Money Moral Dilemma: I put in a much bigger deposit - but should we split the property equally?

mkglover89

Why don't you just lower your deposit to match? You could both put in 5% then split the mortgage equally. Obviously your monthly payments will be higher, but your extra cash could be put into a good savings account or a stocks and shares ISA. If the relationship becomes more permanent or you get married you can always pay more off when you re-mortgage.

Section62

mkglover89 said:

Why don't you just lower your deposit to match? You could both put in 5% then split the mortgage equally. Obviously your monthly payments will be higher, but your extra cash could be put into a good savings account or a stocks and shares ISA. If the relationship becomes more permanent or you get married you can always pay more off when you re-mortgage.

Easier/cheaper to simply get a deed of trust drawn up (if the local law permits it).

A future marriage won't make the situation any less risky or complicated either.  But a deed of trust could also be the basis for the division of assets (in addition to all the other considerations) if the marriage later broke down.

L21991

I was in the same situation. 

What we did was have a deed of trust (absolutely necessary). The deposit would be split % of what we were contributing. But the house was split 50/50. Because we are both splitting the mortgage payments 50/50. 

I would protect yourself and your money but end of the day you are both buying a place and will probably put the same amount of energy making it into a home.

If you do a 60/40 split I would expect you to be paying more towards the mortgage.

Jkn58

Interesting that most people assume that the person putting in most money is male…. My daughter was in this situation (she paid most of the deposit) but she and her boyfriend opted for a Deed of Trust. They are getting married soon so this will then be invalid, but not sure if they are setting up something else or not. No-one knows what the future holds so sensible to protect your investment. 

saajan_12

Can have 50/50 split and still be equitable, if you then lower your mortgage contributions accordingly. For your 50% share, you've put in 40% deposit and 10% via mortgage. For partner's 50% share, they have put in 5% deposit and 45% mortgage. So of the total 55% mortgage, you pay 10/55 = 18% of monthly mortgage payments and partner pays 82%. 

Otherwise, if you want to split mortgage payments in half, then change the split so you contribute 40% deposit + 27.5% mortgage = 67.5%, partner contributes 5% deposit + 27.5% mortgage = 32.5%. So the final split is 67.5 : 32.5. 

If you end up together forever then it won't matter what the paper says, as its all shared money. If you do split, then you own a portion proportional to what you have paid. 

Jorges

Interesting - we were not married when we bought our house and just agreed over the years we would level it out. My OH put in the deposit, I paid all the fees. When moved in I’ve paid for various improvements (windows, heating, decorating) stuck in some lump sums in the joint savings when I got the opportunity and I pay extra every month which goes into over paying the mortgage. Our situations have changed over the years - me not savings to being the higher earner. 

Only sticky bit was when my husband quit his job and started his own business and suddenly announced if he needed extra cash I could “pay him back my share of the deposit” - which did raise some fun relationship issues during lockdown 😂 by this point I wasn’t far off being even. 

So you could agree to divide costs down the line - the deposit is only part of co-owning a house. 

Lleonora

Absolutely get a Deed of Trust detailing who put what into the pot. I am going through this now myself. I am helping my daughter and her boyfriend buy their first house and her deposit (provided by me) and investment is significantly more than his. I am advising due to my own experience of falling foul of this in the past. It should be a 'given' these days. The old fashioned sharing ideas is way outdated. Modern relationships are not the 'forever' thing they used to be. It is only fair and right that your contribution should be acknowledged. It will only take effect if the relationship fails, so it's a none issue. It should not affect the relationship at all. The Deed of Trust just formalises things 'just in case' and worth every penny. By the way, I also suggest a cohabiting agreement, also a no brainer these days. Good Luck!

diamond103

This Happened to me many years ago and i lost the lot upon subsequent break up, long story won't bore you. But what I learnt hopefully can benefit you now. Very few solicitors/ conveyancers tell you there are 2 types of deeds(mine did not). These are Joint tenants or beneficial joint tenants, same thing, which is a 50/50 split regardless of who puts what in, and what you need and ask your solicitor to do is a Tenants in common which pre determines in law the agreed percentages upon sale or separation or death which you can both write into your individual wills. Finally the percentage breakdown should be 67.5% to you and 32.5% to other party, all future bills to be 50/50 as you will both be benefitting in equity growth. Further information can be read at Gov.uk joint property ownership. Hope this helps, and it all finalises amicably.

Crossed_swords

Firstly, your conveyancing solicitor is the best person to advise on this. Secondly, the portion will be determined by your contributions unless any factors come into account such as marriage. The legal rule is that you would each get your deposit back and share the uplift in value equally. Should the value fall you bear the shortfall in proportion to your input. 

REJP

I am puzzled by the description of the partner as "they".  More than one partner?
Apart from that, no, "they" don't get 50/50 share.  Will "they" be paying 50/50 on the mortgage?
If OP has to ask this question I wonder what other doubts will arise in future.   40/60 on decorators bills, same on household bills?  Not a good outlook for a long term relationship.