My Ex Wants Me To Pay Half of His Loan

Lodexmy

Hi All

A little bit of context here first.
My ex and I bought a house together in 2017. At the start of 2019 he suggested getting a loan to make some home improvements. I had taken out a 5 year loan in the previous year to consolidate some debts and told him there was no way I could afford to pay for both. I told him that we didn't have to do this but he told me not to worry and I could pay him back eventually. (We thought we'd be together forever.)
So he takes out the loan and has work done on the house in February 2019. Skip to the end of May 2019 and he has cheated on me them dumped me for the girl he cheated with. (Yes, I'm still bitter)

So, now I am in the process of selling the house so we can go our separate ways but he keeps bringing up this loan that I told him I couldn't pay for.
What is my liability here? We have spoken about this face to face but last night he sent me an email about it. I'm assuming that he is trying to get this in writing. Can he force me to pay?

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks for your attention.

chelseablue

My understanding is, if the loan is in his name then no he cant force you to pay. 
I'd ignore the email
PS Maybe I'm bitter too, but cheats on you, dumps you then expects you to pay half a loan that's in his name? I'd be telling him to jog on!  

SweetPotatoPie

Email him back stating that you never agreed to this? There’s your paper trail for evidence. 

~Beanie~

Morally, I think that as the loan was used to improve your home (which will either increase the price or make it more saleable) then you should either pay him half or give him the amount of the loan from the sale proceeds.

JimmyTheWig

Lodexmy said:

I told him that we didn't have to do this but he told me not to worry and I could pay him back eventually. (We thought we'd be together forever.)
So he takes out the loan and has work done on the house in February 2019.

I think:
Presumably you have missed out a step in here where you agreed with him? In which case, yes, you have to pay him back eventually.
(Can't work out how to reply underneath a quote!)

JimmyTheWig

Lodexmy said:

 I told him that we didn't have to do this but he told me not to worry and I could pay him back eventually. (We thought we'd be together forever.)
So he takes out the loan and has work done on the house in February 2019.

Presumably you have missed out a step in here where you agreed with him? In which case, yes, you have to pay him back eventually.
(Ah, worked it out!)

D_M_E

What debts were cleared by the consolidation loan which you took out?

Were any of his debts cleared with some or all of the loan?

If so, have you pointed this out to him?

As for being asked to contribute towards the current loan in his name - which by what you have written, he took out after you had refused such loan - it's his loan and his alone to repay.

Lodexmy

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. 
I feel this is a question of morality above everything else, rather than legality.

ReadingTim

Lodexmy said:

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. 
I feel this is a question of morality above everything else, rather than legality.

Morally, then as the loan was used to improve a jointly owned asset (the house) then it should be jointly repaid.  So you do owe him half. 

Legally - if it's in his name, it's his loan, and therefore his problem.  How he chose to spend that money isn't your concern, or your liability to refund, so no, he can't force you to do anything.  

Practically, however, you're going to need his cooperation to sell the house, so it's probably not a good idea to fall out about this, as he could make things quite difficult by refusing to cooperate, meaning you could stand to lose far more than half his outstanding loan.  

katieort

ReadingTim said:

Lodexmy said:

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. 
I feel this is a question of morality above everything else, rather than legality.

Morally, then as the loan was used to improve a jointly owned asset (the house) then it should be jointly repaid.  So you do owe him half. 

Legally - if it's in his name, it's his loan, and therefore his problem.  How he chose to spend that money isn't your concern, or your liability to refund, so no, he can't force you to do anything.  

Practically, however, you're going to need his cooperation to sell the house, so it's probably not a good idea to fall out about this, as he could make things quite difficult by refusing to cooperate, meaning you could stand to lose far more than half his outstanding loan.  

Won't the house price/sold price reflect this though..? Say you got a loan for 5k made your kitchen or whatever much nicer, and now your house is worth upwards of 5k more and sells for 5k more than it would have pre kitchen renovation, then there is the money owed. It is part of the house price now instead of cash.

Socajam

ReadingTim said:

Lodexmy said:

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. 
I feel this is a question of morality above everything else, rather than legality.

Morally, then as the loan was used to improve a jointly owned asset (the house) then it should be jointly repaid.  So you do owe him half. 

Legally - if it's in his name, it's his loan, and therefore his problem.  How he chose to spend that money isn't your concern, or your liability to refund, so no, he can't force you to do anything.  

Practically, however, you're going to need his cooperation to sell the house, so it's probably not a good idea to fall out about this, as he could make things quite difficult by refusing to cooperate, meaning you could stand to lose far more than half his outstanding loan.  

Seems common sense is not common anymore.
Repay the loan from the sale of the house, then split the balance and move on.
Trust me you will feel better in the longer term.