Buying house together, what happens to previous asset?

Noctu

Hi guys, just a quick question:

I don't own a house, my partner does. He's got a mortgage of approx 43000 and has paid approx £6000 off it so far.

We're looking to buy our own property together in the future.

I don't want to "ignore" the fact that he'd be contributing £6k to the new house... and want it all to be equal... so I'm wondering what people normally do in this situation?

Thanks

Jei70

Save up so you contribute exactly the same...? And depending on how far in the future, it's likely to be more than 6k.

I personally haven't done it yet (we're living in my property) but once we buy together we will be putting in equal amounts, both as a deposit and in mortgage payments.

bees_2

When you see your solicitor ask them to put a thing in the deeds (or whatever) to mention that in the case of splitting up or any other unplanned event that the first 6k goes to him and the rest be divided equally.

But as for it not being equal, life's just like that sometimes, you contribute different things in different ways. don't fret it

krispy444

You could hold the property as Tenants in Common and get a Declaration of Trust Deed drawn up stating that when you come to sell he should get his £6,000 back, and split the rest. Hope this helps. If you hold it as tenants in common you both need Wills.

Welshlassie

I was in a similar position, when I married my DH he had a house that had almost doubled in value and he had a deposit of £8k and paid off approx £4k. We then kept that house, taking the equity out of it to purchase a larger house. We have not had the deeds changed in any way other than adding me to the deeds on the original house. He said there would have been no way he could have afforded to do what he did without the contribution of my salary (I earn a fair bit more than him) and that made us equal.

We plan on staying together for the rest of our lifes and he will be giving up work when our baby arrives so won't be contributing financial to the household at all, therefore giving me a chance to "catch up" if you like. It wasn't planned that way, just the way it ended up.

Life isn't alway equal and you have to ask yourself and your partner does it really matter.

Rupa

Surely he should not get his £6,000 back; he should get the percentage back that that represents???

Timmne

A bit controversial I know, but...

Why are you planning to break up with someone you're only just moving in with? By saying "in the event of us breaking up" it just means that you don't wholly trust each other. You should probably reconsider moving in if £6k means so much that you want the solicitor to write an agreement for it!

belfastgirl23

TBH in the whole housebuying extravaganza, 6k is next to nothing. I contributed a bit more than DH to our first house (about 7 yrs ago) which he wasn't exactly comfortable about but in the mists of time it doesn't matter at all. If you are really unhappy about it I'd suggest looking to make overpayments over time to the tune of the extra £6k once you have the mortgage at whatever rate you can afford.

Noctu

Timmne wrote: »

A bit controversial I know, but...

Why are you planning to break up with someone you're only just moving in with? By saying "in the event of us breaking up"

... where did I say that?

We don't plan on breaking up (and are getting married in the next few years), I was just wondering how people have dealt with this in the past - my OH isn't bothered about it but I just wanted to know what was the "done thing" IYKWIM. We've actually been living together for 1.5 years now, but I haven't been able to contribute to the mortgage (just half the bills) due to my student income.

I'm the kinda girl who wants finances to be equal if possible - some of my friends get their boyfriends to pay for everything if they ever go out (meal, shopping, drinks) and I prefer to pay my own way But of course it's different when you get a house, it's a joint commitment.. so I was seeking clarification on the matter.

Noctu

Welshlassie wrote: »

I was in a similar position, when I married my DH he had a house that had almost doubled in value and he had a deposit of £8k and paid off approx £4k. We then kept that house, taking the equity out of it to purchase a larger house. We have not had the deeds changed in any way other than adding me to the deeds on the original house. He said there would have been no way he could have afforded to do what he did without the contribution of my salary (I earn a fair bit more than him) and that made us equal.

We plan on staying together for the rest of our lifes and he will be giving up work when our baby arrives so won't be contributing financial to the household at all, therefore giving me a chance to "catch up" if you like. It wasn't planned that way, just the way it ended up.

Life isn't alway equal and you have to ask yourself and your partner does it really matter.

That's a good perspective - I haven't been able to contribute anything significant towards the mortgage (full time uni student on a loan) and I guess I feel a little guilty.

Thanks for the input

Timmne

Yeah I see that - hopefully you will see why I have my view and where I was coming from.

Yours is an interesting point where you say he's not bothered (it's usually the one with the money that's worrying) - if he's not bothered, why are you? When I moved in with my GF I paid thousands in fees and deposit etc but I son't see our relationship as separate, what's mine is hers and vice-versa.

If you start saying that you owe him £6k now, where does that leave you when (if) you have kids, who pays for the retirement coach trips, who pays for the broken down, shared car? Surely £6k will disappear soon enough into the scheme of things - pretty much as Belfastgirl above says....