Is my ex entitled to half my house

paulamarie76

Hello,

I have recently separated from my husband we have one child together and I have one child from a previous partner, we have been married 4 years and 7 months and separated for the past 4 months. We both own a company and run it together he can not afford to buy me out and nor me him so for that we just have to get on with it or neither of us earn a living.

While we were together he moved into my house that I bought almost 8 years ago, he is not named on the mortgage and none of the bills were ever in his name, he never paid for any bills, he used to pay for food shopping and petrol and anything that we decided to buy for the house. The house is not worth what I paid for it and as I put a huge deposit down well I'm lucky if I did sell I would probably just cover the cost of whats left on the mortgage plus fees. (Not so lucky I lose the 20K I put into it)

He has now moved into a place of his own and spent an extortionate amount of company money on gadgets for his new place, I know I'm entitled to take the same money out of the company too, so thats not my issue. (stupid man)

So there isn't anything he could take right now, but if we dont divorce for 2 years what if the house increases in value, would he be entitled to anything then? Should I get an appraisal done now?

many thanks in advance for any help

Guest101

The answer is maybe.

U ran a company together, so ur 'income' is joint and proveable.

Ur married for longer than the standard 2 year short marriage arrangements.

Did you both take salaries from the company or was it dividends payments?

Did he pay for holidays, uniforms, etc.

Have you made CS arrangements?

C_Mababejive

Its possible but on balance, i think its unlikely. Initiate the divorce asap and get it out of the way. If he mentions claims on your house say nothing. If he thinks he has a case, let him go take advice and initiate proceedings. He has to decide whether his investment in such advice would reap a return. I wouldnt fancy his chances.

Google Tolata..read case law.. I think your pretty safe.

WillowCat

You need to get advice, wikivorce is a good first step, or a free half hour with a solicitor.

You have a child of the marriage as well as another child of the family who will need to be housed, this strengthens your position.

It doesn't matter who paid for what, in marriage everything is joint. Did you cohabit before marriage? Any period of cohabitation is added to the length of the marriage, so your four years seven months (which is I think of the boundary of short going into medium length) may be longer.

If I interpret your post correctly, the expected equity of the house is £20k, (expected sale price minus selling fees minus outstanding mortgage). You need to get an estate agents view of the expected selling price.

As the person with care of a child you could expect to get perhaps 60% - 70% of the equity assuming there are no other assets such as pensions or savings to divide.

If you can't afford to raise this as an extension of the mortgage then you could negotiate a 'Mesher' order whereby your ex keeps an interest in the house until your child is 18 or leaves full time education.

Tolata is only relevant for cohabitees, not for married people.

I recommend you divorce sooner rather than later, and get a financial/consent order completed.

Sadly what's morally right (that you own the house and put all the money into it) is not recognised in the divorce courts....as I have learned to my cost.

rpc

There's probably a good chance that the XH can claim on the house but if there is no equity then there is nothing to claim! 50% of £0 is still £0.

WillowCat wrote: »

Sadly what's morally right (that you own the house and put all the money into it) is not recognised in the divorce courts....as I have learned to my cost.

Yeah so the hard working man that pays for the house while his wife sits at home all day should be able to boot her out on the street with nothing but the apron she is wearing. After all, that's morally right because he paid for it all.

Or maybe what is morally right is that when you agree to share your life with someone through marriage, you are expected to uphold that agreement if it falls apart. If you do not want the ties and protections offered by marriage, don't get married!

All that I am I give to you, all that I have I share with you. They aren't just words.

TBagpuss

He would not automatically get 50%, he may well be entitled to a share of the property.

It would be sensible to look at divorcing now rather than in two years so that you can resolve the financial issues, or alternatively, having a deed of separation now with a view to divorcing later.

If you cannot come to an agreement about the financial split, and a Judge was deciding, then the aim for them is to come up with a split which is fair to both of you, taking into account all the circumstances.

The starting point is an equal division, this can then be adjusted to take into account financial needs or each of you, and of any (minor) children of the family (which would include your older child, if they lived with the two of you as part of your family), you respective incomes and earning capacities, housing needs and mortgage capacity and so on. Contributions made *can* be relevant, but normally only in very short, childless marriages, or where there was an agreement n place, or sometimes where the contribution is very shortly before the split and the money can still be identified.

Even where there is an equal split, this does not have to be a split of each individual asset - it could be, for instance, that you kept the house, and that your husband had a bigger share of the business.

If you have greater needs (perhaps if the children are to live primarily with you) and lower income / earning capacity (this may depend on our respective roles within the business, and what either of you could earn outside it) then you may be entitled to more than 50%.

It would be sensible for you to see a solicitor to get some initial advice. Look for one who is a member of 'Resolution'

paulamarie76

Thank you everyone for your help, I think I will get some proper advice to see where we stand, he has said he would never try and take the house, the business is a limited company and as such our shares are equal and we work equally within the business, so he couldn't get a higher stake in that. Its the house I was concerned about, we have split up possessions and he has his own rented place now. He does see our son and pay some maintenance which was mutually agreed between us.

Thankyou all again

burlington6

If this was a man asking the same advice there would be far more abuse

FBaby

I would definitely seek legal advice. If you bought the house 8 years ago, and have been married, for half that time, it might be seen that he contributed somehow half of the time you owned the place. That's assuming he moved as you married, but in reality, he probably moved in even sooner?

You say that you own the business 50/50 and put the same amount of effort into it, does it mean you take out the same amount each month, or do you take one amount that goes into a joint account? How is it decided that you pay the mortgage and bills and he doesn't? Are you saying that he ended up with much more disposable income each month than you?

Gigglepig

Did the house rise in value since you married? If so why should he not get a share? It should not matter who paid food and bills or the mortgage if you were married, both contributed to the household in their way.

rpc

Gigglepig wrote: »

Did the house rise in value since you married? If so why should he not get a share? It should not matter who paid food and bills or the mortgage if you were married, both contributed to the household in their way.

If only the OP had told us...

The house is not worth what I paid for it and as I put a huge deposit down well I'm lucky if I did sell I would probably just cover the cost of whats left on the mortgage plus fees. (Not so lucky I lose the 20K I put into it)

No equity, split two ways leaves everyone with nothing. If OP can prove no or negative equity then it is fairly straightforward.

Of course, some people still think they are entitled to half a house when actually it is only the equity in the house that goes into the marital pot.