Separation and selling house

Tuney69

Hello hope I’m in the right place.
So me and my partner are splitting up after 23 years. 5 year ago me and my sister inherited my aunts house, my parents wished to move into this house. My parents house was valued the same as the house me and my sister had inherited from my aunt so the solicitor sorted it all so the two properties were swapped, so my sister and I then owned my parents house and my parents moved into the inherited property. My partner and myself then got a mortgage and bought my sisters half of this house so then me and my partner now own my parents old house with a joint mortgage. So the mortgage was for half the value as I already owned half of it through my aunts inheritance which amounted to £90000, I have all the paperwork etc for all these transactions and my aunts will. My partner is saying she wants half of the value including my inheritance, is she entitled to this or will I get my 90000 back as I have all the proof it was mine. We aren’t married. I know it sounds complicated but thanks in advance

Mojisola

Tuney69 wrote: »

So me and my partner are splitting up after 23 years.

My partner and myself then got a mortgage and bought my sisters half of this house so then me and my partner now own my parents old house with a joint mortgage.

So the mortgage was for half the value as I already owned half of it through my aunts inheritance which amounted to £90000

My partner is saying she wants half of the value including my inheritance, is she entitled to this or will I get my 90000 back as I have all the proof it was mine. We aren’t married.

As you aren't married, it all comes down to how you own the property.

Do you own it in unequal shares, reflecting your inherited share?

Tuney69

I’m not really sure, I just know it’s a joint mortgage, you can clearly see the transactions and the fact that I owned 50% of the property before we took the mortgage out. I have a solicitor appointment on Wednesday. Are you saying she could walk away with half my inheritance??, that seems highly unfair

Caz3121

you need to check if you own the property as tenants in common or joint tenants
you need to check if there was a deed of trust to apportion ownership %

Mojisola

Tuney69 wrote: »

I’m not really sure, I just know it’s a joint mortgage, you can clearly see the transactions and the fact that I owned 50% of the property before we took the mortgage out. I have a solicitor appointment on Wednesday. Are you saying she could walk away with half my inheritance??, that seems highly unfair

If you didn't set up the ownership as 'tenants in common' with you owning 75% to her 25%, then yes.

Exodi

Tuney69 wrote: »

I’m not really sure, I just know it’s a joint mortgage, you can clearly see the transactions and the fact that I owned 50% of the property before we took the mortgage out. I have a solicitor appointment on Wednesday. Are you saying she could walk away with half my inheritance??, that seems highly unfair

When you and your partner bought the property, you would have agreed how the property will be held. If you do not remember this, you will need to find out. You would be also able to work this out by buying and scrutinising the deeds off the Land Registry site.

Tuney69

Ok thanks for the advice. Would it not be worth going to court over, as it was inheritance left to me and it’s in black and white?

Exodi

Tuney69 wrote: »

Ok thanks for the advice. Would it not be worth going to court over, as it was inheritance left to me and it’s in black and white?

You seem to imply you already know it's held as joint tenants?

The argument of 'it's in black and white' is completely redundant as joint ownership would be 'in black and white'.

Really you should check how the property is held first before jumping to conclusion as it's absolutely crucial.

Mojisola

Tuney69 wrote: »

Would it not be worth going to court over, as it was inheritance left to me and it’s in black and white?

If you own the house as 'joint tenants' or 50/50 'tenants in common', then you gave away half of your inheritance when you took on ownership of the house.

The solicitor who organised the house swap really should have discussed this with you.

Exodi

Mojisola wrote: »

If you own the house as 'joint tenants' or 50/50 'tenants in common', then you gave away half of your inheritance when you took on ownership of the house.

The solicitor who organised the house swap really should have discussed this with you.

Agreed that the solicitor should (and probably did) mention about the ways to own the house when presented with vastly different initial contributions but I do think there should be some level of responsibility on the owners aswell. Surely two people walking into a solicitor to buy a house, where one is putting in £90,000 more than the other, would have already discussed their plans for divvying up the house.

Either it's 50/50 or the OP agreed back then to protect their deposit. It shouldn't be a surprise now unless they've forgotten (but reading between the lines of some of their posts suggests they know the property is held as joint tenants).

Mojisola

Tuney69 wrote: »

So me and my partner are splitting up after 23 years.

Exodi wrote: »

Surely two people walking into a solicitor to buy a house, where one is putting in £90,000 more than the other, would have already discussed their plans for divvying up the house.

Many people in a long term relationship wouldn't think about it because breaking up would seem such an unlikely possibility.