Occupation Rent?

doodling

Hi,

First things first, how is the house owned - Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common?  If the house is owned as Joint Tenants then you may want to sever that joint tenancy ASAP so that you own it as tenants in common.  If you don't then if you die he will get the whole house and I'm guessing that is not what you want (of course, the same applies the other way as well).  You don't need your ex partners consent to do this.

The expectation, unless documented otherwise, is that joint ownership is 50/50 and that will be the starting point from which you will have to argue if it goes to court.  You need to think back to the time you bought the house and honestly consider what both of you were thinking when you bought the house - were both of you expecting to get back what you put in, or was it "our" house owned equally - what evidence is there of both of your states of mind at the time?  What evidence is there that you weren't giving your partner half the deposit you paid?

Your conveyancer should have discussed with you the possibility of a Deed of Trust defining a different split when you bought the house as you were unmarried and there was a substantial difference in your initial contributions - unfortunately there is nothing you can do about that now.

In theory you have the right to access the house.  In practise, unless there is a really good reason to do so there is no value in trying to enforce that right - all it will do is increase your stress levels.  You don't have the right to exclude your ex partner from the house, you both have the same rights.

I trust that you have arranged for child maintenance to be paid - if not then that is something that needs sorting ASAP.

Mysweet96

doodling said:

Hi,

First things first, how is the house owned - Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common?  If the house is owned as Joint Tenants then you may want to sever that joint tenancy ASAP so that you own it as tenants in common.  If you don't then if you die he will get the whole house and I'm guessing that is not what you want (of course, the same applies the other way as well).  You don't need your ex partners consent to do this.

The expectation, unless documented otherwise, is that joint ownership is 50/50 and that will be the starting point from which you will have to argue if it goes to court.  You need to think back to the time you bought the house and honestly consider what both of you were thinking when you bought the house - were both of you expecting to get back what you put in, or was it "our" house owned equally - what evidence is there of both of your states of mind at the time?  What evidence is there that you weren't giving your partner half the deposit you paid?

Your conveyancer should have discussed with you the possibility of a Deed of Trust defining a different split when you bought the house as you were unmarried and there was a substantial difference in your initial contributions - unfortunately there is nothing you can do about that now.

In theory you have the right to access the house.  In practise, unless there is a really good reason to do so there is no value in trying to enforce that right - all it will do is increase your stress levels.  You don't have the right to exclude your ex partner from the house, you both have the same rights.

I trust that you have arranged for child maintenance to be paid - if not then that is something that needs sorting ASAP.

Hi, thank you for your comment,

It's owned as Joint Tenants, which has not been severed yet. 

At the time we bought the house, things were rocky but not too bad between us, and of course we didn't plan on splitting up. He was thinking that he wouldn't buy the house unless it was 50/50 and as I wasn't working due to having young kids at the time, so I thought he'd pay his half of the house by paying the mortgage payments, while I had already pretty much paid my half with the 46.5% deposit. So yes I expected to get back what I'd put in eventually. But now I have to let him live in the house and pay the mortgage for the next 17 years for me to get back what I put in. Now I have had to leave him due to his making our lives really unpleasant, currently I've paid £101k and he's paid only £30k so far. I was depressed at the time of buying the house and taking prescribed antidepressants. I don't understand that I need evidence to show I wasn't giving him half the deposit?  None of the money went into his possession. It went straight from my bank account to the conveyancer to transfer to the seller.

The conveyancer never discussed a Deed of Trust and one does not exist. Nor did they contact me to discuss the big contribution I was making, when he made none.

I don't go to the house, even though many of my possessions are still there. Last time I went he was physically abusive. I haven't tried to exclude him from the house. He excludes me though by having changed the locks and saying that if I want to move back in (which I can't for my own safety, not do our children want to live with him), I would have to pay 60% of the mortgage and bills!

I have arranged child maintenance through Child Maintenance Services.

As he is still in the house and I was forced to leave due to his abuse, I read I could try and claim occupation rent for him living in my half of the house. The mortgage is much less than the rental value, but I have been told I need to take him to court for that.  There is nothing to help people in my situation. If we had married, I'm sure it would have been much easier to sort these things out.  We were together longer than most people are married these days. I would hate for someone to be in the same situation as me.

sheramber

Womens Aid may be able to point you to legal advice.

Richard1212

Get a solicitor who specialises in such matters, go to court if necessary and when the facts come out as you have presented them on this forum you should get all that you are entitled to as a proportion of what sums each joint owner has paid since the house was bought. You should not have been renting for 3 years with kids---it is scandalous. Trust in a specialist solicitor, don't be intimidated by solicitor's costs or by threats from the joint owner. You have to take action in order to achieve what is fair and , if you continue to allow this to go on, you will be making the second biggest mistake of your life. I'm so sorry to hear your story, which isn't uncommon , and I hope you trust that you will get justice if you stand up for your rights. My very best wishes for a successful outcome.

Mysweet96

Thank you for your kind message Richard1212. I wish I could find a solicitor who specialises in such matters. I've tried so hard to find someone to help me. To make matters worse, I have discovered tonight that he has stopped paying the mortgage when he is fully capable of paying it and it's a lot less than my rent! This is probably going to further cripple me now. He is just so awful, doesn't even care about the effect of financially crippling me is having on our children.  I think I'll have to take an emergency day off work tomorrow to try and get to see someone at citizen's advice.  The thing is, not being married, I don't think I actually have any rights

DE_612183

Of course if he has stopped paying the mortgage, worst case is the house will get re-possessed and the sold - whatever is left after the sale etc will be split 50/50...probably not a good outcome for you.

doodling

Hi,

Please don't take my comments as being critical or telling you that you have no rights.  I'm trying to get you to understand the process and think about what you need to do to get what you are entitled to.

You need to find a solicitor who is an expert in ToLATA claims.  This is now urgent as he has stopped paying the mortgage.  From what you have said, I doubt a court would order that your ex is due as much as 50% of the equity.

Unfortunately him stopping paying the mortgage will affect both of your credit files but there isn't anything you can immediately do about that - don't pay the mortgage if you can't afford it.

Whilst you may not be able to do anything about paying the mortgage, make sure that the mortgage company has your contact details and that they send any letters to both of you.  This is not an unusual request (it is common in cases like yours and in divorces) and they should be able to do so easily.  It does no harm to tell them about the situation but there won't be much they can do other than keep you informed of their responses to it.

Whilst going to a solicitor (and potentially to court) may seem expensive,  I think you need to do this soon.  Whilst it might cost money, it is clear that the house is a big thing linking you to your ex and getting it sorted will be a huge weight off your shoulders an allow you to move on with your life a bit more.

breaking_free

Mysweet96 said:

I didn't think of calling his bluff because he tells me that if it goes to court, I will end up having to pay the fees (£30k to £35k). Probably said that to scare me.

Indeed! He's full of utter rot. Having come out of an abusive relationship myself I can tell you that my partner insisted that he'd get my entire house that I paid 100% for. He'd also take everything in my bank accounts and he'd clean out my dad's bank account too, have both of us killed by "people he knew", blah, blah, rhubarb, rhubarb ad infinitum. All total BS, but the difference between your good self and me is that I knew it was lies. Why? Because he always lied to me!

Assume that anything your ex partner says is a lie. Did he tell you he's stopped paying the mortgage? If so it's a lie because where is he going to live when the house gets repossessed eh? He's just saying this to make you upset. 

Best advice I can give you is to post on the Women's Aid forum. You'll mostly get moral support there, but you may be surprised at the practical advice you receive. For example, my ex managed to get "his" side of our story published in a women's magazine, but when I found out he'd flogged it to another one I was able to contact that magazine and get it quashed thanks to advice from a poster at Women's Aid. 

Remember, lots of people have been in your situation so the knowledge is out there - you just have to find it xx

Richard1212

Mysweet96 said:

Thank you for your kind message Richard1212. I wish I could find a solicitor who specialises in such matters. I've tried so hard to find someone to help me. To make matters worse, I have discovered tonight that he has stopped paying the mortgage when he is fully capable of paying it and it's a lot less than my rent! This is probably going to further cripple me now. He is just so awful, doesn't even care about the effect of financially crippling me is having on our children.  I think I'll have to take an emergency day off work tomorrow to try and get to see someone at citizen's advice.  The thing is, not being married, I don't think I actually have any rights

You most certainly DO have rights, married or not (makes no difference ) and I suggest you ask any solicitor to refer you to a specialist in family/property disputes----or ask Citizens Advice Bureau to recommend a good solicitor. There are very many solicitors out there , especially female solicitors, who treat cases like yours as a "mission in life" and have a real vocation to help in such situations.

And your latest news about the despicable stopping of mortgage makes matters more pressing. As I said before-----if you don't act soon, you will be making the second worst decision of your life and you and your children will be getting into deeper trouble. Please, please take legal action. With every best wish and rooting for you all the way !

Mysweet96

sheramber said:

Womens Aid may be able to point you to legal advice.

Thank you for your advice sheramber