Unequal deposit - what happens after marriage?

StandingInTheSun

My partner and I are looking to buy a home and our deposits are unequal, which we want reflected in the deeds of the house should anything go wrong.

What then happens if we get married down the line? Does the house revert to 50/50 ownership automatically? And in the hopefully unlikely event of any future divorce what would happen with the house?

We're both obviously looking to be together long term, hence the house purchase, but we're economically aware and want to make sure we're not in for any unwelcome surprises should the worst happen.

steampowered

Marriage will not immediately affect ownership of the house. You can still be married but own the house in unequal portions.

However, when you divorce, the courts have the ability to split marital assets between the divorcing spouses.

If you divorce after only a few years, the court would probably just split the house according to the ownership split you are doing now. If you divorce after being married for many years, then divorce might mean a 50/50 split. If you have children then that can also affect the split. 

Octothorpe

I always thought marriage changed ownership to 50/50?

Anyway, we are choosing an unequal percentage split as tenants in common for our mortgage. Nothing to do with deposit amounts, rather my earning power is a fraction of husbands so I would need most of the equity in the event of any split.

Aware courts could disagree down the line but it still shows our original intention at this point in time (we are married). 

SDLT_Geek

Octothorpe said:

I always thought marriage changed ownership to 50/50?

No, marriage does not do this legally.

getmore4less

StandingInTheSun said:

My partner and I are looking to buy a home and our deposits are unequal, which we want reflected in the deeds of the house should anything go wrong.

What then happens if we get married down the line? Does the house revert to 50/50 ownership automatically? And in the hopefully unlikely event of any future divorce what would happen with the house?

We're both obviously looking to be together long term, hence the house purchase, but we're economically aware and want to make sure we're not in for any unwelcome surprises should the worst happen.

What are you proposing  for this as many get it wrong even with the help of solicitors.

deposits and mortgage shares need to be considered to get it right.

Rosa_Damascena

None of this is any advertisement for pooling resources with another person!

#singleandstayingthatway

Irishpearce26

The husband usually puts on quite a bit of weight and the wife complains a lot.

TBagpuss

Octothorpe said:

I always thought marriage changed ownership to 50/50?

Anyway, we are choosing an unequal percentage split as tenants in common for our mortgage. Nothing to do with deposit amounts, rather my earning power is a fraction of husbands so I would need most of the equity in the event of any split.

Aware courts could disagree down the line but it still shows our original intention at this point in time (we are married). 

No, marriage doesn't change the ownership.

What happens is that in then event of a divorce, the court has the power to look at all of the assets and to split them in the way that the Judge considers to be fair and reasonable in all the circumstances - the existence of a declaration or trust would be a relevant circumstance the Judge could consider, but it wouldn't bind the Judge. Equally, the starting point for dividing the assets is normally 50/50 but it is only a starting point; the court can, and often does,  make an unequal division as 50/50 is usually not fair unless all other factors (e.g. the spouses ages, incomes, earning capacities etc)  are also all equal.

If you wished, you could agree to have a pre-nuptial agreement drawn up recording your intentions that the house should be split unequally if you were to separate - such an agreement is not enforceable but again, it would be part of the evidence which a court would take into account in deciding what was fair, in the event of a later divorce. 

Generally speaking, the longer you are married, the less weight would be given to any pre-nup or any declaration of trust in the event of a divorce. Changes such as the birth of any child would also mean that less weight would be given to such an agreement, 

StandingInTheSun

getmore4less said:

StandingInTheSun said:

My partner and I are looking to buy a home and our deposits are unequal, which we want reflected in the deeds of the house should anything go wrong.

What then happens if we get married down the line? Does the house revert to 50/50 ownership automatically? And in the hopefully unlikely event of any future divorce what would happen with the house?

We're both obviously looking to be together long term, hence the house purchase, but we're economically aware and want to make sure we're not in for any unwelcome surprises should the worst happen.

What are you proposing  for this as many get it wrong even with the help of solicitors.

deposits and mortgage shares need to be considered to get it right.

Deposit is unequal 70-30 but all other costs 50-50.

My partner wants to pay me back the 20% difference over a number of years to make us 50/50 in terms of deposit, which our solicitor has said he can facilitate through an additional contract. We would then change the deeds of trust to reflect 50/50 ownership once this is done.

However that repayment may take many years so we just want to know where we stand should things go awry. Hopefully they won't though!

GDB2222

Rosa_Damascena said:

None of this is any advertisement for pooling resources with another person!

#singleandstayingthatway

I count myself extremely fortunate to have found a person who has been prepared to put up with with me for the last 40+ years, if only for the trolley racing.