To worry that DS is putting the deposit down for a joint mortgage?

[yunhi]

DS is 26 and his girlfriend is 21. He has a large amount of money that was used to purchase a flat from when his father died. His girlfriend recently moved in and now they are buying a house together. He's putting 100k into it and it will be a joint mortgage. Doesn't that mean if they split, she will be entitled to half of that? He says he isn't concerned about that at all. But AIBU to be slightly worried here?

You might want to advise your son to see a solicitor, but other than that, there's nothing you can do. Your son is a grown man and the responsibility to protect himself is his. I understand that you're concerned, but you need to stay out of it. His life, his money, his choices.

Yes, I would worry too. They are very young and could easily end up splitting. 21 is young to make the commitment of buying a house with someone! I would urge your son to get something drawn up by the solicitor to state that the 100k is his if they split up and have to sell. Maybe point out to him that if she met someone else and broke up with him then her and her new man would be 50k up with HIS cash, surely he can see that it’s sensible to sort this out legally?! If she’s a decent girl she won’t have a problem with it...

He should see a solicitor about protecting his £100k. If they were married or had kids I'd view it differently but they could easily split up and she'd be £50k better off.

It's hard s any conversation is likely to be met with resistance. I'd just point out that you think they're great together and hope it works out but they are young and if they dont get any legal agreements in place then if she met someone else next week she would walk away with 50k. As long as hes happy with that thought theres nothing else you can do. You have to leave it there as if they stay together and get married and it comes out you tried to push getting him to ring fence the money it might not go down well

Yes, you should be concerned but if they buy as joint tenants and have a deed of trust detailing the ownership proportions that will protect his investment.

DH’s parents have DH our deposit years ago and we bought as joint tenants for that reason.

You can change it down the line when appropriate. We’re now joint tenants as were married with children.

I had this with my DH - he put the deposit in, you can get a clause put in by your conveyancer that says in the event of a sale your son gets his money back first and everything else is 50/50 - we still have this in our mortgage paperwork 10 years later! I think it might be as tenants in common or something but your conveyancer / solicitor can sort it easily.

Yes what Lola said. Is easy to sort, hopefully you can convince your ds to go down this route.

Why are they getting a joint mortgage? With that deposit couldn't your DS get the mortgage in his name, or does he need his GF earnings too?

Yes a trust deed to protect his £100,000 would be advisable

It depends how the sale is being done, I own a flat with an ex, he put down almost the entire deposit. His deposit was 30% of the flats value, so when we eventually sell he gets his 30% of the value of the property, then the rest will be split 50/50.

Ultimately it’s your DS’ decision; but I would strongly advise them to buy as Tenants in Common with a Deed of Trust ringfencing the deposit money. (I’m assuming they’ll pay the mortgage 50:50?)

DP and I bought our house this way as he put up all the deposit for our house. I saw it as a perfectly sensible decision for him to protect his deposit if things went South. We’ve literally done it as get £X back then we’ll split the rest of the equity equally, rather than faffing about with percentages.

It can easily be protected at the time of purchase and it would be sensible to do so.

Yes, I would be worried about my DS. Not because of his girlfriend but because they are so young and my split up. He needs to protect himself.

X post with everyone!

You can put in the mortgage that the deposit is his unless circumstances change like marriage - my friends sisters boyfriend did this as he had £50k deposit.

If she is decent she will understand my friend did and now they have a baby and getting married so will go to full share.

My (now) dh put the deposit down for our house. We had a deed of trust drawn up so his money was safe.

(I say this as someone who has been with DP since I was 19 and moved in with him when I was 22, so it’s not a judgement on their ages)

People will come on to say it’s none of your business but I don’t agree. This is your son and he always will be. His DF wanted him to have it to secure his future. He’s already lost his father, it would be awful if he lost half his inheritance too.

His relationship is unlikely to go the distance with his GF being so young. Support his decision to buy the property but tell him to get legal advice to protect his investment. If his GF genuinely loves him, she’ll have no issue with this. At the end of the day how many 21 year olds get to live in the kind of house that he can buy with a £100k deposit?

He needs to get the ownership as tenants in common with unequal percentage ownership proportional to his deposit, rather than joint tenants which is equal ownership.

I'd have either a deed of trust drawn up to protect the deposit or advise he goes it alone on the mortgage. Remind him his dad wouldn't of wanted a girlfriend to be able to walk away with the money as it was meant for his son.

No it doesn’t. In these cases there is a presumption that the parties intended to have differently apportioned shares.

Thank you ever so much. I am reminding him and although he was originally very keen to tell me that "they will be fine and his future is with her". He is getting more frustrated, so I have stopped going on about it. Telling me he is fine with the situation.

That's the thing, that money came from him losing his dad it would be heartbreaking if they split an he lost half.

They wanted to do the mortgage together, as they are using both incomes. She's £30k and he is £60k so I know he will be paying more into it, although I appreciate that is up to him. I'm more concerned by the deposit that was his fathers to make sure he has something for not having his dad.

Just to clarify. The presumption will be that he is entitled to the proportion he puts down as a deposit (note proportion not sum for if the house doubles in value its will be 200 and so on) then the rest will be split between them assuming they are contributing to the household 50/50. The presumption is quite strong but could be rebutted for instance if they had it in writing that they would share equally (doing the coveyancing as JT doesn’t count). It’s called a common intention constructive trust. In particular you are looking at a case called Stack v Dowden. In case you would like to read up on it.

He definitely needs to see a solicitor to ring fence his 100k.