AIBU to take my ex to court over the house?

[Baabaablackshee]

We were together for seven years, never married no children. Bought and renovated a house which is now worth £700k. House was in joint names although I had paid for everything, except £35k which he spent on renovations. He was going to get a mortgage to pay for his half of the house but then he got made redundant.

When we split last year the house was transferred back into my sole name. I couldn't afford to pay him the £35K at the time as I didn't have a job so the money he paid was registered as a mortgage to him at the Land Registry. I drew up the documents but they were witnessed by a solicitor.

I now have a better job and want to remortgage but he won't agree. He's arguing that he signed the documents under 'duress and deception' and he now wants £70k in order to release the mortgage.

I have taken him to court, the case has been dragging on and will be heard next May. Both sides legal costs are likely to be around £40k which the loser will have to pay. My solicitor reckons that his 'duress and deception' argument is pretty weak and as the house is now legally in my name he doesn't have a strong case. But judges can sometimes be unpredictable.

It will mean selling the house and downsizing but I could afford to pay him the £70k and if I lose the case I might end up paying more than that.

AIBU to continue the court case or should I just take the hit and pay him off?

PS the £70K represents half of the profit from the renovation which he feels he is entitled to.

Continue the case. I would take the small risk based on your solicitor's advice that he has a weak case.

Maybe he will realise he stands to be liable for £80k costs and change his tune.

I wouldn't have fought in court tbh and negotiated direct with him. If you pay the 35000 plus costs you are still 5000 downing the deal, having wasted time and energy.

Wrote my reply before I saw this
"PS the £70K represents half of the profit from the renovation which he feels he is entitled to."

How much did you pay for the house when you bought it? How much did you (personally) pay as a deposit? Did you then share mortgage repayments?

If his £35k contribution to renovations actually represents 50% of the cost of buying and renovating the house, he should get 50% of the profit. However, if you spent more than £35k on the deposit and mortgage repayments (and he didn't) you should get more than 50% and he should get less.

@anotheremma

House cost £300k to buy plus another £260k to renovate. Total spend £560k.

Of which I paid £525K and he paid £35k

House is now valued at £700k so the profit is £140k

I paid everything out of my savings there was no mortgage.

He was slowly paying my back half of what I had spent at £700 per month.

As it was going to be difficult to get a mortgage during major renovations we had agreed that he would get a mortgage for his half when the house was finished. But he got made redundant before the renovations were completed.

@AnotherEmma total costs are £40k that is £20k each.

If I win I pay him the £35k and he pays £40k costs

If I lose I pay him £70k plus £40k costs, total £110k

I'm weighing up the worst case scenario against the likelihood of me actually losing which I believe is small, but the emotional toll is getting pretty heavy.

Ok so you put in 94% of the initial investment (525/560) which means you should get 94% of the £140k profit = £132k.

He put in 6% of the initial investment (35/560) which means he should get 6% of the £140k profit = £8400.

The only slight complicating factor is that he paid you £700/month, how much did he pay you in total?

I would consider rounding up the £8400 and offering him £10k to fuck off.

I'm not a solicitor though.

"If I win I pay him the £35k and he pays £40k costs"

Eh? Don't you mean that if you win you don't pay him £35k? That's the whole point surely?

So really, he should only be entitled to his proportionate contribution.

He contributed 35k of the 560k initial cost. Increase in value is 140k.

So 35/560 x 140 is around £8,750. Add his initial contribution of £35k, his entitlement is £43,750. Hopefully that is the math a judge will do.

Oh I see you owe him £35k anyway (his initial investment) sorry being a tad slow!

Surely you owe him an extra £8750 (he paid 6.75% of the costs so should get the same re profit)

I'd say 35k plus 8750 plus the £700s he has repaid.

@anotheremma

I'm not a solicitor though.. You're shit hot with the maths though 😊.

He paid £7700 (11 payments).

So yes I agree with k1233, I would offer him £35k plus £8400, perhaps offer £45k total, and hopefully his solicitor will advise him to take it.

Can your solicitor go to him with an offer of £45k to pay his initial investment plus share of profit?

Offered him £45k to settle over a year ago - no reply from his Solicitor. I'm not speaking to him directly but I have communicated via his brother and he's turned down the £45k.

I suspect he hasn't paid his solicitors bills and that's why we don't hear anything from his solicitor.

Ha yes I am rather good at maths

Right so he paid £35k + £7700 = £42,700
You paid £525k - £7700 = £517,300

So he paid 7.6% which means he should get 7.6% of the profit = £10,640. Plus his £42,700. Which is £53,340.

So offer him that or round it up to £55k if you're feeling generous.

Could you afford to stay in the house if you gave him £53-55k? Am I right in thinking you have a £35k mortgage to buy him out and he wants you to double it to a £70k mortgage which you can't afford, hence having to sell to do that??

Was he legally represented when he signed to accept the £35k ? That would be the start point for me
The solicitor should reply. If he’s not in funds and doubts he will be, then they should take themselves off record at court

That was a lot of work to his house. Did he contribute in labour ? Organising tradespersons etc ? Did he contribute more than just money?

his house? Typo?!

Is it worth sending a cheque for x amount in 'full and final settlement'. My understanding is that if such a cheque is cashed then it is accepted that that is the end of the matter. Obviously take legal advice and then decide on a figure between 45k and 70k. Personally I would not pursue this in court for the reasons you stated.

Who did the renovations? If he contributed to that then he deserve a fair share

She can't send a cheque, she doesn't have £45k-£70k (not unless she sells the house)

The whole thing has arisen because she wants to remortgage the £35k she owes him for his share

Did he take legal advice before he signed the papers?

I'd make another offer of £50,000.

@anotheremma

Could you afford to stay in the house if you gave him £53-55k? Am I right in thinking you have a £35k mortgage to buy him out and he wants you to double it to a £70k mortgage which you can't afford, hence having to sell to do that??

Yes, you're right.

I'm talking to mortgage brokers at the moment to see if I could raise enough money to pay him off and stay in the house. They all say different things so I'm shopping around.

I could just about afford to pay him £70K but I would have to sell the house to do that.

At £45k I could probably keep the house.

Your debt to him is officially registered as a mortgage and the house is in your name. Then surely you only owe him that and he has no other legitimate claim. After all the bank doesn’t get a cut of the growth when the mortgage is with them!