Do I owe my ex partner money from house sale?

alscrackers

Hi All. I will try to keep this simple.

In 1997 I bought a house with the money my parents left me. It was for myself, my partner and our two young children to live in. The house was in my name only and I had no mortgage.
It was a doer upper and my partner, myself (and a friend) did the work to make it habitable for us. 

In 2002 we moved and rented the first house out - both taking an equal share of the rent. We had a shared mortgage on the new property.

In 2014 we separated - he had an affair (not his first). He persuaded me not to tell the children and to keep things as normal as possible (our daughter has problems with anxiety). I managed this situation for two years but then had to move out for my own sanity.

It is now 2024 and I have put the first house up for sale. My ex has expressed that he has some equity in the property as he made it habitable for us - he couldn’t contribute financially at the time.

Do I owe him a proportion of the profit from the house sale? If so how much?
My friends have suggested that he had a mortgage-free time whilst living there and also had a half share of the rent for many years and that this should be his share. They have also mentioned that this house was bought with my inheritance and that I that I didn’t benefit from his inheritance a few years later.

I think he’s a cheeky so and so after what he did to me and I’m finding it hard to view the situation dispassionately.

Please advise. Many thanks.

Keep_pedalling

What was you marital status? 

elsien

He may have gained a beneficial Interest interest from adding value to the property from the work he helped to carry out.
Has he said what sort of figure he might be looking at?

alscrackers

We were ‘just’ partners - nothing on paper.
He hasn’t mentioned how much he’s thinking of. 

Exodi

What work did he do to make it habitable?

There's obviously a difference between painting the bedrooms and undertaking and funding a loft conversion.

If you can't reach an agreement, he would need to sue you as you're the only person on the title. Of course I'd always recommend trying to reach an amicable agreement beforehand as I'm not a fan of drama.

Maybe it's worth working out roughly how much you expect he paid for improvements (and an allowance for his labour), and offer that to him?

I'm not sure where the offer for him to receive half the rent came from, that was incredibly generous. It sounds like he's already had his cake. That makes the situation a bit messier if you intend to claim this is in lieu of equity (which presumably has never been communicated until now).

saajan_12

First question is what was the work to 'make it habitable'. Major capital increasing work would have meant he gained a beneficial interest from the outset. The fact that he lived rent / mortgage free and received 50% of the rent subsequently cement this argument that he had an interest in the property. 

Brie

I'd suggest you tell him that the boat has already sailed.  You separated in 2014 and presumably agreed what the financial split was needed with the property on which you shared a mortgage.  Likewise he presumably stopped getting a split on the rent from the first property and was happy with that.   10 years later he pops up and says you owe him?  My response would be that he got his when he took 50% of the rent for 12 years and that was more than sufficient to pay him back for whatever bits of work he did.  

alscrackers

The first house was a repossession and needed a kitchen and central heating putting in. I paid for these and my ex and his friend installed them. I did most of the decorating.
Receiving an income from the property in the form of rent was, in a way, an acknowledgement of the work he had done. Yes Brie, he stopped getting half the rent but only when I moved on in 2016. Unfortunately he hasn't ‘popped up’. He still lives in the second house and has been reluctant to get it on the market, making excuses that it’s not the right time, busy with work etc. The mortgage on that house is now paid off. I have been patient and civil for the sake of our children.

I agree, he’s had his cake, biscuits and the rest.

Savvy_Sue

Well, if he has equity in the first house, then surely you have equity in the second? What's he suggesting that's worth, and when does he intend to pay it to you? Is your name still on the deeds at the Land Registry? 

I might be wanting to draw a line under this, with a legal agreement that you keep proceeds of sale from House 1, transfer House 2 into his sole name, and only ever discuss matters relating to the children in future. But I don't know what amounts of money we are talking about.