Mortgage in my name - living with girlfriend

theartfullodger

Arsenal2019 said:

But what if she just contributes to shopping / bills and does so by sending me money ? And does this for  a few years and the relationship breaks down.  Would she be entitled to go for the house even tho she didn’t contribute to deposit / mortgage?

im just worried as I don’t wanna go through this again….

If it ever got to court that would depend on the judge and evidence provided. i.e. there is no hard 'n fast answer

moneysaver1978

Just a thought - what if you have a different account for mortgage, and another one for utilities (which she pays into)?

Emmia

moneysaver1978 said:

Just a thought - what if you have a different account for mortgage, and another one for utilities (which she pays into)?

I suggested this already - I think this would be the best approach to avoid any sense of money mixing in relation to the mortgage.

Sistergold

Yes have an account only for the bills don’t let any of her contributions go to the account where the mortgage comes from. Also don’t take money for renovations. If ever you have children or are now happy to share the house then well you can then let everything mix and become blurred financially. 

RexItaliae

It's worth noting that if you make a joint bank account, your finances will be linked from a credit rating perspective. If your girlfriend has a bad credit history, this will affect you negatively the day you have to borrow money, for example in a mortgage.

I'm currently buying a flat on my name only although my boyfriend will come live with me, and my solicitor told me that he'll have to sign a form where he'll essentially relinquish any rights to the property. He'll live rent-free but we've decided to split 50/50 bills/groceries and also the "ordinary" maintenance expenses, that is that part of the service charge that refer to normal maintenance such as keeping up the communal gardens, clearing the gutters, etc. Of course any extraordinary expense that relates to structural repairs like re-making the roof, repainting the external walls and similar will be completely on me.

BobT36

50% to groceries and bills (inc council tax?). You can always prove that it was exactly 50% from your bank statements. 
Joint account for this is nice. 

I get "no mortgage contributions or improvements" (presumably no buildings insurance conts too, but contents would be ok?), however, I presume contributing to MAINTENANCE would be alright? As in for general repairs etc. As long as it's not "improving" the property. Or is that a no-go, either? 

Emmia

BobT36 said:

50% to groceries and bills (inc council tax?). You can always prove that it was exactly 50% from your bank statements. 
Joint account for this is nice. 

I get "no mortgage contributions or improvements" (presumably no buildings insurance conts too, but contents would be ok?), however, I presume contributing to MAINTENANCE would be alright? As in for general repairs etc. As long as it's not "improving" the property. Or is that a no-go, either? 

I'd avoid anything that might be deemed an "improvement" or maintenance painting for example... It definitely rules out new windows/bathrooms/kitchens. 

Essentially if the girlfriend didn't live there, would the OP need to pay for it?

Having a second person living there doesn't make a new kitchen /bathroom / windows any more essential, but more food will need to be purchased, more water will be used etc.

BobT36

^ things will wear & tear more too, though. 
And sure no "improvement" like new bathroom / kitchen or whatever. but what is a leak needs fixing or something? 
I'd have thought painting would be ok too since would be general maintenance? Unless it's a full "decoration" job to improve. Hmm.. 

I know the whole test is whether they have an "interest" in the property or not. I imagine the boundaries are vague. 
I imagine it would be something like, whether the owner materially benefits in the future, rather than them both just "benefiting" (JUST by not being detrimented) at the time? 

Marvel1

BobT36 said:

^ things will wear & tear more too, though. 
And sure no "improvement" like new bathroom / kitchen or whatever. but what is a leak needs fixing or something? 
I'd have thought painting would be ok too since would be general maintenance? Unless it's a full "decoration" job to improve. Hmm.. 

I know the whole test is whether they have an "interest" in the property or not. I imagine the boundaries are vague. 
I imagine it would be something like, whether the owner materially benefits in the future, rather than them both just "benefiting" (JUST by not being detrimented) at the time? 

I would count repairs as if renting the landlord pays and not the tenent.

Painting - tenents need landlord permision and most likely need to paint it back to what it was before - so really if she gets to help choose I suppose.

BobT36

I'd have just thought "I contributed half to repainting a wall because it was a bit old / worn / causing problems" would be "maintenance", whereas "I contributed half to a full redecoration job on room(s) in the house" to be "interest". But then I'm not a lawyer. 

Good point tho that if she was renting, she wouldn't have to pay for those things, hmm..