Legal Rights if not Married

aliad32

Hi
My ex partner and myself were together for 25 years but never married, we purchased our home in 1991 with an Endowment Mortgage.  My ex partner was never good with money and got himself in serious credit card debt on several occasions and in 2001 he also stopped paying the Endowment without my knowledge. When I found out I contacted our Mortgage supplier and we were switched to a Repayment Mortgage.  In 2007 when I was pregnant with our son he once again got in serious credit card debt so we were forced to take out an extra 25K on the mortgage (extending it by 10 years) to pay these off.  By 2013 our relationship was over but we still lived in the same home as he could not afford to move out, it was at this point that he switched our mortgage to an interest only mortgage without my consent.  In 2014 he eventually moved out and told me he would not be paying anything towards the mortgage and to get the house repossessed if I couldn't afford it on my own! .  For the past 10 years I have paid the interest only mortgage on my own, he has not contributed anything to the maintenance of the house, I have had a new Kitchen fitted from a 5k inheritance from my Father (old kitchen was almost 50 years old and literally falling off the walls), I had to have the Porch rebuilt with money from a PPI pay out and a new ceiling in the kitchen and my son's bedroom due to water damage.  All in all I have spent about £15K in the last 10 years since he left to keep the house habitual for me and my children (it is a 120 year old Victorian Terrace) which my ex did no DIY or repairs to the whole 25 years he lived in the house!
He has paid me the bare minimum in Child Maintenance in the last 9 years (he begged me not to go through CSA as he said he could not afford it) for our 2 children and I have calculated he has under paid me about 11-14k over the last 10 years, he has no contact with the children (his choice) and has never contributed anything extra like school trips, football boots etc.
In 2018 I married my now husband who now lives in the house with me and the children and contributes towards half the bills and Mortgage (he still has a joint mortgage with his ex wife on their marital home but is reluctant at this time to make her sell as his 3 adult children still live there). 
The mortgage is due to finish in 18 months with 72k left to pay, I have gone on line and it appears I am eligible for a mortgage of up to 90k on my wages as I am 54, as both my children are still living at home (21 and 16) I am not prepared to sell and downsize so really want to try and keep the house.  There is so much work needed that needs doing to it ie failed damp proof, blown plaster in almost every room, no central heating and a bathroom with no form of heating and full of damp but my husband is planning on investing any monies coming from the sale of his house into renovation works.  My ex lives with his new partner in social housing so has no concern about having to afford a mortgage or maintenance on a property. 
My very long winded question is (sorry for waffling) after all this is he still entitled to 50% of the equity in the house even though he has made no contributions of any kind for 10 years? 
I am intending on getting the house valued ( I suspect it to worth about £250k) then speak to a mortgage advisor before approaching him on how much he will accept from me.  I have not had any communication of any kind with him for about 7 years so the thought of having to deal with him is a bit daunting and as I have been quoted £300 an hour for a solicitor it is a cost I am reluctant to bear.  I have had several people tell me he is only entitled to have the equity at the value of the house when he stopped contributing towards the mortgage but I am very unsure of this.  I know the matter is made more complicated as we never married but I am having sleepless nights worrying about our future.  

Brie

The problem is that his name is on the deeds then he's entitled to a portion of the house.  A solicitor might be a good use of money if s/he can go in heavy handed enough to get the ex to sign away his half for a flat payout of £X.  If he's on benefits/UC etc if may be that a large payment (which he might demand) will stop these completely.  So keeping an offer below the savings limit for UC might be a good move. 

Meanwhile - prepare a spreadsheet.  What was the value of the house when he left?  What has he paid in support?  How much would he owe you? 

Also - I'm wondering how he twice managed to change a mortgage that presumably your name is on.  Fraud perhaps?  Might there be any value in talking to the bank(s) about this as his fraudulent activity has disadvantaged you and they are party to that.  Getting them to acknowledge his fraud would also potentially weaken any claim he has. 

But I am not a lawyer...  

Hoenir

aliad32 said:

My very long winded question is (sorry for waffling) after all this is he still entitled to 50% of the equity in the house even though he has made no contributions of any kind for 10 years? 

Yes. He is the joint owner. 

marcia_

Hoenir said:

aliad32 said:

My very long winded question is (sorry for waffling) after all this is he still entitled to 50% of the equity in the house even though he has made no contributions of any kind for 10 years? 

Yes. He is the joint owner. 

 Not necessarily 50% even if owner 

thegreenone

Brie said:

Also - I'm wondering how he twice managed to change a mortgage that presumably your name is on.  Fraud perhaps?  Might there be any value in talking to the bank(s) about this as his fraudulent activity has disadvantaged you and they are party to that.  Getting them to acknowledge his fraud would also potentially weaken any claim he has.  

That was my first thought on reading OP's post.  Contact your mortgage provider and ask to see the actual signature page.  Do you have any documentation from 2013 that has your signature on?  As it was then. 

If he owes maintenance and you paid the mortgage, I really hope they even out and you can remortgage and move on.

Kynthia

Legally he owns the property as much as you do, and without being married then there's no-one to overule that split by deciding what's fair.

Technically it can be argued that you've had use of his half of the property, and could owe him rent on it which offsets his lack mortgage payments. He had to pay for somewhere else to live.

Thankfully you can negotiate between you. So if you're able to remortgage in your name you can get an agreement from him to remove his name from the mortgage and deeds for a sum. Him being on benefits could work in your favour as mentioned above, as getting too much money from the house would halt his benefits. However there's no telling what he might or might not accept. Work out the current equity less the renovations costs you've done and half of that is the maximum he'd likely get in court.

Zoe02

Better to sort things out now rather than later.

"There is so much work needed that needs doing to it ie failed damp proof, blown plaster in almost every room, no central heating and a bathroom with no form of heating and full of damp but my husband is planning on investing any monies coming from the sale of his house into renovation works. "

Better for your new partner not to get invested in the property until the split of equity is sorted.

MobileSaver

aliad32 said:

In 2014 he eventually moved out and told me he would not be paying anything towards the mortgage and to get the house repossessed if I couldn't afford it on my own! . ... is he still entitled to 50% of the equity in the house even though he has made no contributions of any kind for 10 years? 

At the very least he's probably entitled to 50% of the 2014 equity and if he has a good lawyer then yes it may turn out he's entitled to 50% of the current 2024 equity so I'd suggest that you negotiate with those upper and lower amounts in mind to something that you're both prepared to accept.

The worst case scenario is that the two of you constantly argue over relatively small amounts and all the equity is spent on legal fees so that you both end up with nothing...

strawbeery90

Since you were not married, your ex likely does not have an automatic right to 50% equity. As an unmarried partner, his entitlement would depend on specific financial/property agreements.

HampshireH

Just out of interest is you ex on the tenancy of the social housing property?

It's very very rare anyone is given social housing if they have a financial interest and own their own home (exceptional circumstances would be cases of DV for example).

If he is on the tenancy and hasn't disclosed his home ownership you could use this as leverage to get him to come off the deeds. As if he hasn't declared it when applying for social housing he will have committed fraud.

Of course he may not be a tenant and if that is the case then he would probably attempt to get all he could (but a solicitor costs money and if he cannot afford his kids presumably he couldn't afford solicitor either)