Splitting up but not married help please

qwert10

Hi I saw the post below on a similar theme and wondered if you could advise me for a friend please?

They are not married and splitting up. Thy have grown up children living away and a house with a mortgage he pays. She is in the house and works but low income.  He is at a friends.

Someone told her she needs to find out if they are both on the mortgage they are both on it and what sort of agreement it?

Not quite sure what this means.

Although he pays it she bailed him out of a large amount of debt when they first got together and this has not been repaid. She pays bills in house and looks after it.

So basically if they are to end it all and split up (on cards) would the house be sold and split the proceeds? Also what about the money she paid for him?

Should she see a solicitor or any advice to help. Would a mediation service help or cost to much and not be helpful?

Should she try to keep in the house? alone ie not let him back? Nobody else involved on her side - sort of dubious on his.

Any tips/ideas welcomed?

Thanks

RAS

She needs to start by getting a copy of the deeds from the Land Registry - costs £3. Avoid the rip-off companies that charge 10 times as much to make the search for you. That will tell her whether he is the sole owner or whether she is on the deeds.

qwert10

thanks! any info helpful.

Savvy_Sue

Mediation might help, and Relate will see her on her own if he doesn't wish to go - that may help her work through her options and decide what SHE wants to do. 

Eventually a solicitor may be needed but her rights in this situation are not as strong as they would be had they been married. 

tacpot12

Mediation is a good option where there is an element of fairness in how they settle up. He might have fogotten just how much debt she helped him clear, and a good mediator will be able to put this to him and hopefully arrive at a fair settlement. 

Professional mediators charge about £100 per hour, so are a good deal cheaper than an solictor; especially as the cost of themediator can be shared. 

Alias_Omega

Probably joint tenants, property should be sold and split 50/50. If no proof of debt loan agreement (i.e. not a deed, just verbal) then that's gone out of the window (as it was always in good faith) ~ Expect stuff to go sour quickly after this, become very bitter and drawn out. 

Fast method could be to fess up what he owes, as long as it goes quickly etc. I suspect pensions will be saved, no splitting of them. 

Once again, go see a solicitor! First 30 mins is free...

TBagpuss

The key issue is whose name the house is in - for unmarried couples, the starting point is that you split the house according to what it says on the deeds - so if they own as joint tenants, or as tenants in common in equal shares, then they each get 50%. 

If they own as tenants  in common in unequal shares, they each get the share set out in their declaration of trust. 

If the house in in his sole name then she has a much more difficult task as she would have to be able to satisfy a court (unless he agreed to a split) that there had been a mutual intention that they would both be beneficial owners, even if the title is solely in his name. This is pretty hard to prove although if she could show a paper trail of paying a lump sum towards the deposit it would help her. 

The fact she paid his debts, or he paid the mortgage, wouldn't change the split between them unless they could prove that there has been a joint intention that it would result in an unequal split, with it being the person claiming the unequal share to prove that that was what they both agreed or intended. 

qwert10

thanks all!