Relationship breakdown - Joint mortgage

JK08

My brother sold his house and bought another house with his girlfriend for 150,000, because he was temporarily out of work they got a joint mortgage for 60,000 and he put down 90,000 he made from his house sale.
He has always paid the mortgage, life/house insurance and she paid the household bills, bank statements will prove this.
Recently she was left money & a house in a will so has now left him & refuses to speak to him.
Basically could she force him to sell the house and claim 50%, were does he stand on the deposit?
Any help would be appreciated.

dimbo61

go and see a solictor
did they live together for more than 2 years ?
How did he pay the mortgage if he did not have a job ? and for how long ?
Has she asked for half the house ?
If she is asking for half the house can he ask for half her house !
If he can prove that he put down a £90k deposit and they split the mortgage,house bills etc then she is entitled to half the increase in the value
of the property since they bought it.
GOOD LUCK and he needs to see a solictor

irrelevant

Now I'm no lawyer, and he should definitaly get specialist advice but here's my take on it, having been through similar...

I guess some of it depends on if they were tenants in common, or had a joint tenancy. They should have been asked which they wanted to be by the solicitor handling the purchase. If it's the former, then they each own a fixed percentage of the house, which doesn't have to be 50/50. If the latter, then they both have equal rights to the property. Given your brother put in £90K cash, I'd hope that it was the former, and he owns at least 60%. Ideally it would be the 90K + half the mortgaged bit, i.e. 80%. It's possible though they assumed a joint tenancy, in which case she could argue for 50%.


Either way, as a joint owner, she has a right to get her share of any profit the house has made, somehow. I would expect that she would have to go to court to force a sale, though. If they can agree a valuation, and your brother can raise the cash, and the mortgage co. agrees, he could buy her out instead.

First call though is to go see a solicitor. Make sure he has all the paperwork with him..

zzzLazyDaisy

Who piad what and how long they were together is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is their legal shares in the property as registered at the land registry.

He needs to check the register of title. He can get this on-line from the land registry. It will state how the property was owned. If it states 'joint tenants' she is entitled to half the equity. If it states 'tenant in common' it will also state in what shares, eg 75/25 or whatever.

She can demand her share, in which case he must buy her out, or sell the property. If he cannot/will not, then she can apply to the court to force a sale.

Even if she does nothing, when he eventually comes to sell, even if it is 10 years later, he will need her signature on the sale documents, and she will be entitled to her share, regardless of the fact that he will have been paying the mortgage all that time.

He needs to take legal advice.

Edited to say 'snap' to Irrelevant!

JK08

Thanks for the advice its been very helpful, Im going to push him to go and see a solicitor asap.

Debt_Free_Chick

If they currently own the house as joint tenants, the first thing he should consider doing is to sever the joint tenancy and have the property held as "Tenants in common, in shares to be decided".

"In shares to be decided" means that they can argue out who owns what.

zzzLazyDaisy

I suspect Debt-free chick has come across this in relation to a property division on the breakdown of a marriage?

The reason I say this is that on divorce the courts have the power to vary the shares in the property. Put simply, even if the property is owned as joint tenants, the court can award most (or even all) of the equity to one of the spouses bases on their needs and those of any children. So it is not unusual for a property held as a joint tenancy to be severed with 'shares to be decided'

However, where the parties are not married the courts have no such powers, and the severing of a joint tenancy will result in the parties owning two equal shares, which probably doesn't take the matter much further in this case.

However, if the tenancy is severed, this does mean that if one party dies his or her share will pass under their will or intestacy, whereas if it remains as a joint tenancy, on the death of one the whole ownership passes to the other. Not suggesting either of them is about to pop off, but it is something to bear in mind when severing a joint tenancy.

Debt_Free_Chick

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

I suspect Debt-free chick has come across this in relation to a property division on the breakdown of a marriage?

Currently going through the process in relation to the breakdown of my relationship with my ex - but not married.

However, where the parties are not married the courts have no such powers, and the severing of a joint tenancy will result in the parties owning two equal shares, which probably doesn't take the matter much further in this case.

It doesn't need to be done by the Courts. I served notice on my ex to sever the joint tenancy. Ideally, the other side "acknowledges" the notice by signing a copy, but it's not essential.

Once the notice is served, you then simply complete the Land Registry form and the form asks for the shares in which the property is to be held (as is usual with Tenants in Common)

In my case, I funded certain property improvements from my own savings. My ex acknowledges this and has asked for the equity to be adjusted to reflect what he owes (half of what I paid to the improvements). Hence, we are now jointly owning the property "in shares to be decided".

All of this was done on the advice of my solicitor.

The "who owes what" and the share of the property split is now being agreed via mediation (sigh).

However, if the tenancy is severed, this does mean that if one party dies his or her share will pass under their will or intestacy, whereas if it remains as a joint tenancy, on the death of one the whole ownership passes to the other. Not suggesting either of them is about to pop off, but it is something to bear in mind when severing a joint tenancy.

Agreed. In my case I have no dependants and no-one really to leave anything to. Others might want to consider making a will or just leave the estate to the rules of intestacy.

HTH

zzzLazyDaisy

Apologies Debtfreechick - of course the shares in the property can be varied by agreement, I had just assumed (possibly wrongly) from what OP says, that in this case the ex partner may not be cooperative.

Whatever, it needs sorting, because as long as he lives in the property paying the mortgage, and she is floating around somewhere with her name still on the deeds, he is potentially storing up trouble for the future.

agent_orange_2

It will be interesting, in the coming months/years as couples come into neg equitity, to see if partners who have upped and left will be forced to accept their part of the loss.

Debt_Free_Chick

agent_orange wrote: »

It will be interesting, in the coming months/years as couples come into neg equitity, to see if partners who have upped and left will be forced to accept their part of the loss.

Well, if they want to sell they have no choice as a sale can't complete without the mortgage being paid off.