Help! Need to know my rights.

LouiseH1982

My ex partner and I bought a home in December 2019. Unfortunately we split up in February 2020 whilst I was pregnant. We signed the mortgage 50/50. I moved out of the property in the February but continued to pay my share of the mortgage until June but I then had to pay rent for my new place and get everything ready for our baby. He was quite happy to take on the payments for the full mortgage but I now want the property to be sold so that I can find a permanent home for me and my little girl... he has said he cannot buy me out currently and he will not sell until our early selling charges (due to fixed term contract) are lower but that when the house does sell I will only get what I put in. Can anyone confirm for me where I stand legally please? It was my understanding that any equity would be split 50:50 as we have signed 50/50 joint mortgage? Any help would be much appreciated! 

MovingForwards

What does the declaration of trust specify in regards to how the equity would be split if the relationship didn't work out?

Can you clarify what you mean by a 50/50 joint mortgage? How you decided to pay each month was between you and not the lender, you're both liable to pay all of it if the other doesn't.

Owleyes00

Never be the one to move out.

I know this doesn’t help you much because you don’t have a time machine but worth bearing in mind for the future.

We need to know if you are joint tenants or tenants in common. I’m assuming when you say you signed on the mortgage 50/50 that you are joint tenants but good to check. 

If you are tenants in common however we need to know what the deed of trust says.

The problem is that he has been contributing to the house for almost a year when you haven’t. However, the fact that you have been supporting his child may count for something if this were to go to court. You need to talk to a solicitor.


Also, you may be able to force an early sale but this would incur legal costs that might not be worth it in the context of the early exit fee.

LouiseH1982

MovingForwards said:

What does the declaration of trust specify in regards to how the equity would be split if the relationship didn't work out?

Can you clarify what you mean by a 50/50 joint mortgage? How you decided to pay each month was between you and not the lender, you're both liable to pay all of it if the other doesn't.

Apologies we are joint tenants. So we agreed anything would be split 50/50 but he seems to think that because he’s living in the house and pays the mortgage that I will not be entitled to anything other than what I put in - which was actually less than him despite us signing joint tenants and that any split would be 50/50. 

LouiseH1982

Owleyes00 said:

Never be the one to move out.

I know this doesn’t help you much because you don’t have a time machine but worth bearing in mind for the future.

We need to know if you are joint tenants or tenants in common. I’m assuming when you say you signed on the mortgage 50/50 that you are joint tenants but good to check. 

If you are tenants in common however we need to know what the deed of trust says.

The problem is that he has been contributing to the house for almost a year when you haven’t. However, the fact that you have been supporting his child may count for something if this were to go to court. You need to talk to a solicitor.


Also, you may be able to force an early sale but this would incur legal costs that might not be worth it in the context of the early exit fee.

Thank you. So we are joint tenants. We agreed despite me putting in less than him that if we were to split it would be 50/50

elsien

Was your agreement in writing?
Was there any discussion of the situation you are now on where he is now paying the mortgage completely on his own pending any sale? 

How much equity would there be in the house if it was sold now and any early repayment fees paid? When does the fixed term contract end? 
If the house goes into negative equity would you still be fighting for a 50/50 split of the debt because you really can’t have it both ways,

getmore4less

The reality is you only paid the share of the mortgage for 6/7 months less than half the time you will have owned it by the time is sells

you share if any increase should be adjusted to account for that 


You could hold out for 50% of the increase and any conveyancer/solicitor dealing with the sale should be starting on that understanding that the surplus is split and paid to each of you.



(you can still have a deed of trust with joint tenants saying how the beneficial interest is split on disposal, all joint does is remove the option to will your share to someone else, on death the DOT can create a debt on the survivor to the estate of the deceased.