Law for non married couples for property when they split up

pusscat

Mr P and I have lived together for years and are not married. we have bought as tennants in common with unequal shares in the property (reflects the amount we each brought to the party!) We also have a co-habitation agreement which sets out who put in how much, and what we will do in the event of a split - we havea greed to each take our own deposit back, but to split any profit/loss ont he property 50/50. The co-hab also covers other assets such as joint belongings.

We also have a joint mortgage and we both earn a similar amount so we just pool all of our money. We have been together years though.....and are quite a bit older than you guys!

So long as all parties are clear on what they are putting in and what they expect back - and so long as all of this is drawn up legally you should be fine. Co-habs were a couple of hundred pounds each via the solicitors.

Good luck

Puss

xx

prudryden

thesaint wrote: »

No such law as common-law partners on civvy street.

Common law partners is a myth.

pollyanna24

From all this on here, it looks as though me and my bf were very naive. We got together in 1999 when we were 18 and bought a house when we were 21. There was no question of who gets what if we split, we just bought it. We are on similar wages, so I suppose we figured that if we split, we'd just sell the house and go 50/50.

We sold the house and have since bought another one (with a bigger mortgage). We split everything 50/50 (i.e. our wages go into the joint account).

And also, we are just north of London and both work in London.

Phirefly

I'm quite surprised how many people think the OP paying her boyfriend 'rent' isn't really on. I think its ideal for all parties. Especially if she's only paying a nominal sum. I think for him to call it 'rent' just makes it clear to both of them why she's paying it and what its for. Seems perfectly normal to me.

Two of my best friends had a similar arrangement and it worked fine. She owned the house and was paying about £700 p/m mortgage repayments. His rent in a similar property would have been about £600 p/m. When he moved in with her he paid her £350 p/m 'rent' and they split all the bills in half. I don't think he ever thought this contribution would ever entitle him to any stake in the property if they split. It always seemed like a good approach to me. Must have worked out ok cos they got married this year

Melissa177

But what if you split up?

The "rent" has actually been towards the mortgage payment, and then the person who lives in the house is left with nothing because the house isn't in their name.

So they have been contributing the mortgage, but receive nothing if there is a split?

Doesn't seem quite right...

I'm glad it worked out for your friends though!

prudryden

The choices are to buy or to rent. Either way it is a joint effort and one should contribute according to your means or other imput. e.g. Are you also expected to do all the cooking, shopping, ironing, cleaning, household management or will that also be a joint endeavour?

I reckon my wife should get a minimum £10/hour or more for all she does because I'm useless. That's probably £100/day.

Legally, you would have no claim on the property - conversely, you would have no liability towards the mortgage or any equity shortfall if, for any reason, repossession is necessary.

Phirefly

You're right Melissa- I've just re-read the op's initial post and I hadn't really taken on board the fact that they're about to embark on this new property together. My friends were different in that She bought the house around about the time they first started seeing eachother and He didn't move in till a good 6 months later.

Mr Phirefly and I (we're not married) have just bought our 1st house together after renting together for 2 years. As Pusscat says, we are tennants in common with a percentage share each in the property as it was my money used for the deposit but we split the mortgage 50/50.

Bearing all this in mind, it would be wise for the OP and her boyfriend to rent together for a while if they aren't already, then think about buying. If the OPs boyfriend is keen to buy right now, then why not look into a joint purchase with a tennant in common agreement and something legal in writing about her % contibution to the mortgage.

Phirefly

prudryden wrote: »

I reckon my wife should get a minimum £10/hour or more for all she does because I'm useless. That's probably £100/day.

That sounds like a fine deal - perhaps you could 'ave a word in Mr Phirefly's shell like

sciencegeek

this all seems very complicated...

trying to work things out based upon someone paying more deposit... someone pays more bills... someone does the ironing...someone earns 2.5x what the other one does... etc etc

Why not just get married and then you can just work along 50/50 guidelines!:rotfl:

I always think it amusing when one person goes to work and the other stays at home and its considered to be an equal contribution to the household! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be the one staying at home but unfortunately (?) my wage is considerably larger than my partners at the moment so if anyone was to stay at home (to care for any future sprogs etc) it makes sense for it to be her boo hoo.

pinkshoes

If the OP can afford to buy a house on her own, and if by living with her partner this is jeapodising her chance of buying on her own, then she should offer to pay a % of her boyfriend's mortgage, in return for a share of the house (i.e. pay 40% of the mortgage thus owning a 40% stake in the house price), then she should also pay 1/2 of the bills, as she'd have to do this in a house share anyway.

I think it's quite reasonable for her to pay 'rent' to her b/f, because otherwise she's expecting to live rent free in his house... and maybe if he was single, he'd be getting a tenant to help pay his mortgage, and if she was single, she'd certainly have to pay rent! (and i'm sure a tenant wouldn't be demanding a % of the house if he/she moved out!!!).