Relationship Breakup - House situation

j69ant

Me and my Fiance are splitting up after 4 years together. We brought a house about 18 months ago. I paid the deposit for the house and the mortgage repayments get taken from my bank account. We initially devided the repayments and bills between us, her paying me half of what was taken from my account each month. All was Fine until about 6 months ago, when she brought a horse and met a new bunch of friends. Since then she spends every spare hour with the horse, and all her cash on it. Her friends all own busineses etc and can afford this lifestyle but she is living behond her income, and hasnt been contributing to any repayments / bills since October last year. I was hoping it was a phase, that would pass her by, hense why i didnt end it etc but she has now decided she wants another horse, and that we should split. She wants to sell the house / me buy her out , so she can spend money on horses. Its a very immature attitude considering she needs to live somewhere ??? , but ive gone past caring now.

My issue is the increase in house value. The house has probably gone up by £30k since we brought it. I have also done a lot of work on it myself, which has probably aided the increase. She wants half of the profit since buying the house, although she hasnt actually been paying the mortgage for over 6 months and owes me nearly 2K for the mortgage / bills ive paid.

When we brought the house i think we agreed to split the house profit if we ever split, but i dont think we signed anything saying that, as i found an agreement that was drawn up, but never signed.

Is it likelly i need to pay her 1/2 of the house value increase, or can i argue that she didnt contribute for the last 6 months, and used the house like a free hotel

Cheers for any help

Anthony

We_Laugh_Indoors

i think the best bet would be to get legal advice on the matter from somebody qualified.

if you have proof she has not been paying anything that will likely swing things slightly in your favour.

rchddap1

If I read your post correctly you aren't married to her yet. I am also assuming that it is both of your names on the deeds of the house. In this situation she would of course be entitled to half of the value of the house.

From your post it sounds like you intend to go through divorce proceedures. However, you aren't married to her if she is only your fiance. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but it looks to me that the only thing that is binding you is the house.

I would encourage you to talk to her about the bills that she hasn't paid over the past 6 months. Would she agree to reduce the cost of her part of the house by £2k because of she hasn't paid her part of the mortgage over the past 6 months. You will also have to talk about how you are going to allocate the costs of selling her part of the house to you (deed changes, change to mortgage etc...)

Another thing that would be worth doing is having a quick chat with a legal bod. You would have to use a solicitor anyway if the house is sold, or if you buy her half of the house. They could probably advise you much better than anyone here.

Finally, consider how this is making you feel right now. From the tone of your post you seem very angry with her. Try to calm down and look at things objectively. If she expects this to be sorted within a week or so then I suspect that she will be sadly mistaken. But from the sounds of it you are better off out of this relationship.

chugalug

You probably need to post a bit more information although ultimately you would have to take legal advice on this. Is this a joint mortgage? Are both your names on the deeds? If so neither of you can do anything about the property without the others agreement - probably best to work out figures before you go to a solicitor! If her name is not on the mortgage then different situation but I would assume she would not enter into such an important financial decision without protecting her interests? Let us know.

macchicken

You dont say where you stay, but if its scotalnd and you have been living together for more that six months then your married in common law (donno about england) so basically you'll have to get 'divorced' lawyers, letters, huge fees messy!!!!!!!!!!!!
Firstly try and sit her down and ask if this can be resolved between the two of you without lawyers! Try to be fair and explain how you feel! If she having none of it then tell her to get herself a lawyer!
Dont be walked over, and try to gather as much evidence of whos paid what!
Im so sorry its all turned out so awful! Just be glad your not married!
hope all goes well

chugalug

No such thing as 'common law' (to mean married in all but name) in England. If both parties names aren't on the mortgage and there are no children then one party will have to prove 'beneficial interest'. Very difficult to do.

rchddap1

Indeed chugalug, it is a common misconception that common law actually exists. It doesn't. You don't need a divorce if you aren't actually married.

Kimberley

This is what happens when you rush into buying a house not long after meeting a new partner. I bought a house with an ex about two years after i met him, it was a big mistake because when i fell pregnant he chucked me out and i got nothing but £1.200 which was calculated from what i had payed from my wages when i was working.. It got really nasty in the end..I doubt if i will ever buy a house in joint names again. unless i was with someone for at least 7 years first..

macchicken

Scotland is one of the only places common law still applies, when i said 'Divorce' i ment theoretical!

daveboy

My personal opinion is make her go through the courts - if she is messing you about now and has been for the last 6 months then two can play at that game.

I hope, whatever you decide to do, that you end up much better off than her when it's all sorted out.

zzzLazyDaisy

Assuming you live in England, how the proceeds of the house are divided up will depend entirely on how it was bought.

If it was bought in joint names (with no allocation of shares in the house) then she gets half of the proceeds on sale after the mortgage, sols fees etc have been paid.

If it was bought in your name, you get the proceeds. If she doesn't like it she would have to take you to court, but she would have to show she had 'aqcuired' a stake in the house, which is very difficult to do unless she had paid for an extension, or something like that.