I'm not on the mortgage - what are my rights?

MrsKrepsly

Not sure if this is the right board but my problem is that when partner and I decided to buy a house together, I was a full time student so apparantly couldn't be included on the mortgage. Therefore, "our" house is soley in his name despite the fact that I contributed £2000 towards the deposit and have paid towards monthly mortgage payments ever since we moved in. I have also contributed to household items, home improvements and general upkeep of the property. If ever I bring it up with my partner that I feel like I'm in a vulnerable position he gets all defensive and says he can't do anything about it. I've talked about deed of trust but he starts waffling on making it so complicated, going on about how he'd want it to cover various items of furniture etc that I just end up giving up on it. He's now told me that we can save money in an isa in my name and that can be my "insurance" but since we're never out of the overdraft, this money will never be saved. Apart from that, it still doesn't give me security against him chucking me out, selling without my consent, selling the house at a profit (which it would sell at a profit baring in mind we got £10k knocked off initial asking price and it was already selling below what it was worth not to mention home improvements etc, he'd make a fortune on it if he sold it) and if he died, the house would go to his kids and I'd be homeless!

Am I being unfair here?? should he really pull his finger out and give me rights to my own home or am I expecting too much?

Foxy-Stoat_3

Get married, job done !

How old are his kids....has he made a will?

Whats the value of the property and current mortgage?

chelseablue

Im not an expert at all so I would advise going to see a solicitor.

Some of them offer a free initial appointment just for advice

It sounds like he's trying to avoid adding you to the property, but then I always think the worst!

MrsKrepsly

Well we're supposedly getting married next year but I'm starting to have my suspicions that this is a way to keep me "happy" for a year and when it comes down to it, the excuse will be "we can't afford it yet". He's already hinting at that!!

His kids are 18 and 17 years old. He has a will in which he leaves everything to his kids and mother, this was written before we got together but he's not bothered to change it. He says he's named me as beneficiary to his pension but I have seen no evidence of this.

The house is worth around £170k. The mortgage is for around £125k.

antrobus

Your partner is the sole legal owner of the property. However, since you have contributed towards the deposit and have paid towards monthly mortgage payments on the property, and you are both living together as man and wife, you clearly have a claim to being a beneficial owner of the property. This kind of situation is not uncommon; there is a whole bunch of law dealing with it, starting with the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA 1996), which boils down to the conclusion that if you went to court, the court would almost certainly award you a share of the property.

MrsKrepsly wrote: »

....should he really pull his finger out and give me rights to my own home or am I expecting too much?

It would help if he did indeed put his name to some document that made your interest clear. However it is beyond the scope of this forum to knock sense into random strangers.

MrsKrepsly wrote: »

Well we're supposedly getting married next year ....

Getting married would make things a lot easier.

Wh05apk

Potentially if you fought this through the courts you could get a share of the equity, less any legal fees, so probably nothing.


This is a clear cut case of why the mortgage should have been done in joint names, the fact that you contributed to the deposit makes me feel that the original application was "fudged" the lender would not have allowed you to contribute and live in the property.


The fact that you were a full time student should not have made any difference, again I suspect the lender was not aware of you as a dependent? if they were it would have impacted on affordability, which may be why you were not included? the "advisor" pretending you did not exist.


Where was the mortgage application made? lender direct/estate agent/mortgage broker?

MrsKrepsly

I was not really involved in the initial application, I remember him saying he'd applied in joint names and got refused as I was not earning and had dependents (2 kids) and he also paid maintenance for his own kids. Therefore, he made another application with the help of a mortgage adviser (who also happened to be a mate of his) where he applied as a sole applicant with no dependents. The application was made at an estate agents.
What gets me is that even if it's all legit that I couldn't be included on the initial application, surely now we could draw up a deed or trust or something to secure my rights? Is this as difficult as he makes out or is he simply making excuses?

stephenni1971

Something you could do now is to get a JOINT life insurance policy for the amount of your mortgage.

Also have him write a will leaving you his share and interest in the property.

That way if he pops his clogs you will be safeguarded.

Wh05apk

MrsKrepsly wrote: »

I was not really involved in the initial application, I remember him saying he'd applied in joint names and got refused as I was not earning and had dependents (2 kids) and he also paid maintenance for his own kids. Therefore, he made another application with the help of a mortgage adviser (who also happened to be a mate of his) where he applied as a sole applicant with no dependents. The application was made at an estate agents.
What gets me is that even if it's all legit that I couldn't be included on the initial application, surely now we could draw up a deed or trust or something to secure my rights? Is this as difficult as he makes out or is he simply making excuses?

He couldn't have applied in joint names without your knowledge, by applying in sole name presumably he has not declared you as dependents, so it was a potentially fraudulent application.


As Stephenni says, life cover on him and a will would help in the event of his death, but suggest when the opportunity comes to remortgage, suggest you look at doing in joint names.

gemstars

Other's on here will know better than me, but no I don't think a deed of trust is as complicated as your partner is making it out to be.

When my partner and I bought our house I provided the deposit and I also pay the 10% overpayments each year. We essentially just wrote a letter to each other confirming what would happen if the house was sold and confirming we both agreed to it. It was pretty simple really.

SuzieSue

MrsKrepsly wrote: »

Well we're supposedly getting married next year but I'm starting to have my suspicions that this is a way to keep me "happy" for a year and when it comes down to it, the excuse will be "we can't afford it yet". He's already hinting at that!!

.

We got married at a registry office and everything cost around £200 (we didn't tell anyone and just had passers-by as witnesses). You can have a proper do when you can afford it.