Ex put nothing into house now wants 40%

AnotherJoe

K4zzo wrote: »

Ermmm How could I tie up her deposit? She put nothing in? I paid all the deposit. She paid nothing in the interim. I paid it all. She has literally paid nothing, other than a small amount when she lived there.
Never mind, wasn't sure if you could help or not...

You said you gave her 42% "so solicitor drew up an agreement with me having 58% and her having 42% to reflect the money I paid for the deposit (rather than an assumption of 50:50)."

So, that became hers when you did that. Go and have an argument with yourself of five years 10 months ago if that wasn't what you wanted. Its what you've got though.

xylophone

Is it a case of her actually asking for the 42% of the equity or or her solicitor saying that she is entitled to ask for it?

Have you attempted to negotiate?

AnotherJoe

Good point Xylophone, OP could always try making a reasoned argument (in writing) to his ex that since he paid the mortgage for 5 years, did repairs ,yada yada yada and that enabled them to hang onto the house and gain from rise in price her share should perhaps only be <some other number less than 42%>.

Nothing to lose except his dignity ? .

If she says "no" he's stuffed though.

p.s. OP make sure to account for all the costs in selling when working out what is left.

Marktheshark

Start billing her for 42% of the mortgage payments with an invoice for the overdue amounts.

Thrugelmir

xylophone wrote: »

Is it a case of her actually asking for the 42% of the equity or or her solicitor saying that she is entitled to ask for it?

Have you attempted to negotiate?

I'd say it's an opening gambit. If she's taken advice then will know she can sit it out. Ball is in your court to find a compromise. You need to separate the facts from emotion. You created this situation.

MacMickster

K4zzo wrote: »

i've been paying her 42% of the mortgage for 5 years... Does that count for nothing?

If you had been paying her rent for having use of her 42% of the property then maybe she could have paid her share of the mortgage.

The original agreement sounds reasonable to me (and clearly did to you at the time). Now it is time to honour that agreement.

MerrilyA

I understand what you're saying k4zzo but the reality is the agreement is in place you were ok with it then. It didn't seem to be an issue that you were paying most of the mortgage, if it was you would have done something about it. I think you should just pay up the 42%.

Daisydoop

I think your ex has a moral compass that's way off personally, I feel for your situation.

Hutchch0920

Agree Daisydoop! When my ex and I split I kept my name on the mortgage for the following 18 months as it was on a fixed term. After it ended he remortgaged and I signed over my half for the original cost I had put in less 20% - the market had taken a downward turn and the property value had fallen accordingly so I thought it was fair I took some of the hit for that too.

I think negotiation seems like a sensible option, will she consider a token gesture, say 10%? If not you could do what dimbo61 says and protest to the sale...that said the longer you remain in this arrangement the more you pay in and the more you stand to lose.

Wake_up_call

People in this thread have been terribly harsh on the OP.

Yes, it is their own making and yes she is entitled to that percentage, but lets not overlook the fact that the op obviously loved this woman and that leads to people make decisions which seem good and fair at the time and end up being anything but.

Let's also not lose sight of the fact that this woman choose to leave the home, she choose not to contribute to its upkeep, and she choose not to pay her share of the mortgage.

Legally, she is well within her rights, but morally it is very wrong of her to take a huge share an asset that she clearly never really considered to be her own.