My rights with money left after sale of our house.

Quirkylaura

Hi,

Me and my ex bought a new home in 2012 via a first time buyer scheme, where we were loaned 20% to the value of the house and only had to pay 5% on the remaining amount that worked out around £11000. At the time I had about £4000 saved and my ex about £12000, though my income was £33000 pa and his £16000 pa. He ended up paying the deposit and I payed for furniture, get the garden done etc. which used up my £4000 savings. I also payed about £200 more to the mortgage a month then he did. I don't know how that happened it just did because, now I look back, I was a bit of a pushover and he expected me to pay for everything.

In march this year we broke up, I'd had enough of him using me and my money while at the same time acting like a child. By this point I have got a new job that pays more, whilst he is in the same job. I moved out as I was the only one that could afford it in April, but continued to pay my half the mortgage (though somehow, was actually £100 more then my half because I felt guilty leaving him financially worse off) and paying for rent for my own place whilst this house was being sold. We spoke to a financial advisor who said the money we would get back from the sale of the house as of then was around £8000. My ex, because he payed the deposit, expected all of that, and I was too soft again to argue. I continue to pay my half for the next 6 months. The furniture was to be mine and I was going to sell it for as much as I could when the buyer asked for the place to be furnished, to which we asked for an additional £2500 on the house and he agreed. Again, my ex expected that all to be his.

I spoke to him and he said he would let me have £1750. I don't know why but I keep thinking he is in charge and he is taking advantage of me and my earnings, seen as I helped pay for him to live at the house when I moved out. At this rate if I just handed the mortgage over to him then I would at least be nearly £3000 better off then with £1750.

It works out the money additionally I have put in to the house (furniture, higher mortgage payments etc) is equal or a little higher then his initial deposit.

On the paperwork for the mortgage we own the house 50/50. Does that mean that I am entitled to 50% regardless of who payed what?

Sorry for the long post, I know it's not huge quantities of money but would like to know where I stand with this. I have worried about leaving him worse off all this time when as a result I have also lost a lot of money and he doesn't care and feels he is entitled to all the money because I earn a higher wage. How do I go about this? He doesn't listen to reasonable argument because he lives in his own bubble so worry if I say I want half now he we take it all from our joint account when it gets paid before I get there. The house is finally sold on November 7th.

Thank you for your time.

john_white

What does the trust deed you had drawn up by the solicitor at time of purchase?

Annisele

Quirkylaura wrote: »

He doesn't listen to reasonable argument because he lives in his own bubble so worry if I say I want half now he we take it all from our joint account when it gets paid before I get there.

Apart from anything else, why on earth do you still have a joint account with your ex? And why are your wages going into it? You need to get that closed as soon as you can.

And for the house - as John White asks, did you have a trust deed?

agrinnall

It's not clear if you were married to your ex or not. If you were then this should be dealt with when your solicitors work out the financial settlement. If you weren't married then it may still be worth seeing a solicitor to get proper legal advice on what you should be due from the sale.

pinkshoes

Your ex is a tw*t and you seem to be a doormat.

Either stand up for yourself and demand half the money, or walk away.

I would work out how much you have both paid since you have owned it, and then split any equity (after sale of furniture) as 50/50.

Has the property dropped in value, and hence he has lost his deposit?

TBagpuss

I assume that you are not married, and that you did not have a declaration at the time you bought the property, and that you therefore own the property as joint tenants not as tenants in common.

If so, then the starting point is an assumption that you split the equity 50/50.

Start by writing (paper and ink, and keep a copy) to your conveyancer. Say that they do not have your authority to pay any of the sale proceeds of the house or furniture to him, or into any joint account, without written authority from both of you, and ask them to confirm those instructions in writing.

They are acting for both of you, so theywill have to tell him that you have given those instructions, and they would normally then urge you both to get separate, independent advice and to tell them once you have agreed on the distribution of the sale proceeds.

You have two options.

One: tell him that far as you are concerned, you are joint owners, each equally entitled to the equity having each made equal, but different, contributions. He paid more up front and you have paid more ever since. You can also argue that he should pay back to you the money you have paid in mortgage interest since you separated, as he was benefitting from loving in the house and you were not (it would not have been unreasonable for him to be paying you 'occupation rent' during this period.

Two: Work out what each of you has paid. He paid £12,000 and you paid £4,000 when you bought the house, so he starts off with £12,000 in his column, and you start out with £4,000 in yours. You then paid £200 per month more than him so assuming you've owned the house for 2 years, that puts £2,400 in your column.
So, if there is enough equity, he gets £12,000 and you get £6,400.
If there is less than £18,400 equity (including the value of the furniture) then he gets 65% and you get 35%. So if the equity will be £10,500 then he would get £6,847 and you would get £2,675.

If you were only paying £100 extra, not £200 extra for part of the time then obviously you need to adjust the figures, and if you want to take into account occupation rent then you need to work out what that would be normally the proportion of the payments you made which were interest, rather than capital).

If the two of you do still have a joint account then it would be sensible to close this ASAP.

enthusiasticsaver

Legally you should be entitled to split the equity 50/50 and your earnings are irrelevant. If you feel that you have put in enough over the last two years to cancel the gap between his deposit and yours then I would insist on that being the case. You should speak to your solicitor and find out where the money is going to be transferred to. In the case of joint properties they do like to send any proceeds of sale to a joint account unless you can come to an agreement with your ex and ask the solicitor to actually split the proceeds between two separate bank accounts but that will incur two transfer fees (about £35) but you will both need to agree to that.

Thrugelmir

Unless you wish to waste money on solicitors fees. Split the equity 50/50 and put the whole matter down to experience.