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Married, but want to buy a house on my own

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Leasville
Leasville Posts: 4 Newbie
in House buying, renting & selling
Long story short, me and my other half have had a number of issues recently and may be about to separate. I want to buy a house on my own - my deposit and only me on the mortgage. Is there anything I can do to ensure that if me and my husband do split up that he cannot claim half of the house? We may end up staying together and if we do then great, the house may eventually be in both our names, but given that only I will be paying for it, I want to protect it.

Thanks in advance!
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  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,300 Forumite
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    Do you currently rent a property together or joint mortgage?
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    Long term forum member
  • Leasville
    Leasville Posts: 4 Newbie
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    We rent a house together.
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,203 Forumite
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    It depends a bit. You could have a post-nuptial agreement which is a formal agreement with your husband which explicitly states that he will have no claim on the property if you separste.
    Obvuiously this is only an option if he would cooperate.

    If he won't, then it is much more risky, and you may be better to wait and make a decision about the future of your marriage, first, then buy a house.
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
  • Leasville
    Leasville Posts: 4 Newbie
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    I haven’t spoken to him about it yet as I want to know where I stand on my own first, but to be honest I think he would be cooperative about it. He’s quite proud when it comes to money and I don’t think he’d be the kind of person to try and claim something that he knows is not his, even if we did have a bad breakup, but obviously I can’t risk £80k on an assumption! :)
  • Slinky
    Slinky Posts: 9,986 Forumite
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    Depending on how long you've been married, in the eyes of the law that £80K may belong to both of you equally.
    Make £2024 in 2024
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  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    How the house - or, indeed, any assets - are treated in the divorce isn't down to how they're bought or registered. It's down to how the two of you treat each other when it comes to the financial settlement.

    It doesn't make any difference if it's "a house that you put £50k equity into" or "£50k cash in an account".
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
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    It sounds like you're going through a difficult time in your relationship and personally I would advise you to sort through those issues before you start adding the stress of house buying into the mix.

    If you do end up separating, then you can carry on and buy your own house for yourself, no problem.

    If you end up staying together you can go on and buy a house together with a deed of trust in place to agree in writing who is contributing what.
  • Leasville
    Leasville Posts: 4 Newbie
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    We’ve been married just over a year :(
  • Soundgirlrocks
    Soundgirlrocks Posts: 746 Forumite
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    Anything under 5 years is generally treated as a short marriage and the courts look to put both parties back in the position they were in before the marriage provided there are no children involved. However it isn't guaranteed
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,098 Forumite
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    Why don't you simply rent until you have resolved your marital situation one way or the other? The starting point for any financial settlement is that the joint assets are divisible by 2, but many other factors then come into play.
    I don't understand why you would, at this time, contemplate buying a house in joint names but which you have paid for yourself?
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
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