Property Dispute after Separation

Happy_saver_4

paperjam wrote:

scary thought having to part with 50% :eek:

you've mentioned your own relationship, were you married at the time?

And you even had solicitors involved, did your own sols recommend you give away something?

No not married. - Hookers are cheaper

Sols advised me etc because I used to be an EA and they were good drinking mates :beer:

Sols were/are? not allowed to pay commision so a good EA has all his own conveyancing and other matters done for free. Who can you trust :rotfl:

Now the truth is out :eek:

Think I'm getting off topic here so before anybody else points it out - bye !!

GDB2222

Good grief, because of that last post, the price of smileys has just gone through the roof on the CSE (Chicago Smiley Exchange). There just aren't enough to go round at the rate of 5 per posting.

meheraltaf

If there has been no deed of trust agreement drawn then you have nothing to worry about legally . I am amazed though, your solicitor did not advise you to have one when you bought the house. First of all your partner needs to know that the court has absolutely no interest in his case if you are not married, so whatever you give him it would be wise he accepts, but then saying this when we look into the moral aspect of the issue, you yourself admit that he has contributed towards decorating and the value has gone up and my personal view would be to acknowledge and pay him the difference along with the contribution over these years, that would be a dignified gesture.

Deemy has made a fairly good calculation, but I would go a bit further and calculate depending on how much his decoration has contributed to the increase in the property value. It would be better to go through a solicitor in doing this, so that the solicitor advises you on drawing up an agreement so that you partner doesn’t have an opportunity to change his mind about what he has accepted. But in all fairness his contributions need to be acknowledged and paid off be it 10% or even upto 30%.

Talking about EU legislation it is mostly concerning Human Rights issues with re to Gay couples which anyway incooperated within the UK law, concerning unmarried, it is extremely illogical and unfair as it stands, I understand that by 2007 there would be reforms, think the trials are on its way, it is more to do with protection and not to give more rights.

YorkshireBoy

I don't understand the law relating to co-habitation, but maybe you can benefit from information regarding my Brother-In-Law and his girlfriend/fiancee's situation, which culminated in him receiving a £10,000 settlement this summer?

BIL met a girl and she moved in to the pub he was running. She lived rent/bill free at the pub for 12 months, during which time she took a tenant and rented her own house out for £300/month.

They became engaged to be married after 9 months, but within another 3 months (and following a disagreement with the brewery) BIL ran into difficulty with the pub and had to go bankrupt. She asked her tenant to leave her house so they could both move into girlfriends old house.

They then immediately re-mortgaged her house to finance some improvement works and the valuation at that time was £57,000.

BIL was back in employment within a couple of weeks but because he was bankrupt, he could not have a bank account of his own. He had his wages paid directly into his girlfriends bank account from which all bills were paid - including mortgage, utilities, repairs, insurances etc. Weekly shopping, spending, 2 x motor car running costs were all paid from this account. She gave BIL her PIN number so he could get "their" cash out whenever they or he required any.They rarely went out, and if they did they went together.

BIL was paying in a salary of £16K, whereas girlfriend was paying in a salary of £20K.

This went on happily for 3 years, during which time many improvements were made to the property, with BIL undertaking around 90% of the work himself.

They then saw their dream home for sale at £130,000, which required loads of work doing to it before it was habitable - but would be worth around £170,000 - £180,000 when completed. The old house was valued at £90,000 and placed on the market. The plan was to get the new house ready before setting a date for the wedding.

So, their borrowings (technically still hers due to the bankruptcy which was imminently about to end) at this time were very large with 2 mortgages and a bridging loan because they bought the new house before the old one had sold.

4 months later, just before the old house sold and after BIL had been working every evening and all weekend non-stop on the new house, girlfriend decides to have an affair and announces that they are to split up and would BIL please leave.

At this point, the new house had, due to work done, increased from it's £130,000 purchase price to around £145,000, ie a £15K gain.

Both parties seek legal advice, and despite sharing everything for 4 years in 2 houses, and having jointly made £48,000 on property since they came together, BIL was advised by his solicitor to accept £10K rather than enter into prolonged legal arguments and incur significant costs.

Ian_W

Personally, I think what you decide to pay should be guided soley by the increase in value of the property, and what his contribution in terms of the renovation has added in the value of the flat to-day.

You paid the mortgage and he paid the bills, circa £350/£900 split, with you paying the larger portion. Had you not been together he would have had to pay rent or a mortgage on another property, so his £350pm IMO equates to those costs.

Run whatever you paid for the flat originally through NW's house price index HERE [for your region] and compare that with what the think the renovated property is worth now. You both coughed up for materials but he's put in the labour so I would think between a half and a third of the added value as a fair offer. Don't know how that compares with your £12k?

Then I'd draw up the offer through your solicitor as Deemy suggests on a "without prejudice" basis, outining your reasons why you're offering what you are and give him a date to respond by.

Then MOVE ON, as Jezza says life's too short and you've made a reasonable offer when under no legal obligation to pay anything. BoL.

rozeepozee

There is no such thing as a common law husband or wife and you have no children (which potentially can change the position) so the law treats you as complete strangers - sort of.

If your name is on the deeds and the mortgage and he contributed only sporadically to the day to day household expenses, it sounds like you have a pretty strong case in law to pay him nothing or very little. The fact that he carried out major renovations does muddy the waters (to my knowledge there is case law on this although it may have been superseded since I was practicing) and he might claim an 'equitable' or beneficial' interest in the property (e.g. his labour and materials increased the value of the property by, say, 25% so he is entitled to that sum). He would have to take you to court to make this claim and he may fail, and end up paying your costs as well as his own, so could well be put off by this risk. If he seeks legal advice, he may be encouraged to settle so it's a case of what you would be willing to pay him.

It seems like your solicitor is giving you sound advice but then comes the ethical bit.... what's the right thing to do? That's trickier! Let's be fair, if he hadn't been living with you, would he have bought his own place and benefited greatly from the past few years of the rising market (as you have)? You were wise and protected your position and good on y' but he's now in an unenviable position of trying to get his foot on the property 'ladder' at a time of sky high prices potentially without a deposit. Is he being reasonable or likely to be? What will allow you to make you feel like you haven't kicked him in the goolies? Maybe he deserves a bit more than just being paid for his work? After all, he wasn't the odd job man, he was your partner and despite your relationship having now come to an end, surely that has to count for something?

Ultimately, finances will also dictate what position you take: what can you afford to pay him. But I'm not taking the high moral ground here. if he thinks you are treating him reasonably and with fairness and respect, I would hope that he would be far likely to accept your reasonable offer and not fight you tooth and nail through the courts - where only the lawyers will win as they will simply take a piece of your joint financial pot!

Steel_eye

When my marriage broke up 8 years ago I kept a handful of shares to use as a deposit (10-15% of our joint assets). It was a real struggle for a couple of years, but I knew that she and the kids would not end up on the streets or starve. I'm comfortable now, and it is all of my own making, nobody is struggling as a result of it.