House-buying alone but partner living in

earthquakebird

I am currently co-renting a property with my partner of 18 months. I am hoping to buy a property of my own within the next few months, using my own savings to put down a deposit. My partner will not contribute to the deposit or other house-buying costs, as she is not in a financial position to do so.

The plan is for my partner to move in to the property I eventually purchase and contribute to the mortgage and bill payments, just as if she were a tenant paying rent and bills. She will also contribute some of the furniture that she currently owns in our rental property, but I will not charge her for maintenance costs.

As she is not putting any money towards the deposit or other house-buying costs, I want to make sure I protect myself financially in case the relationship breaks down (whether we end up married or otherwise). Of course, I hope it will not come to that, but I feel it unfair that if we did separate, she would be entitled to half of the property that I had spent years saving up for from both a financial perspective and out of principle.

I have heard of deeds of trust, cohabitation agreements and pre-nuptual agreements. Which of these would apply to this situation and when would they need to be drafted? And am I being reasonable to expect her to understand that I would like the house that I buy to be mine, rather than ours, since I will have contributed the lionshare of costs?

Would appreciate your insights and experiences.
Thanks in advance.

marliepanda

If she pays half the mortgage she can build up a beneficial interest, which you want to avoid.

Do not charge her half the mortgage. Have her pay half the bills.

The mortgage is yours to build up your equity, and your equity alone. Dont make her pay it if you dont want her to own it. No its not reasonable for her to pay half your mortgage with no gain. Shes not a lodger shes your partner

earthquakebird

Thanks, that makes sense and I must admit, I had not thought of it like that.

If we were to marry (long way off but just something that I'm keeping in mind) and we needed to divorce (hopefully not!), would I still be obliged to share half even if she had not been paying towards the mortgage at all? Is this where a prenup agreement might be worth having?

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You need a cohabitation agreement to prevent you partner gaining an interest before you wed and a prenup to hopefully prevent her getting too much when you divorce and a winning smile when you ask her to sign those two documents.[/FONT]

Red-Squirrel_2

earthquakebird wrote: »

Thanks, that makes sense and I must admit, I had not thought of it like that.

If we were to marry (long way off but just something that I'm keeping in mind) and we needed to divorce (hopefully not!), would I still be obliged to share half even if she had not been paying towards the mortgage at all? Is this where a prenup agreement might be worth having?

If you marry, after a couple of years everything becomes pretty much joint, prenups are not legally binding.

If you don't want to share your assets, I would recommend not getting married. That's the only way.

FBaby

And she's agreeing to this? If so, she's a fool. Who would want to pay rent to a partner, who is using this rent to pay his mortgage, with not even the benefits that a normal tenant gets?

How about treating her as a partner, ie. with some respect, ie. either getting her on the mortgage, but protecting your deposit with a deeds of trust, or get the house under your name only, but pay for your own investment whilst she can herself gets a chance to put the money she would otherwise use towards your joint investment into an investment of her own, ie. towards a deposit for a place of her own if things were to go wrong. Yes, it would mean her living there rent free (bare bills), but that's your calling that you don't want her to share the asset.

earthquakebird

Agreed, I think the best option is for her to just pay half bills for now. It's too early for us to make such a huge financial commitment to each other. We both have concerns about how decisions and costs related to home improvements will be made, but that's something for us to work out together and capture in the cohabitation agreement.

Thanks all for your insights!

marliepanda

earthquakebird wrote: »

Agreed, I think the best option is for her to just pay half bills for now. It's too early for us to make such a huge financial commitment to each other. We both have concerns about how decisions and costs related to home improvements will be made, but that's something for us to work out together and capture in the cohabitation agreement.

Thanks all for your insights!

If she contributes money to improving your asset, she can build up a beneficial interest.

Its your house, so house improvements should be paid for by you.

lookstraightahead

Once you live together things might get more complicated. Kids, pets, who bought the beans and who spent time cooking the beans etc. It is not just about stuff, it is about time too. If your partner mows the lawn but used your lawnmower, they have helped maintain the property, unless you also employ them as well ...