Is he entitled to 50/50?

angelavdavis

No I agree.

I had a similar situation with the ex-husband - but he was still entitled to 50/50. Luckily for me, the value of the property jumped hugely over the year between our divorce and my sale - I made almost another £100k after he got his bit, so I didn't really suffer in the end!

Sadly, your sister's ex could have been a real so-and-so, with numerous children by different mothers, and caused your sister terrible emotional pain and humiliation - it will make no difference, he is still entitled to an equal share.

She needs to just put it down to experience, believe me, she will be more careful about organising legal agreements, etc next time!

Richard_Webster

Any deal that is done should take into account the cost of going to court over the entitlement. People think that establishing the "legal position" is the answer. He put in £A and she put in £B therefore he is now entitled to £X and she is entitled to £Y. Maybe, but only if the court says so.

Once you have legal advice about what in theory each is entitled to it is then a matter of negotiations to arrive at a figure that each will settle for. If one side is too unreasonable the other may feel it is worthwhile to spend a few thousand on going to court. This is not an area where I have detailed knowledge so I couldn't advise about what is reasonable here. As a conveyancer I try to advise people so they can avoid these arguments - have a document clearly setting out who is entitled to what and that will reduce the scope for argument later.

angelavdavis

My personal experience is that, if it goes to court (luckily my financial settlement didn't) the only winners are the solicitors (sorry Richard - nothing personal meant here).

olly300

angelavdavis wrote: »

I had a similar situation with the ex-husband - but he was still entitled to 50/50. Luckily for me, the value of the property jumped hugely over the year between our divorce and my sale - I made almost another £100k after he got his bit, so I didn't really suffer in the end!

Yours was an ex-husband rather than a boyfriend.

Married partners have more rights in law as assets are seen as jointly belonging to both of you.

pinkshoes

Remember the valuation is not what it would actually sell for. Realistically it could fetch £165k in the current market, as people are struggling to get mortgages, and therefore are not buying, or putting in much lower offers.

I would tell your sister to get a copy of all the bank statements for joint account, and for her account, and show how much money she's paid in vs how much he's paid in i.e. her 78% and him 22%

Did they split bills 50/50?

Taking the LOWEST valuation, take away the remaining mortgage, and then offer him 22% of what's left. IF he won't accept this, show him all the bank statements showing the contributions that she's made, and say that as he's only contributed 22%, he's only entitled to 22% of the equity, which she can prove in court. Remind him that he'd also have to pay court costs as he'd no doubt lose...

It's worth a try, as he's probably pushing his luck and will back down if he faces getting only 22% AND having to pay court costs.

Has she closed the joint account and transferred the mortgage payments to her own account?