Cohabiting - does partner have to be on mortgage?

Keep_pedalling

Neverending_Story wrote: »

Well we have 2 babies so I don't think that matters. If we ever split I want to make sure we are clear that the house is mine. I was thinking about asking the solicitor to draw something up if we marry to avoid being stung in the future.

Slightly off topic, but do you have wills in place?

Pixie5740

Will he be contributing anything towards the deposit?

FBaby

So, he has poor credit history and my salary is more than enough to cover the purchase price of the house.

Does this mean that if his credit history wasn't poor, you would have agreed to a joint mortgage? If so, by doing so, whether you would sign as joint tenants or tenants in common, he would have an expectation to pay towards the house and an entitlement to it. So why should it be any different if you still expect him to pay his equal share, just because of his credit standing?

Surely you need to discuss and agree what you both think is fair. My position in his shoes would be that either you agree that both contribute to all expenses equally and in this case, you draw a deed of variation that gives him some entitlement to the house, or you agree that you are entitled to house in full, but he only contributes his share of the bills and absolutely nothing towards the house, and what he has as extra in disposable income, he puts towards another investment so that if you were to separate, you would be in a similar position.

TBagpuss

He does not need to be on the mortgage unless he is on the deeds. He will, as others have said, have to sign a disclaimer confirming that he will leave the property if the lender repossesses it - you always have to declare whether anyone over 18 is living in the property and they will require a declaration from anyone in that category.

The declaration is purely about protecting the lender, it has nothing to do with the interests which you and your partner have in the property.

Between the two of you, it would be sensible to get you solicitor to draw up a formal declaration of trust, defining what interest each of you will have in the property and what you will each be entitled to in the event that you separate, or if the property is sold. This can state that you get the first £xxx (being the amount of the deposit, or it can say that you get the first x% (being what the deposit is as a % of the current value of the property, with the balance being split.

If and when you do decide to marry you can agree to have a pre-nup which confirms the arrangements (a declaration of trust would be relevant in any divorce, but it can be argued that it is over-ridden by the fact you later married, so if you intend for it to still be followed, it is sensible to have a new agreement which explicitly says that.

And as KeepPeddling says, as you are not married it is also important that you both make wills, to ensure that if anything happens to either of you, things will work out as you wish