Un-Married Couple buying house together

the_salmon

Hi all,


As the title suggests, we are not married (yet) but having lived together and not killing each other we are ready for the next step and have prioritised buying a house over getting married. We are almost at the point of putting an offer in after getting an agreement in principle from the bank.

What experience have other couples had around this? I am (in fact 'we are') keen to protect ourselves upon entering to this commitment and as much as we don't want to think the worst may happen, they might. In terms of the deposit I have 75% of the money and GF will have 25%.


We want to protect the split of the deposit so it remains in proportion, but then with regards to mortgage repayments to split them equally.


What do people advise is the best way to do this? An agreement through the solicitor? A DIY pack?

nidO

If you want it done properly, speak to a solicitor to get a deed of trust drawn up which defines that in the event of a split/sale of the house you each get back your respective deposit amounts then split the remainder equally.
You will also want to decide if you want to own the house as joint tenants or tenants in common and whether you want anything added to the deed defining what happens to the property if one of you dies.

Guest101

Please note also, that in the event of marriage, the split would likely change.

oldbaldman

You could try DIY but if it goes wrong and the agreement is not drawn up correctly and water tight, that could cause you both problems?

See the link below about trust deeds.

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-public/common-legal-issues/moving-in-together/

HTH

obm

Retro82

My wife and I bought a property before we were married.

I put up 100% of the deposit and remember that we had the option of splitting ownership of the property 55% and 45% to reflect my intiial outlay. In fact we just went for 50/50 but we did have that option.

I would have single direct debit from a joint account for the repayments. Then you can decide who pays what.

RAS

You need to agree what happens if you split up; there are numerous threads on here and the family forum regarding couples who separated and made no prior arrangement. As a result the lawyers are getting very rich and the co-owners losing a lot of money.

And things happen like one party waiting until the day of the signing of the contracts to demand an extra 10% of the equity.

the_salmon

Guest101 wrote: »

Please note also, that in the event of marriage, the split would likely change.

Thanks for the comments, very useful.


I think it is our intention that we would get married in the future which would change things I guess.


We have a joint account which is purely for rent and bills and joint purchases that we both contribute towards equally, but each keep our own accounts which are salaries are paid in to and we take responsibility for our own things (mobile phone, car etc) and we find this works well for us.

twitteryrex

I would do a joint agreement with 50/50 split if you are happy with that. If you put down more of the deposit make sure the solicitor puts this in the documents as when it comes to splitting it could get nasty. I am going through separation with my fiance at the moment and she put in £20,000 deposit and I put in nothing. We agreed that I would pay more utilities and insurance so make up for the shortfall whilst paying a small fraction less than her for half of the mortgage. Luckily we are still talking and all is amicable but that's not always the case. Just make sure that you have it arranged that you have what you want in the agreement.

Good Luck

TBagpuss

Discuss with your solicitor.

The simplest way to deal with it is to simply say that you will get your deposits back, and any net split equally.

This will mean that you don't get a 'return' on the investment of your deposit, but realistically, you are most likely to need to rely on the deed if you split in the early years of owning the property.

You can base the deed on percentages instead.

I_have_spoken

Make sure you video her signing everything so she can't claim 'duress' later on to wriggle out of the agreement. Just saying.

Kynthia

Get a trust deed that details whether you each get your deposit back and split the rest or whether you own the property in unequal percentages. Also think about whether you want to own as joint tenants or tenants in common as should the worst happen to one of you who would you want the half of the house left to? It's worth considering getting wills done as well, especially if you own unequal shares but want the other to inherit the share of the house.

Discuss whether you are paying the mortgage, bills, decoration costs and any major works equally or not. You should also discuss the exit plan should you split up: would you sell, would one buy the other out, what if there's negative equity or an early repayment charge on the mortgage would you let or one move out and put a lodger in their place, what about joint furniture, etc. maybe then write this down as a cohabitation agreement.