Can I dispute equity split from house sale

garythephotoman

Hi Guys and first of all a big thanks in advance to all those who offer their time and knowledge to help others.

I'll try be concise and brief.
I purchased an house with ex partner 2 years ago. I paid £25k deposit on mortgage and had a declaration of trust made up for that amount. Partner had no savings.
After 12 months of living together all went pear shaped and ex partner moved out refusing to pay any part of mortgage payment. I continued to make the mortgage payments alone for last 12 months why house has been up for sale. This has crippled me financially but I did not want to go down the reposession route..
House is now sold and £10k equity has built up which solicitors are waiting for me to agree and release for a 50/50 split. I know the figures are not huge but the principle gets my goat up. I approached the ex and said, would you be prepared to accept 3k and me have 7k as a gesture of good will for me keeping the mortgage payments going. She would then come out with a profit and I still make a loss.... The reply was and I kid you not 'women screw guys all the time in these matters so accept it.'

My point is that surely this can not be right after I have put so much more into it than the ex?

FBaby

You need to speak to a solicitor to consider whether the release of the declaration of trust takes precedende over the share of the equity.

What a horrible woman. I really hope she doesn't get a penny of it.

peachyprice

Is the £10k before or after you've had your £25k back?

garythephotoman

My 25k is safe and thank goodness I had an agreement made up.. which she did not approve of..The £10k equity is after I have had my deposit returned but I will still make a loss despite having made over 12k mortgage payments alone plus house maintenance costs etc

browneyedbazzi

The whole point of a declaration of trust is that it sets out what happens if the relationship breaks down and the house is sold - in order to stop arguments about how funds will be distributed. You could have had a declaration drawn up that calculated each party's share by working out what they paid in (including ongoing mortgage payments) but it sounds like you went with a fairly simple one that sets your deposit aside then divides what is left in two. If that's what you agreed to in the declaration then that's what you are stuck with.

FBaby

Sorry for misunderstanding, thank god your deposit is protected.

It is indeed a pity you didn't protect your interests further. The moment you separated and she made it clear she wasn't going to pay the rest, you should have had the house value then and draw an agreement that she would only be entitled to half the equity up to that point. Your problem now is that as you didn't do that, how can you prove that the full equity wasn't accumulated the first year when she did pay her half rather than across the two years (or even solely the second year when you paid it all?).

roobee13

Does the agreement state a 50/50 split of equity (sorry, can't gather if it does from above posts)? If not I would dispute it. Have you got bank statements etc proving you've been keeping the house afloat (at a detriment to youself) for the last year?

Are you using separate solicitors? If so, then as yours works for you and they're both waiting on your say, surely you can say no to 50/50?

If I were you I'd stand your ground and push for the £7k/3k split. Having been through a contentious house sale/separation myself my advice is don't let your ex walk over you.

Good luck OP.

Jagraf

Can I just ask, where did she move to and did she pay rent? What have her expenses been?

I'm just wondering why she left the house.

I'm not defending, I'm just thinking, if she moved because you couldn't live together, she possibly has the same expenses as you.

garythephotoman

Thanks for all comments.. In response to Jagraf, yes we did agree that ex partner should move out to rented house and I was aware then that she would not contribute to mortgage. I understand that. but just thought it would only be right that equity gained in the property since she left should come to myself. I know now that this is a little naivety on my part.

After checking my declaration of trust, my deposit is taken out first followed by a 50/50 split in any equity. I admit that this was an oversight on my part for not being more thorough when I had the document drawn up. I can't help thinking that more advice should have been given by the legal conveyancer who drew up the document. But hey ho you live and learn and and maybe I was to 'loved up' to listen. I just hope this thread will help someone to avoid the same mistakes and possibly losing much more than myself.

Person_one

Just let it go.

You have a legal document drawn up very recently setting out exactly what was to happen in exactly this situation, and personally I think the terms you agreed to were very fair. Is it really worth the energy and expense of trying to change that for the sake of 2 grand?

I'm sure there were lots of reasons for your breakup and that she's had her own issues to deal with since you've been apart, there's very rarely one good guy and one baddie in these circumstances.

Homeownertobe

Person_one wrote: »

Just let it go.

You have a legal document drawn up very recently setting out exactly what was to happen in exactly this situation, and personally I think the terms you agreed to were very fair. Is it really worth the energy and expense of trying to change that for the sake of 2 grand?

I'm sure there were lots of reasons for your breakup and that she's had her own issues to deal with since you've been apart, there's very rarely one good guy and one baddie in these circumstances.

How is it 'very fair' for one party to make a profit and another a loss?

Oh, because the party making a profit is female. Silly me.