House bought, cheating partner, recovering deposit share?

Iamdave

Brother in law recently bought house with g/f and their 1 child who he is main carer for as she is the sole worker.

they got mortgage but in her name and her name on deeds of house. he put £10k in towards deposit.

turns out she was cheating, he's moved out but is still main carer for child because of her work pattern.

where does he stand for reclaiming deposit share? and are there any other things to consider given the above? '

thanks

AnotherJoe

where does he stand for reclaiming deposit share?
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Between a rock and a hard place.

HappyMJ

Iamdave wrote: »

Brother in law recently bought house with g/f and their 1 child who he is main carer for as she is the sole worker.

they got mortgage but in her name and her name on deeds of house. he put £10k in towards deposit.

turns out she was cheating, he's moved out but is still main carer for child because of her work pattern.

where does he stand for reclaiming deposit share? and are there any other things to consider given the above? '

thanks

Depends on what they agreed when she bought the house.

Morally she should give the £10k back.

He did not buy the house with the girlfriend as his name is not on the title or mortgage. He will not therefore be able to force a sale. If she doesn't have the money to give him then the only action he can take is through the court. If he gets judgement and that goes unpaid he can then get a charge placed against the property and when she sells the property he can get his £10k back. As a child is living in the property he cannot force a sale of the property so it could be many many years or even decades before he sees any money. Interest will not be added once he has a charge and he has to declare the charge as an asset every time he applies for benefits which may make him ineligible to get anything at all due to having too much capital.

Kynthia

Without the protection of marriage it was unwise to put £10k into a property he didn't own. Does he have evidence that he contributed this money and did he sign anything for the mortgage lender/solicitor to say the money was a gift?

I suggest he speak to the ex and if she isn't prepared to return the money or can't afford to then he'll have to speak to a solicitor. He'll need to understand his position. Can he afford to look after the child during the mum's working hours and does it prevent him getting a job to support himself? If he does this and the child doesn't live with him he won't be able to claim the benefits that assist other stay at home parents.

Iamdave

i'll have to find out if he signed anything, he's notorriously bad when it comes to money though and doesn;t understand the value of a pound mostly as relatives have always bailed him out.

he's prevented from getting a job himself as he's the stay at home parent as she's a nurse. given her hours it was never worth him getting a job as the cost of child care would undo this.

what is his position given that she needs him for child care? can he claim child maintenance? he is living back with his parents now.

Marvel1

Iamdave wrote: »

i'll have to find out if he signed anything, he's notorriously bad when it comes to money though and doesn;t understand the value of a pound mostly as relatives have always bailed him out.

In this instance inwould leave him sort out his problem, as you here now asking advice on his behalf.

paddy's_mum

She has put herself into a very difficult position because if she does not at least attempt to negotiate a financial way forward, he may be forced or feel compelled to withdraw from the childcare arrangement and then how will she be able to sustain a mortgage? If a resale is forced, she stands to lose a lot of money so it may be in her own best interests to show that she is at least trying to be fair.

As so often in life, it's going to require sitting round the table and trying to amicably work out the least damaging way to progress.

CLAPTON

he needs legal advice although that might be expensive
who is the child living with?
in any event he either needs to get a job, state support or maintenance

HappyMJ

Iamdave wrote: »

i'll have to find out if he signed anything, he's notorriously bad when it comes to money though and doesn;t understand the value of a pound mostly as relatives have always bailed him out.

he's prevented from getting a job himself as he's the stay at home parent as she's a nurse. given her hours it was never worth him getting a job as the cost of child care would undo this.

what is his position given that she needs him for child care? can he claim child maintenance? he is living back with his parents now.

He could claim child maintenance, the child benefits and the child tax credits if he can prove he has the child in his care. Expect a long drawn out fight though. She has the house and can easily claim your friend is homeless and the child lives with her and your friend just looks after the child whilst she is at work. Living with parents is not considered secure accommodation.

G_M

Morally the case is clear.

Legally it's as clear as .... mud.

As others have said, critical factors seem to be

* was the £10K a loan or a gift?
* was there any paperwork associated with the £10K?
* were does the child live? With her, and he collects every day? Or with him?
* if he withdrew from the child care arrangement (ie just stopped collecting the child, or took the child round to hers and 'dumped' him on her - she'd be in a hard place, and might then negotiate on the £10K
* if she does not have a spare £10K, then the only way she could get it is by selling the poperty - is that an option he wants to pursue (bearing in mind the points others have made about problems of forcing a sale)?