Separation

freddyfreddy123 · 19 August 2019 at 10:15PM

Hi all.
Need some advice.

My partner and I bought a house for £462,000 in August 2018.
Just a year later we are thinking of going our separate ways.

I would like suggestions as to what is a fare way to split the house etc.

- I am the breadwinner and have paid entirely for everything in this period of time. The deposit, mortgage payments and extensive overpayments, all the bills and just about everything. Her wage of £1300 take home a month has been left in its entirety to be for her personal use. (phone, car expenses, toiletries above and beyond the weekly shop (Ie makeup) )

If we sold up right away at the purchase price, we would have £110,000 equity in the property.

From this we would have to pay an absolute fortune in overpayment fees, legal fees, estate agent fees and alike. I believe we would get around £35,000 each left at the end of the process.

We have 4 years left on our fixed term.

I had an idea, that it might be possible for me to take on the whole property and effectively buy my partner out of her share of the equity....?

So for example, if I could demonstrate that I could pay her £50-60,000. Initially a lump sum of half, then regular payments over 4 years until our agreed amount was hit.

This would be financially better off for both of us? Can I hold someone to written agreement to sign over a property to me ?

Are there any legal mechanisms which I should be aware of which could force me to sell our house.

Mortgage implications ? - she is on mortgage and land registry. But her wage was declared as 0 for input into the mortgage as my wage was enough to by the house twicefold....

Any suggestions?

Thank you.

ognum · 20 August 2019 at 7:35AM

Suggest you post this on house buying forum where you will get useful information

hazyjo · 20 August 2019 at 9:54AM

Why's she getting half the profit if you've paid it all and paid the deposit?

Demonstrate to who? Your GF? The lender? Presume your GF as the lender wouldn't really even be involved?

So you're asking her to stay on the mortgage, but you to live there? For four years? And this is all to avoid the fee for ending your fixed term mortgage (cos the selling fees are going to happen now or in the future).

Not what I'd suggest, but if it suits you both...

The lender may allow it to change to your name only. Bit of detective work required. I'd be ringing anonymously to ask the hypothetical question.

TBagpuss · 20 August 2019 at 10:56AM

Yes, you can have a spearation agreement drawn up detailing what you agree and what the settlement will be.

If you did as you suggest, there are two possibilities:

1. You lender *may*, if you can qualify for the mortgag without your partner's income, allow you to remortgage into your sole name, keeping all other terms of the mortgage the same, and without triggering the ERCs. They have no obligation to do so, but sometimes, some lenders will agree.
2. If that is not possible, then your partner would have to remain on the mortgage until you could re-mortgage into your sole name - this would mean that she would struggle to get any new mortage herself, and would also remain on the deeds.

It would be essential that you havd a formal separation agreement and declaration of trust setting out exactly what each of you is entitled to and responsible for in the mean time.

If you can't agree, then either of you could make an application tothe corut with a view to forcing a sale., in which case the mortgage etc would be paid off from the sale proceeds and the balance split equally (unless you have an existing declaration of trust giving you unequal shares in the property) but whichever of you was resiting the sale may end up paying the others lega lcosts of going to court (probably in the 10s of £1,000s)

if you are not able to buy her out in full immediately then it would normally be reasonable for future payments to either include interest, as she is effectively lending you the money, or to be based on the value ofthe property when she is ultimately paid out - e.g. if you paid her £20K now so she was due a further £30K, the £30 K might need to be expressed as "6.5% of the value of the house" rather than a fixed lump sum, so if house privces go up over the next 4/5 years, she benefits from the rise in value ofthe property her money is invested in (if they go down, she would get less)

chesky · 20 August 2019 at 12:45PM

You need a solicitor to draw up the agreement and you'll have to go into the minute details of what was contributed by each partner, so get your sums done.

Separation

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