Splitting up

janerak

I have been living with my boyfriend for 9 years and he moved in with me and my children now 22 and 17 into my house that I own. He has paid me money every month towards food etc. Now we are splitting up and he wants half the equity in the house which is about £120k. He hasn't paid for anything to be done to the house like a conservatory etc. What is the law regarding this ? I got hung out to dry by my ex hubby and don't want the same to happen again. Thanks in advance. 

MrFrugalFever

Surely if there’s no financial association with him and he has not been included in any legitimate contract or mortgage agreement, he can, in not so many words, ‘go whistle’. That’s my understanding of it.

Keep_pedalling

What does ect include? If all he has contributed to is his share of the bills such as food, council tax and utility bills, then he has no entitlement whatsoever. If he also contributed to your mortgage payments then he could argue that he has a financial interest in the property, but even then that probable does not equate to half the equity.

Maskface

He has contributed to the family home for almost a decade so may well be entitled to some financial recompense. For your own sake get proper legal advice from a lawyer, not from armchair experts on here.

tacpot12

You should take professional legal advice as advised. I would not tell him you are doing so just yet. If he has moved out, change the locks on your doors. If fact, if he hasn't moved out, I would ask your solicitor if you can change the locks any way! I dont't think he doesn't have any right to live in your house, his is and was always a guest (The technical term is an excluded occupier).Your solictor will confirm this. If he wants to fight for his "financial interest" in the house he can do so from where ever he moves to.  

If he hasn't contributed to the mortgage and hasn't contributed to repairs or maintenance on the house, then I think it very unlikely he will be able to make any case that he has any financial interest in your house at all. 

I would also expect that he will not be able to receive his financial interest until you sell the house. Under the circumstances, I can't see any judge ordering that your house be sold just so that he can rip you off.

You will help yourself if you make a note of what things he did and did not pay for. 

I think you should also calculate what contribution he would have had to have made to the mortgage to be entitled to 50% of the  equity that you have in the house now. I expect it would be about £70K in mortgage payments (or about £700 per month), and this would have had to have been on top anything else that he paid towards Food, Electricity/Gas, Council Tax, Water, and repairs & maintenace to the property.    

If he did contribute to repairs and maintenance, but not to the mortgage, he might be able to claim a financial interest of a few thousand pounds, but I would let him run up the legal bills to try to get any money out of you, and I would only do the bare minimum as advised by your solicitor so that you haven't created a propblem if this does eventually go to court.  

74jax

janerak said:

I have been living with my boyfriend for 9 years and he moved in with me and my children now 22 and 17 into my house that I own. He has paid me money every month towards food etc. Now we are splitting up and he wants half the equity in the house which is about £120k. He hasn't paid for anything to be done to the house like a conservatory etc. What is the law regarding this ? I got hung out to dry by my ex hubby and don't want the same to happen again. Thanks in advance. 

He also doesn't want to be 'hung out to dry' so although it's hard, you need to be crystal clear on what your etc means in your post.

If he just paid £50 a week for his food and he only has Asda /Tesco receipts to prove this, then its not your fault he didn't use what he had spare to save up a deposit in case it went sour.

Is the 'etc' bills? In which case I'd get all your bills together and explain not one penny went to the mortgage as the total bills was x and he contributed exactly half of x.

You say conservatory etc, what is the etc? And I'm guessing this is an easy one to prove he never transferred thousands. 

If he never bought any maintenance things or items for the home, he won't be able to prove he did.

He's walking away from 9 years with nothing, like I say, he should have been saving what he didn't contribute to the house, so unless there's a trace on bank accounts or he had receipts then I wouldn't be worried. If you KNOW he didn't contribute, then he can't prove he did (because he didn't).

From previous posts you were saying you were looking to claim some benefits short term, just until your boyfriend moved in who would then support you. This was in 2015, is this the same boyfriend (only that would make 6 years).  I only ask because 6 years would be better than 9 years, as its shorter (obviously). 

I would add my friend backed down from a court case similar, when her ex pointed out on facebook a post from years and years ago saying something like 'what a great bbq party, Good job xyz built the bbq built in time'. The bbq in question was an outdoor built in one with bricks.  Yes not a big deal but enough to show her ex did actually do 'something'.  He also had proof for paint at b&q though.   He didn't get half the equity, but they did work out a contribution cost.

It's not nice when relationships fail, NEITHER want to be hung out to dry. Get everything together now that proves you never received any contribution to the house and you maintained everything. (even if you got in a painter once, that proves he didn't do it). 

Mojisola

He's had nine years of living rent free  - he doesn't have any claim on your property. 

T.T.D

6 or even 9 year of living together he has certain rights. This is not legal advice, just my opinion. 

• In such cases, you may be able to change the locks (high risk due to DV for E.G) However, if you have been living together for a long period of time, then your ex may also have rights to live in the property.

 The nature and length of the relationship is not specifically defined under legislation but if you have been living together in a relationship for a few years, then you will usually fall under this law.

 He may have moved out but equally he may have rights to live in the property and if you take steps to stop him doing that, then they may apply to the court for an order to regain entry, He should be respectful and courteous to you, Pre arranging his visit with you and clarifying what he wants.

•You have a legal obligation to protect any of his belongings, destruction, selling or any intent to deprive him of them could see you on the wrong end of the law.   If he has belongings remaining at the property write him a letter informing him that he has X amount of days (20 is usually a good round number) and that any property remaining will be forfeited and free for you to dispose of how you see appropriate. 

This brings us to ”does he have any right to equity of the property”?
  The answer is if he has no shares in the property, equal or unequal then The answer is NO, but be warned do not engage in riling him up to the challenge, disengage in conversations about this tactfully, the law surrounding this is complicated and strictly applied and take a stupendously long time to progress through the court and I have seen solicitors fee’s rack up to 20-65k in these type of disputes. 

I wouldn’t hastily rush off to get a solicitor and retain one, if he wishes to challenge for equity upon your breakdown of relationship then he should be instructing his solicitors to act, only then would i seek paid for advice, he maybe blowing off a little steam and these are empty threats let him discover the costs and time associated in making this type of claim.  

sassyblue

If you’re not married and he’s not on the houses deeds or mortgage then he’s a guest in your house under your permission - he has no rights to live there and you can change the locks once he’s gone. 

However, if the split is amicable you could allow him a few weeks to find somewhere else but if he gets violent then he’s no right to stay and you change the locks straight away.

he hasn’t got his name on any domestic bill has he as that would be something that would help his case but if it’s only his personal bills for his mobile, his car insurance, credit card, etc, then it won’t help him.

As long as he can’t prove he’s done any decorating, repairs or anything that increases the value of the property from a selling point of view then it’s going to be hard for him to prove he’s entitled to any equity.  You may want to pay him off to go away but that’s a matter for you.

I would urge you to see a family lawyer to get proper legal advice anyway.

Mojisola

T.T.D said:

6 or even 9 year of living together he has certain rights. This is not legal advice, just my opinion.

No, he doesn't.

swingaloo2

T.T.D said:

6 or even 9 year of living together he has certain rights. This is not legal advice, just my opinion. 

• In such cases, you may be able to change the locks (high risk due to DV for E.G) However, if you have been living together for a long period of time, then your ex may also have rights to live in the property.

 The nature and length of the relationship is not specifically defined under legislation but if you have been living together in a relationship for a few years, then you will usually fall under this law.

 He may have moved out but equally he may have rights to live in the property and if you take steps to stop him doing that, then they may apply to the court for an order to regain entry, He should be respectful and courteous to you, Pre arranging his visit with you and clarifying what he wants.

•You have a legal obligation to protect any of his belongings, destruction, selling or any intent to deprive him of them could see you on the wrong end of the law.   If he has belongings remaining at the property write him a letter informing him that he has X amount of days (20 is usually a good round number) and that any property remaining will be forfeited and free for you to dispose of how you see appropriate. 

This brings us to ”does he have any right to equity of the property”?
  The answer is if he has no shares in the property, equal or unequal then The answer is NO, but be warned do not engage in riling him up to the challenge, disengage in conversations about this tactfully, the law surrounding this is complicated and strictly applied and take a stupendously long time to progress through the court and I have seen solicitors fee’s rack up to 20-65k in these type of disputes. 

I wouldn’t hastily rush off to get a solicitor and retain one, if he wishes to challenge for equity upon your breakdown of relationship then he should be instructing his solicitors to act, only then would i seek paid for advice, he maybe blowing off a little steam and these are empty threats let him discover the costs and time associated in making this type of claim.  

Which law are you referring to?