Separation issues

Grenage

As above; as the gift from your ex's relatives was certainly for him, then at 20k equity you are probably owed about 5-6k.


Could you get more? Probably. Would it be a nice thing to do? No.

Comms69

Grenage wrote: »

As above; as the gift from your ex's relatives was certainly for him, then at 20k equity you are probably owed about 5-6k.


Could you get more? Probably. Would it be a nice thing to do? No.

And... if it gets to litigation, that £20k will become £2k very quickly

scalextric

Comms69 wrote: »

So whilst it was a gift to both of you, you know in reality it wasn't for you.

Agreed on the above. Maybe try for 7 and settle for 6, but I think you would be pushing it trying to get half the value

Kynthia

You put £1k into the property. He put £4k in and his relatives gifted him (they didn't gift you half, they gifted him and whoever his partner happened to be at the time and now you're not) £10k.

So get an idea of what the house would sell for, not be advertised for, and deduct the current mortgage balance and that's your equity. If it's greater than £15k, you should get £1k for the first £15k and then half the rest. If it is £20k equity that's £3.5k for you.

Unless you have children or were married you shouldn't make this complicated. Houses don't pay out a fortune after just a couple of years of ownership unless the market is rocketing. Plus you wouldn't be getting any money if you'd been paying rent instead of a mortgage, as we all have to pay for a roof over our heads.

JAQ23

I understand what you are saying but the solicitor seems to think that what we put in for the deposit won't matter as there wasn't a declaration of trust written up?

Grenage

JAQ23 wrote: »

I understand what you are saying but the solicitor seems to think that what we put in for the deposit won't matter as there wasn't a declaration of trust written up?

Yes, everyone is aware of that; hence stating that what you are morally entitled to differs from what you are legally entitled to.

Comms69

JAQ23 wrote: »

I understand what you are saying but the solicitor seems to think that what we put in for the deposit won't matter as there wasn't a declaration of trust written up?

That is true. But litigating this (taking it to court) is going to cost both of you A LOT of money. You will be left with less than is currently on the table.

Happier_Me

Is that £20k equity after selling, legal and mortgage redemption fees? Or simply £20k equity, being the expected sale less mortgage amount? Given that the bulk of the deposit came from his side (and it did, I really don't know why people want take take what is morally not their's! ), I think most of us will say that £5k is a fair amount to walk away with. But maybe try for £7-8k and hope to settle for something in between.

One thing is certain, take this through your solicitor and the courts and you will be very lucky to end up with £5k, after legal fees.

Take what you can and move on...

Zero_Sum

£5k settlement is a good deal. Youve only put in £1k & if you try it on to get a bit more, itll just get eaten up in legal fees.

lexington013

Take the 5k and move on, it looks like a fair offer based on what has been said.