Fiancé has agreed to be a Guarantor - I’m not happy

I think it would depend whether it was considered a marital asset. Which you would need legal advice about. Which your selfish boyfriend should have given you time to think about and paid for the legal advice for. Rather than plowing ahead. The sheer recklessness of it is terrifying.

If you own a house, at the very least, if they default then at the very least, if you are lucky, then you're basically fucked on trying to get your boyfriend to pay you any sort of household contribution because his money will be tied up to them for ghe durstion of their tenancy and he will have to declare it as a liability for any future financial stuff.

His attitude is appalling. He's acting like he's loaded and can take the risk purely because you own a house and he feels like you're a safe bet and act like the hero. I'd be too angry at his attitude to entertain this further.

Unless you're going to tell me he pays a fair share towards your joint bills, you aren't working towards anything toelgether, you have no joint assets or money, nor do you plan to, and he earns enough to cover their rent comfortably. Is that right or wrong?

YABU, unless there is a very good reason, this is something you do for family. Imagine the implications of him saying no?! And worse, saying no because you didn't want him to. He was right to do what he did.

I'm married but I have my own bank account as well as joint finances - I'm a guarantor for close family members and it was not a conversation I needed to have with my DH. It's my family and I'd never say no, without very very good reason. I also use my own money to lend money to family when needed. They have and would do the same for me.

Same.

You can’t currently put a tenancy agreement in place for more than 12 months and you usually get an 6 month break clause, which obviously limits the downside. Also, the eventuality you described is incredibly unlikely and young people often need help so I’d rather take my chances and help a person I trusted, like my own child.

Yes this would be your problem if you married

Is your fiancé aware of the implications? If his sister cant pay her rent he will need to pay her rent AND his mortgage. Can he afford this? It would also affect what mortgage you can get as he will have to declare he is a guarantor if you apply to rent somewhere or take out a mortgage (or re-finance your mortgage). I think it's a really silly thing for him to have done.

How much is the guarantee for or is it unlimited?

Is it for a specific lenght or time or open ended?

Under that conditions can it be called up? Late payments? After 3 months arrears etc?

Under what conditions can he withdraw it?

Can he afford to lose the maximum amount he can potentially be liable for?

If he can't answer all of those questions immediately, he has no business signing a guarantee.

In general, people who can afford repayments, don't need guarantees.

I wouldn’t be marrying him until he was no longer a guarantor. It could have big implications if you were married and they couldn’t pay their rent.

He had a traffic accident….ended up with a brain injury….and that’s life….shit happens

If be properly pissed off with him, I'd be keeping our finances separate & calling off the wedding, until a) he realises he's put MY financial stability at risk without discussing it with me & b) I'm not financially getting involved until he's out of this arrangement, so would NOT be getting married to him

I wouldn't be marrying him.

He took a big decision without you. You're lucky that being unmarried means you bear nine of the legal risk, only the knock on of him having to cough up for it. Which might mean a hit to joint funds or you losing disposable income to subsidise him.

If you were married he would be making a decision that you would be legally liable for wothout your consent.

So I wouldn't be marrying him, it's that simple. I'm not sure where that leaves your relationship. If you are renting perhaps move home and give notice to the landlord to show him actions have consequences and you won't be walked over.

I’d question why her son couldn’t get a job which earned him at least £900 / month, tbh. My mum has been my guarantor, she didn’t have lots of spare money but equally I’d have got any job anywhere to avoid her paying my rent. It seems to me if you trust the person not to be a selfish twat, it’s not an issue.

No one can put you down as a guarantor without your permission. You have to personally sign a legal contract with the landlord of the property to be a guarantor. The issue here is the OP's fiancé has gone ahead and signed himself as a guarantor without consulting her, and it affects their joint finances.

My issue with being a guarantor is that you may not know they have fallen into arrears until the debt has got quite large. If the rent is £1K a month, and you don't find out about it until the landlord finally approaches you in desperation, you could be looking at £10k. Plus damages if the property hasn't been looked after.

To mitigate the risk, the only way I would ever contemplate being a guarantor is if I received a monthly statement so could be aware immediately of any potential liability.

I wouldn't be happy if my DH agreed to be a guarantor without consulting me.

I’ve seen it end in tears….my neighbour ended up owing 22 months of rent as her son lost his job 2 months into a tenancy….the rent was £900 a month….she couldn’t pay and the landlord started a claim on her own property after she had already got herself into debt …..which is basically what happens……if you’ve got a spare 10 - 20k then go for it…..otherwise think very carefully …..no matter how close the relationship

and we are not talking about homeless people…..we are talking about a family member wanting to upsize

If you were to remortgage / want a mortgage the rent your partner is paying is taken into account so could reduce what you can borrow

they rarely let a guarantor off the hook it’s often open ended
so for as long as they rent the flat / house he’s on the hook for it if they don’t pay

the landlord / estate agent won’t let your partner out of the contract

he could be on the hook for thousands and thousands of pounds

if you live together
rent or own a place together he’s taken the piss massively with your finances

if you don’t live together I would seriously rethink your relationship

I wouldn't have asked my fiancé's permission if I was going to do it, I would have just let him know. You don't presumable have shared finances at present, it's his decision.

whilst I would discuss this out of courtesy with my OH, the only way I’d ask ‘permission’ is if I couldn’t cover their rent myself in the event it all went wrong. If I could cover it personally, I wouldn’t be asking, I’d be informing.

Being a guarantor is a serious commitment. I am guarantor for 2 of my children (students) and, as they are in shared flats, actually took out insurance (cost £200 each) in case the other flatmates defaulted. I think that's only available for students though.
Do you know how long the guarantor agreement is for? If it's for 6 months then risk is manageable, if it's open ended then I would have a real problem with it.
If your finances are separate then it his risk and he takes the consequences. If you have joint finances then he is completely wrong.
I understand that he feels he wants to help family but are you not family too?

Crikey

And then they lose their jobs…or in sisters case self employment doesn’t work out..,,,or they get sick….and can’t pay…..so then you liable for all the rent for the duration of the tenancy…fuck that

From what I can see he didn't put her down, he put himself down as guarantor.

YANBU.

I'd be furious if someone put me down as guarantor without my permission.

In fact, I'd be seeing them in a new light (and not a good one).

It's like them seeing your money as his/hers. Fuck that!

Sorry you're going through that OP, must be really difficult.

Financial security in life is everything. Bringing my child up solo has taught me that.

This is entirely the wrong time to be a guarantor - when someone has given up the security of an employed role to be self employed. Most self employed businesses fail.
If you have joint finances with your fiance, I would be dismantling them. He wants to take the risk, then the risk is his, not yours. His family do not drag you under.
If he gets caught out and needs to pay for them, he takes an extra job, so that you are not suffering because of his unwise decision, you are not covering him, while he covers them.
Never guarantor unless you can afford to lose the money.

Assuming they’re solvent grown ups I’d not have a problem with that at all.