help i need some advise relationship breakdown

loulabell1984

my brother in law has recently been told by his girlfriend of 11 yrs (lived with for 3 yrs) that there relationship is over totally out of the blue, her reason was that she no longer fancied him and that she has feelings for someone else.

they share a council flat with a joint tenancy,to which neither of them want to leave. she has now said that she might leave but she is not leaving empty handed and has said she is entitled to half of the belongings and his money...:eek: ! something to do with common law partnerships.

he has £12000 in an ISA. and has paid for 90% of the goods in the flat tv fridge cooker etc......

does anyone know where he should go with this, does anyone know the rules with these common law partnerships.

is she entitled to what she says she is.

many thanks

frivolous_fay

Last I checked, there was no such thing as a common law partnership. I think she's kidding herself.

No kids, no mortgage? I think she's out of luck.

paula65

I think you have to take in account how they worked their finances out. Did she pay for the rent and uilities and food while he saved for the future. If thats the case then half the cash should be hers but if they both contributed half and half towards the housekeeping and the cash saved was his saving, I'd tell her 'on ya bike missus'

loulabell1984

they paid sort of half each i think if anything he paid more. all the savings are his she didn't contribute anything towards them

hobo28

There's no such thing as common law wife/husband.

What he bought is his, what she bought is hers. Whats savings are in his name is his etc.

The joint tenancy is going to be the only card she has. Can she afford to take it on herself?

pinkshoes

They're not married, there's no kids involved, and they don't own a home, so the only thing to fight over is who gets to keep the tenancy of the council house! I don't see how she's entitled to half of his money! Do they have a joint bank account?

Personally, I think your brother should just find a flat/house to rent privately (which will be no problem with his savings), then organise for a removal van to take all his stuff to the new property while she's away, leaving 10% of the furniture for her share. Be nice over the 10% though, and leave her something useful like a sofa, or whatever he considers she'd like. Perhaps suggest she can have HALF the furniture if she pays the rest of her half for it. Put the cost of everything down on paper to show her what she owes for her half.

He certainly shouldn't tell her where he's living!

Debt_Free_Chick

Possessions he bought using his own money to fully pay for, are his.

Possessions she bought using her own money to full pay for, are hers.

Possessions they bought by sharing the cost (with him paying some of the cost and her paying the rest) are joint, to be split up as they decide between them.

Debts or savings in single names, belong to the account-holder.

Debts or savings in joint names, belong to them jointly, to be split up as they decide.

The Council property.... sorry, I can't help with. But I would encourage your brother to get out and get his own space. Not sure whether his savings have any effect on his ability to get another Council property or not. His ISA gives him at least 12 months rent on a private rental - 24 months if there's property to be had at a rent of £500 a month.

Chollita

Perhaps she's thinking of civil partnerships. I have no idea what rights those give, but if they were simply living together, like Fay said 'she's out of luck'.

belfastgirl23

Sounds like blackmail to me - I'll let you have the flat if you give me half your money. He doesn't 'owe' her any of the money but it's up to him if he decides to give it to her for the sake of staying on in the flat. Personally I think I'd tell her to get lost - the morality of the situation suggests that she should be the one to move anyway since she is the one who wants out of the relationship. But he might prefer to give her some money to make it all quicker and cleaner.

DUKE

I lived with someone about 15 years ago. It was joint tenancy to begin with then he decided to buy. I didn't want to buy as I knew the relationship wasn't going much further. However, I did sign a form to say that he could buy it. A few years later we split up. I wasn't leaving so he did. He offered me £10,000 to move out and I took it. I'm sure he sought legal advice over this. I know the circumstances are different but I got that without even asking - she could be entitled to half of everything. I did contribute half towards everything during those 15 years. It may be cheaper/easier for your bro to just move out.

Debt_Free_Chick

DUKE wrote: »

I lived with someone about 15 years ago. It was joint tenancy to begin with then he decided to buy. I didn't want to buy as I knew the relationship wasn't going much further. However, I did sign a form to say that he could buy it. A few years later we split up. I wasn't leaving so he did. He offered me £10,000 to move out and I took it. I'm sure he sought legal advice over this. I know the circumstances are different but I got that without even asking - she could be entitled to half of everything. I did contribute half towards everything during those 15 years. It may be cheaper/easier for your bro to just move out.

He may have been advised that you had acquired a beneficial interest in the property by virtue of the financial contributions you had made.

The OP's brother is renting a Council property, though, so not in the same situation.