maybe relatives come to stay). I'm a guy and I don't see these things as well. How do I measure that as we move between houses - that her choices and actions and the fact that she thinks of things that would ultimately mean that the 'house stock' that we choose as we upgrade are better choices such that we get a better overall return over time and with every move?

2) Whereas I've a more bachelor, anything will do attitude, to choosing curtains and other fittings, my wife (previously girlfriend) will take the time to look at all different combinations of fixtures and fittings to make the place look good. Again this adds to house sale value when we're selling our house. How do I measure that?

And what happens when the kids come along. Statistically, although the free time of both parents will be greatly diminished as they look after the kids, statistically, the guy will have more nights out than the girl, visiting mates for a lads night in or out.

In my opinion, you can only look at life the way you do in the very short term. If you've already been with the girl for a while, your money should be shared by now anyway. If not, then the deposit should be yours but reducing over time.

It is not fair to say that in 50 years time, the girl is left with nothing.

InMyDreams

Great post, AMO.

It saddens me that these days 'equality' and 'value' are purely measured in £££ by so many.