Buying my ex partner out of mortgage

Michaelob93

Hi. Me and my partner broke up 11 months ago we had a mortgage and young child together, she walked away from the family home leaving me to cover all the mortgage payments and bills on my own aswell as having my child 4 nights per week. We had the house valued, we then calculated that at the point she left she will accept a cash payout for half of the equity in the house at the point she moved out. It’s not been 11 months and I have just had the mortgage excepted to have on my own, I called to say I will transfer the money we agreed on so she can take her name off the mortgage, she replied saying that the house is now worth a lot more money so she wants it re valuing and more money in return to sign the house over. 

Even tho she has not contributed a single £ since she walked out is she entitled to a larger amount because the house is worth more or should she only receive half of the equity from when she moved out? 

MovingForwards

Assuming no declaration of trust set up when you first purchased the property.

Also assuming no legal agreement signed by both of you when the buyout was agreed.

50% of the equity is hers, it doesn't matter she hasn't contributed since. All you can do is try and negotiate or sell up and start over.

Michaelob93

It just makes no sense how she can refuse to remove her name now knowing that the longer this goes on she is going to get more and more money even tho she has no financial commitments to my house any more, surley there is something I can legally do to block the amount she can have off me? 

MEM62

Michaelob93 said:

she replied saying that the house is now worth a lot more money so she wants it re valuing and more money in return to sign the house over. 

You might want to remind her that any mortgage payments (along with her share of any other costs) that she has missed since moving out will be deducted from the settlement that she receives.  

tightauldgit

Michaelob93 said:

It just makes no sense how she can refuse to remove her name now knowing that the longer this goes on she is going to get more and more money even tho she has no financial commitments to my house any more, surley there is something I can legally do to block the amount she can have off me? 

It may or may not be fair, but it is the law unfortunately. The way to legally 'block her having more' was to get a legal agreement at the time you split, but any future legal agreement will be based on the current value of the property not what it was when you split. The fact she hasn't contributed won't make any difference unfortunately.

tightauldgit

MEM62 said:

Michaelob93 said:

she replied saying that the house is now worth a lot more money so she wants it re valuing and more money in return to sign the house over. 

You might want to remind her that any mortgage payments (along with her share of any other costs) that she has missed since moving out will be deducted from the settlement that she receives.  

From experience that's not how it works at all. Her equity share is not affected by whether or not she continues to make payments on the mortgage. Been through it and the only thing that can be done is to get an agreement to buy her out based on the current split. 

MEM62

tightauldgit said:

MEM62 said:

Michaelob93 said:

she replied saying that the house is now worth a lot more money so she wants it re valuing and more money in return to sign the house over. 

You might want to remind her that any mortgage payments (along with her share of any other costs) that she has missed since moving out will be deducted from the settlement that she receives.  

From experience that's not how it works at all. Her equity share is not affected by whether or not she continues to make payments on the mortgage. Been through it and the only thing that can be done is to get an agreement to buy her out based on the current split. 

That may be true from an equity split viewpoint but she still has an obligation to meet her share of the mortgage repayments and maintenance expenses.  My OH's ex did the same thing when he moved out.  Stopped paying a penny and she made 100% of the mortgage payments for almost three years.  When the assets were divided the judge made an adjustment in my OH's favor as he had a debt to her for the payments that he had not made.  

tightauldgit

MEM62 said:

tightauldgit said:

MEM62 said:

Michaelob93 said:

she replied saying that the house is now worth a lot more money so she wants it re valuing and more money in return to sign the house over. 

You might want to remind her that any mortgage payments (along with her share of any other costs) that she has missed since moving out will be deducted from the settlement that she receives.  

From experience that's not how it works at all. Her equity share is not affected by whether or not she continues to make payments on the mortgage. Been through it and the only thing that can be done is to get an agreement to buy her out based on the current split. 

That may be true from an equity split viewpoint but she still has an obligation to meet her share of the mortgage repayments and maintenance expenses.  My OH's ex did the same thing when he moved out.  Stopped paying a penny and she made 100% of the mortgage payments for almost three years.  When the assets were divided the judge made an adjustment in my OH's favor as he had a debt to her for the payments that he had not made.  

From a legal perspective there is no 'her share of the mortgage repayments'. There is a joint and several liability to the mortgage company to make the payments and while she is joint owner she retains a 50% interest in the equity of the property. 

I went through this during my own divorce. Ex-wife left and refused to make any payments towards any joint liabilities. Spoke to multiple solicitors and all advised the same - nothing you can do. He's living in the house and enjoying 'her 50%' without paying any rent to her so I think they see that as balancing out.

It's not necessarily fair as my ex was also being obstructive in allowing a sale to go through so she was forcing me to stay in the property and pay 100% of the mortgage while benefiting from the increase in equity which sucked.  

Of course when it comes to court the judge can make adjustments on a whole host of circumstances and there is no certainty that either party gets a 50/50 split but there is no rule that not contributing to a mortgage builds up a debt to be repaid. 

 

Lavendyr

You say partner - are you married? 

TBagpuss

Michaelob93 said:

Hi. Me and my partner broke up 11 months ago we had a mortgage and young child together, she walked away from the family home leaving me to cover all the mortgage payments and bills on my own aswell as having my child 4 nights per week. We had the house valued, we then calculated that at the point she left she will accept a cash payout for half of the equity in the house at the point she moved out. It’s not been 11 months and I have just had the mortgage excepted to have on my own, I called to say I will transfer the money we agreed on so she can take her name off the mortgage, she replied saying that the house is now worth a lot more money so she wants it re valuing and more money in return to sign the house over. 

Even tho she has not contributed a single £ since she walked out is she entitled to a larger amount because the house is worth more or should she only receive half of the equity from when she moved out? 

Unless you and she have a formal agreement or court order saying otherwise then yes, she is entitled to 50%. You may have been paying the mortgage but you are also living there - unless you have been paying her rent as well as covering the mortgage, it's entirely reasonable that she is entitled to her share of the increase in value - in most cases, the cost of a mortgage is lower than the cost of renting an equivalent property so you are probably still better off than you would have been if you have been paying her 50% of market rent for the house .

When courts make orders about this of thing it's typical that the lump sum paid is either 50% 9or other agreed % ) of the value of the house as at the date the lump sum is pad, or (less common ) a set lump sum plus interest until the lump sum is paid.

If you have paid a lump sum off the mortgage in the meantime that's a bit different and it would be fair to take it into account, but otherwise, it's reasonable to treat her half' of the mortgage that you have been paying, as your rent for occupying her half of the house.

If your child is with you 4 nights a week then you are the primary carer and would potentially be entitled to claim the child benefit and possibly also child support from your ex, 

Exodi

Unfortunately, people always have difficulty seeing things from the other side in these situations.

Food for thought - You live in a house you jointly own. Do you pay her rent for half the house?

Do you think it would be fairer if she paid half the mortgage despite not living there?

Presumably she is not homeless so has other housing obligations, does you pay towards these?

Seems like a fantastic deal for you where your housing payments build equity whereas hers go in the bin.

MEM62 said:

Michaelob93 said:

she replied saying that the house is now worth a lot more money so she wants it re valuing and more money in return to sign the house over. 

You might want to remind her that any mortgage payments (along with her share of any other costs) that she has missed since moving out will be deducted from the settlement that she receives.  

Absolutely don't try to blackmail her like this - not only is it a dumb idea, you need her cooperation... I'm sure she's more than happy staying on the joint mortgage if you want to start playing silly buggers like this.

It's about seeing the bigger picture and seeing it from both sides.