Separation and house

[Howlongisittomynextholiday]

Not sure where to post this as my first time starting a thread, so apologies if this is in the wrong place.

Looking for advice on behalf of someone else but the situation is as follows:

Person A and Person B (unmarried) decide to buy a house together. Person B cannot get a mortgage (not even as a joint applicant) but Person A can get a mortgage solely in their name. Person B gifts money they have saved to Person A to put towards the deposit (Person A also contributes a similar deposit amount) and signs a disclaimer to say they are gifting the money.

The property is purchased solely in Person As name, the mortgage is in their name only and the property is registered at Land Registry solely in their name.

3 years later Person A and Person B decide they no longer wish to live together. Does Person B have a legal claim on the property? Are they legally (not morally) entitled to any money?

Legal advice will be sought but wondered if anyone could assist in the meantime?

Thanks in advance.

Legally, person B has no ‘rights’ . Morally, person A should give them their deposit back. I’d no longer be friends with person A if they chose not to.

They might have been advised it was necessary to do it that way for A to secure a mortgage using B's deposit money.

I sincerely hope neither of them thought it was legal advice in their own - individual- best interests.

The gift maybe not (depends if any messages between A and B show this was noted as a gift purely for mortgage purposes) but if B can show that they have contributed towards the house then they have a claim towards a part of it.

A good friend of mine had to pay out his ex for exactly this reason as she proved she had contributed to improvements etc... even though the house was in his name (inherited from family).

There is an area of trust law which covers this, but in my experience the legal costs often outweigh any benefit gained and it’s very complex. So it sounds like your friend’s case was a fairly unusual one and I wouldn’t recommend most people relying on this

Out of interest, why could person B not get a mortgage?

Person B had a poor credit score which would have negatively impacted a joint mortgage application.

I should also add that Person B was advised a few years earlier what they could do to improve their credit score, but chose to ignore this advice.

You’re obviously team A if you don’t want to hear the morality of the situation. Tell them to buck up and behave like a decent human being.

Irrelevant really. More impetus on person A to act with integrity if person B has credit problems.

Irrelevant legally and morally. Guessing you're team A or there'd be no reason to bring this up.

I am neither team A nor team B, I have no "skin" in this situation and am well aware of what is morally the right thing to do!

Doesn’t mean the OP is team anyone. The legal position is the only one that really matters because it doesn’t really matter what most people think should happen, the legal situation is what will happen unless either person decides to act outside of that.

You obviously know them so its disingenuous to say you have no skin in this. Someone having this play out in their family or friends would be effected by and have an opinion on it. I'm hoping this question arose because B is worried and those worries prove groundless. If A is intending not to pay then they're exactly the type of person that would coerce a partner into a situation like this. If you're not B or B hasn't told you that than you can't say there was definetly no coercion. The legal position shouldn't matter to A because ethically any decent person would pay B back their deposit.

Thank you, the legal position is what I was asked to try to ascertain.

A is a cunt if they do not pay B back their deposit and any money they contributed monthly towards the mortgage. I don’t care about what the law says - If my friend/family member was A and didn’t do what was morally right, then I would disown them.

Why on earth did they gift the money? Morally they are entitled to what they put in. Legally entitled to nothing (but they should seek legal advice)

I know both Person A and Person B and of course I have an opinion on the situation and what is morally the right thing to do.

However, when I say I have no "skin" in it, I mean that the situation doesn't affect me personally and I am unable to influence how this is resolved. I was asked to try to ascertain the legal position.

UPDATE:

It has been confirmed that all mortgage payments were made from an account solely in the name of Person A (as were all bills).

A financial settlement (in excess of Person Bs deposit contribution) has been mutually agreed between Person A and Person B this morning, without either party seeking legal advice.

With regards to the agreement for Person A to transfer said funds to Person B, does anyone know if an agreement needs to be drawn up/witnessed by a Solicitor or can this be done between both parties?