Whats my ex entitled to if we split - Joint mortgage

lofti14

So... let me explain my situation! Up until September 2013 I owned my own home in just my own name. My partner and I in September 2013 got a house together. From the sale of MY house I put forward £37,000 and my partner £0. We took the house on as a joint mortgage purely because I wasn't earning enough to get the kind of house required. Since September 2013 she has paid approx. 45% of bills and mortgage and I have paid the other 55%. We are now in the situation where we are separating and I am worried about what I may lose. I need some questions answered. In an ideal world I would get to keep the house and she would leave. Yes I would be happy to pay her ALL of what she has input since September 2013 until now (the monthly payments - totalling around £4,000 which does include bills but hey ho). HOWEVER I am under the impression that shes not happy with this and will be fighting for any equity and will not want me to stay in the house resulting in it being sold and costing me more. The house has approximately risen in value by around £8,000 - £15,000. What is she entitled to. If I don't want to sell is there anyway of keeping the house if she doesn't co operate. helppppppppppppp please

FBaby

Is it fair she should be entitled to have the equity but not that AND pay back for what she put in. It sounds like the amount is similar any way so £5000 seems reasonable based on the expected rise (are your sure it is that much though seems a lot even for London in that amount of time. Not a bad investment for less than a year.

ada-or-ardor

Just a few basics from me:

Do you own it as Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common. I assume it's Joint, because usually when you do Tenants in Common you have to specify what the split is (it can be 50:50, 70:30, or whatever you decide). If you didn't do a declaration or deed of trust, stating who would get what upon the sale of the property, then because you are both jointly and severally liable, I assume that she is "entitled" to 50% of the sale proceeds.

Next time you go in to a property purchase with such different contributions, it would be worth looking into a deed of trust to secure yourself against another similar situation.

In terms of if you didn't sell, I think it would be going down the "force a sale" route but that would get very nasty very quickly...

At the end of the day, you bought the house jointly, and now there's no legal protection. She owns the house just as much as you do. It's just that you've paid way more the privilege - it hasn't given you any more rights...

Depending on your own financial situation, it might be worth paying her off - a little bit more than the 4k you've said you'll pay her back, just to prevent a fight for the equity...? Do you think she'd be open to that?

Good luck!

RAS

You might get away with what she has paid in since September plus half theincrease in equity.

But if she wants to play hardball it will be half the current equity which sounds like £(37+ (8to15))K

lofti14

well when I was getting the dec of trust written up it was not correct and therefore its taken me a lot of time toget it in the wording I wanted it. However as seperations can happen over months its never got round to been signed. The house has increased that much as we bought a repossession at a good rate. Origianally she seemed keen to take 5k or so but lately it seems like she wants to make things more awkward and if she cant have the house she doesn't want me to have it either. I have informed her if the house sells she will get 50% of the approximate 8 - 15k equity and after fees shed b looking at only around 5k if shes lucky. am I wrong in thinkin that then and she is entitled to half of the 37 I input in the first place too~?

ada-or-ardor

You might want to talk to your solicitor, but it's a legally binding document meaning it is only valid if it's signed... If you never got round to signing it, I don't think it would stand. So at the moment, I think she would be entitled to half the equity, including yes the 37 that you put in. Do you know if you're tenants in common 50:50, or another proportion? This should be set out separately to the deed of trust: the deed of trust is "optional" but your solicitor when buying the house should have asked what split you wanted?

Kynthia

You aren't married so there isn't a divorce court who's going to split everything in half. If you two can't agree on a financial settlement then one of you will have to sue the other, and it's unlikely she'll win the money you out in as a deposit.

Unless you can afford to remortgage the property in your name only as well as pay her an amount then you are better off selling. Most people would not want to remain on the mortgage and deeds of a property they have left with an ex. She could prevent you selling in the future and ask for more money or IOU could have trouble paying the mortgage which would ruin her credit rating and they'd come after her.

It's not right that only you should benefit from the property's increased value, just as it wouldn't be fair for hero get her payments back if the property had dropped in value. The fairest thing to do is work out how much the property is now worth, deduct the outstanding mortgage amount, deduct typical selling fees (solicitor and EA), then deduct your deposit. What is left is the equity and you should both get half of that. What do you think that amount is?