I want my ex to buy me out.

Pushmeen

Hi guys new here just want some advice or similar situations and where to start really. 

Let's start from the start. 

My then partner bought a house, I helped with everything from buying furniture to sanding down walls, to painting. Then he kicked me out gave me a day to move my stuff out..
Fast forward I moved back in and we decided to put me on the mortgage joint 50/50..
Years down the line it hasn't worked out. Now all I want is what I'm entitled to I've paid the mortgage, pretty much all the furniture is mine, all the carpets everything. I moved out and he has been less than ready to sort this out. 
He doesn't want to give me anything and just wants to me to get me off the mortgage and says I won't get anything at all. 
I have put time and money into that house, it was meant to be our life. 

I just want to know people's similar experiences. If anyone knows where I should start and if I'm entitled to anything. 

It's a difficult time at the moment. I moved back to my parents home and he wouldn't accept any money for the mortgage and kept putting it back into my account. So I haven't actively paid anything for 2 years. 
He won't let me go round and get my stuff without him there. He's dictating to me when I can enter... what is essentially my home as well. 

Thanks for taking the time to read. 

Ayr_Rage

Is the house jointly owned?

Is the house in England or another UK country?

elsien

What does he put you on the mortgage mean in practice? It is a joint mortgage in both your names, or you give him the money towards it? 

Pushmeen

Sorry. I'm new at this. 

The house is in England.
The house is jointly owned it's half his and half mine now. My name is on the mortgage.


 Ayr_Rage said:

Is the house jointly owned?

Is the house in England or another UK country?

elsien said:

What does he put you on the mortgage mean in practice? It is a joint mortgage in both your names, or you give him the money towards it? 

kentboy101

If you look at the house deeds, it will either say you are joint tenants, or tenants in common. You can download the deeds from the land registry for £3.

Joint tenants means you own 50% each, and as such are legally entitled to half of the equity as a starting point.

Tenants in common means you own uneven shares, with the abscense of any signed agreement with you it would be down to negotiation on the split. If you can't agree then a court will have to decide.

Pushmeen

kentboy101 said:

If you look at the house deeds, it will either say you are joint tenants, or tenants in common. You can download the deeds from the land registry for £3.

Joint tenants means you own 50% each, and as such are legally entitled to half of the equity as a starting point.

Tenants in common means you own uneven shares, with the abscense of any signed agreement with you it would be down to negotiation on the split. If you can't agree then a court will have to decide.

Hi thanks for your comment. I have already done that and our names are on the registered owners section there's nothing about tenants in common.

Bookworm105

Pushmeen said:

kentboy101 said:

If you look at the house deeds, it will either say you are joint tenants, or tenants in common. You can download the deeds from the land registry for £3.

Joint tenants means you own 50% each, and as such are legally entitled to half of the equity as a starting point.

Tenants in common means you own uneven shares, with the abscense of any signed agreement with you it would be down to negotiation on the split. If you can't agree then a court will have to decide.

Hi thanks for your comment. I have already done that and our names are on the registered owners section there's nothing about tenants in common.
.

you have legal ownership of the property, just the same as he does, but getting your money "out" will require the property to be sold since he is not willing to give you cash.

you have only 2 ways forward
1. both parties voluntarily agree to a sale and sign the relevant forms
2. one party refuses to sign so the other must go to court to force the sale 

How To Force The Sale Of A Jointly Owned Property - Property Disputes

reclaiming "your" furniture is a grey area since, although it appears not married, it comes down to can you prove what is yours if he claims you have stolen it? I had a friend who came home one day to find she had cleared the house of everything except a large piece of furniture his parents had given "them".  He had to go out that night and buy plates and cutlery so he could eat a meal. Some people can get very vicious over relationship splits.

p00hsticks

Pushmeen said:

kentboy101 said:

If you look at the house deeds, it will either say you are joint tenants, or tenants in common. You can download the deeds from the land registry for £3.

Joint tenants means you own 50% each, and as such are legally entitled to half of the equity as a starting point.

Tenants in common means you own uneven shares, with the abscense of any signed agreement with you it would be down to negotiation on the split. If you can't agree then a court will have to decide.

Hi thanks for your comment. I have already done that and our names are on the registered owners section there's nothing about tenants in common.

It doesn;t explicitly use the term 'tenants in common' - what you need to look for I think is the following wording in Section A of the title 
“No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.”  

DullGreyGuy

kentboy101 said:

If you look at the house deeds, it will either say you are joint tenants, or tenants in common. You can download the deeds from the land registry for £3.

Joint tenants means you own 50% each, and as such are legally entitled to half of the equity as a starting point.

Tenants in common means you own uneven shares, with the abscense of any signed agreement with you it would be down to negotiation on the split. If you can't agree then a court will have to decide.

Joint tenants technically means you own 100% each so is in effect 50/50 

Tenants in common can be 50/50 but more critically they can be an uneven share. 

Bookworm105 said:
I had a friend who came home one day to find she had cleared the house of everything except a large piece of furniture his parents had given "them".  He had to go out that night and buy plates and cutlery so he could eat a meal. Some people can get very vicious over relationship splits.

Remember in my first job (mail order call centre) a customer phoned saying that her soon to be ex had cleared the house of everything that they'd bought from us whilst she was asleep and so could we allocate them all to his sub-account (we had the idea of agents back then). 

Have to say I wasnt convinced that someone could empty a whole house of stuff inc gas cookers, beds, sofas etc and the customer sleep through it. She did concede that actually he had left the kingsize bed and its bedding which she'd been sleeping on at the time. 

Albermarle

you have legal ownership of the property, just the same as he does, but getting your money "out" will require the property to be sold since he is not willing to give you cash.

you have only 2 ways forward
1. both parties voluntarily agree to a sale and sign the relevant forms
2. one party refuses to sign so the other must go to court to force the sale 

OP - As above, but a tactic might be to begin with threatening  Point 2 and see what the reaction. If he sees you are serious about forcing a sale and him having to move out, he might become more flexible about buying you out.
I would see a solicitor and get them to send a threatening letter to him. These can work wonders in some scenarios. 

Exodi

I'd be interested to understand a bit more of the background. The OP mentions the partner bought the house, which suggests the ex contributed a deposit at the start. It would be interesting to know how much equity was in the house before they became joint tenants (I'm not sure if it's technically relevant, but there is a moral angle to this, and I'm sure if this got legal, it would at least be mentioned).

Unfortunately, but just from how I've seen these things go, I'd definitely forget about being directly compensated for 'sanding walls', 'painting' or quibbling over laid carpets.

With that said, the OP indicates they may be joint tenants on the property - which if I'm frank was incredibly daft by the ex (but happens all the time) and simultaneously incredibly advantageous to the OP.

As others have said, you technically own the same amount of house as he does.

Now due to this fact, I actually think there are two realistic options:

1. Make him aware of the position (and to highlight this, you could even move back in as it's just as much your house as it is his) and then after that, come to a compromise on a fair buy out amount.
2. Go legal and try to force a sale (if you cannot agree an amount, or if he cannot raise the funds and does not want to sell).

Or I guess 3. Do nothing and let him continue paying the mortgage on a house you jointly own. In 20-30 years, thank him for the six figure sum he'll be liable to give you when he tries to sell the house (this third one is not totally serious, as you would find it hard to buy a house in the interim and he'll inevitably just refuse to ever sell, as happens in divorce).

As others have said, breakups bring out the worse in people and I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be happy to hold their ex bang to rights in reclaiming half of the equity (including half a deposit they never contributed towards). Personally I think this is a bit harsh, which is why, once he is crystal clear on the current position, I would negotiate a fair amount that may factor in reimbursement for things you feel you are owed.

If I was a betting man, I'd wager this will not be resolved with amicable discussion, unfortunately (unless you're willing to do all the comprising).