I've changed a few details as I don't want to outmyself but the gist of what I'm saying is completely true.
My husband runs his own business. Due to a massive staff fraud followed by some unexpected low trading (in part due to the fraud) he has in the space of a few months run up a massive debt to HMRC (6 figure). He's on a payment plan and will hopefully be able to trade out. He hasn't done anything wrong but the whole situation is very worrying.
I'm on a good salary, nothing to do with his business. I out earned him when I met him and therefore our lifestyle is largely due to early financial decisions I made. Before we were married I fell pregnant. We hadn't been together very long and he had no money at all at the time and didn't earn much.
The first house we lived in I bought in my name only. All utilities were in my name. He didn't pay me rent. The deposit (£60k) came from a flat I had owned for years before hand. I paid the mortgage.
After about 4 years I sold that house and we bought a bigger house together. We subsequently married. He is on the mortgage and we own the house as joint tenants. I was a bit stupid as at the time he was moaning that he didn't feel like the previous house was ours (it wasn't, it was mine) and I wanted him to feel that I was committed. I should have bought the house as tenants in common to at the very least reflect the £100k deposit I paid into the new house (about 1/5 of the value). My mum gave me the stamp duty as a gift. After about a year I sold the flat mentioned above, releasing about £85k in equity which was spent on renovating the house.
I have always paid the mortgage and utility bills on the house we are now in directly from my own sole name bank account. My husband sometimes gives me some money but it is very erratic and in no way accounts for half of our housing expense (despite the fact he now out earns me). I have also given him lump sums of money (think £10 or £20k) a number of times in our relationship to enable him to meet tax bills etc.
Is it possible for me now (if I can get my husband to agree) to sever our joint tenancy and become tenants in common to properly reflect my much greater contribution to the property. The latest fiasco has made me realise that he has put me in a precarious financial position. For info the house now has about £600k of equity.