Relationship split

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I think sometimes that relationships are a gamble or an investment.

He's invested in the property in the hope that the relationship and the increase in home value will provide a satisfactory return.

But the venture has failed.

Investors in shares don't get their money back if a company ceases trading. Why should this be any different?

FBaby

The bottom line is that the outcome will depend on the judge/lawers he hires. Officially by law, he would be entitled to nothing. If he decides to take her to court, a judge could decide that as they had only been together under 2 years, there is nothing he can really claim and it was his learning mistake to invest without protecting his interests OR a judge might decide that he does have enough evidence that the deposit he put in was under an understanding that this was an investment and agreed as such and that he did make payment towards the mortgage that showed an interest in the property. It might come down to some emails where for exemple your girlfriend agrees that the £5,000 was as an investment towards the property and that she agrees that once he moved in, she would put his name on the mortgage/deeds (but then always delayed it happening), and his monthly contribution was via direct debit clearly stating 'towards mortgage payments'...

You are clearly not interested in morals, but surely if there is denying that he gave her £5,000 towards the house, somehow had an affair and kick him out after 18 months to be with you, aren't you worry about what that says about her? Even if he was abusing towards her, let's assume, it is still right that he should get at least some of his money back. Who is stupid enough to give £5,000 as a gift without expecting some kind of return for it?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Tbh, as five grand over twelve months equates to about £466 PCM, it sounds about right for rent for the year. Especially if he got sex thrown in for free.

FBaby

It's 16 months, not 12, and he has contributed £2.5K in mortgage contribution in addition to the initial £5K. We don't know if he also contributed to bills.

The bottom line is in the original agreement. If he agreed that he would pay rent to her every month, then that's what it is and can't be recouped. However, Op refers to a 'deposit' and 'mortgage payments' which leads to believe that that was indeed their mutual understanding.

I am currently living in my partner's house. We shall be married soon and therefore can't be bothered to go with official arrangements before, however, my monthly direct debits states clearly that they are for contribution of the bills and mortgage, so there would no confusion if something happened.

kittycatface

Depending on what happened during the relationship you could request support from a local womens aid. Financial abuse (and I'm not saying it is from the info in your post before other Msers hang me!) is still abuse and local women's aid normally offer a free hr solicitor appt where the ins and outs can be advised on.

However if the agreement was a verbal one and your friend's in work (therefore not entitled to legal aid) I would strongly suggest that you do nothing, and wait for him to bring it to court if a) he has the money to engage a solicitor or b) he thinks he has a leg to stand on. Then seek advice. It's hard sitting on tenterhooks like that but I think and I'm not a legal professional mind you, that as the relevant stuff is in her name, then she holds the property rights.

Bear in mind also that although he may be requesting money back etc etc, any unwarranted or vindictive contact can constitute harrassment and if she is at all worried about him turning up at the house and kicking off ring police on 101 and make a non emergency report, then if he does come knocking the police will already be aware of the address and take any threats seriously. I would also strongly recommend that she keep in a separate folder in her email/phone any contact made by the person concerned for future reference/proof if necessary. This also applies to any bits of paper/bank statements/bills etc. Forearmed is forewarned and morality doesnt come into it, the law does!! good luck

Be aware also that he may have incurred loans/debts in his own name giving the address of your friends home. In this case seek advice from CAB

C_Mababejive

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Tbh, as five grand over twelve months equates to about £466 PCM, it sounds about right for rent for the year. Especially if he got sex thrown in for free.

She got free sex as well :j

maman

Mojisola wrote: »

He shouldn't be able to walk away with everything he's put in otherwise he'll have been living there for free. If he hadn't been paying into the joint household, he would have been paying rent somewhere, wouldn't he?

A bit of rough maths tells me that if he contributed £7 500 over 16 months, he's lived there for about £120 a week. That sounds good to me.

Do pay for some time with a solicitor, it'll be money well spent.

FBaby

maman wrote: »

A bit of rough maths tells me that if he contributed £7 500 over 16 months, he's lived there for about £120 a week. That sounds good to me.

Do pay for some time with a solicitor, it'll be money well spent.

How can you make that judgement? You don't know where in the country it is, the type of property, whether it included bills or not.