Separation & House

[ShortcakeDelivery101]

Hi,

Not sure if I'm posting in the right area, but I just wondered if someone could give me some general advice if possible.

The scenario is: my partner and I are in the process of separating. We were engaged but not married. 2 kids, primary and preschool age.

We bought a house last year although everything is in his name as my credit rating would not allow me to get on the mortgage. We live in an area where houses don't cost much and ours cost £85000, of which I put in £6000 deposit.

We have split bills evenly since including the mortgage payments.

I have agreed to move out of the home - to be honest I would rather set myself up somewhere new and start over. And I'm not so much worried about the money I've put towards mortgage payments for the past year because it's not much anyway.

So my question is - what do I have to do? As far as I know he won't be selling the house any time soon, and I don't have any need for the money back immediately as I cannot get a mortgage myself just now anyway. But I want to make sure that I do get it back at some point. He cannot afford to just pay me it back at the moment.

Do I need to seek legal advice - I'm not sure I can afford it.

If you want your money back you will need legal advice
Can you prove you paid the deposit

What money do you want back?

Was your £6K protected by a legal agreement? If not you're unlikely to get it back sadly.

I don’t think you will see that money again. If you gave it to him based on trust then you’re entirely at the mercy of his goodwill to get it back. And ex partners without any spare cash aren’t generally overflowing with the kind of goodwill that sees them hand over £6k that they don’t legally have to, sadly.

Unless he is willing and able to hand over the money now I don’t think your going to get it back.

Hi,

No we never signed any legal agreements at the time. You can see the money going from my bank account to his, and I also had to get a letter from my parents stating that they had given us it as a gift and did not want it back

It was entirely based on us buying together to get a home together expecting us not to separate - plus assuming we would be getting married this year which we were supposed to be.

I'm looking for the 6k back at least (or preferably a percentage more if he ends up selling for a profit) since we've done the house up a fair bit already and I have paid for most of it.

What's the alternative? I just have to stay here with him or lose the money?

It's my inheritance the the only chance I'll have to buy my own home for me and my sons in future.

Does the letter say it’s a gift to you, or both of you or to him?

@Thatwentbadly I can't remember if I'm being honest. I don't even think I have a copy, we just had to give it to the solicitor who dealt with the house along with bank statements showing it accumulating in my parents bank account. Think the reasoning was to show a) It wasn't laundered and b) they had no interest in the house.

If I'm completely honest I think it just simply stated "This has been given as a gift" without stating at all who to

Your situation is definitely not as hopeless as previous posters seem to think. Look up 'beneficial interest'. It sounds like it'd be easy enough for you to prove that you contributed to the deposit and paid towards the mortgage.

www.blasermills.co.uk/even-if-my-name-isnt-on-the-property-deeds-do-i-have-any-rights/

@Got2beglue Thank you for that, I will have a read tomorrow - head is mush at the moment!

@dane8 It's possible he may be amicable, but I'm speaking as of things are at the moment and things have been getting gradually less "friendly" over the past few weeks... I don't know how much of an option it is to remortgage, we only took the mortgage out a year ago so I think he may be tied in for a while before he can do that. I don't need the money back immediately, I just will need it back at some point to buy my own house when my credit rating allows. I could live without it for 5 years or so if necessary.

You can end a mortgage at any time but it does come with financial penalties.

Thank you so much @dane8 That's really helpful... I have no idea where that particular paperwork would be kept, but I can definitely have a look about in the obvious places when he's at work and hopefully find it.

I know a lot of the back and forward was done through his email, so I wouldn't be able to get that, but the deeds I would...

To be honest he'd probably just tell me the mortgage length / info if I asked...

Zoopla is estimating the house has gone up 4% already, and we've also had work done as mentioned (about £4000 work to the inside and garden) so it may be worth trying to appeal to his better nature just now...

(Part of me thinks and wants to believe he won't be a total asshole about the whole thing and we can stay amicable... he's not a bad guy really. But another part of me thinks I'm being naive.

He's been divorced before and is on awful terms with his ex... I've always believed because of her but 2 sides to every story I guess )

Many (though not all) of the responses highlight the utter folly of people who do not know what they are talking about coming on here to offer wholly wrong advice. Shame on you.

@Got2beglue has it right - OP has most likely a beneficial interest under a resulting or constructive trust. The court would declare OP's interest in accordance with any express or implied agreement as to beneficial shares that is found to have existed, or if none can be found, such share as is reasonable in the circumstances.

A final word to posters who are not qualified to offer legal advice - just stop it. Now. The harm you are doing is immense. There will be people looking at this thread and seeing your bad advice and not realising you haven't got a clue. Would you go on to a health forum and offer medical advice about treatment? No? Then don't offer legal advice.

It sounds like you may have a financial interest in the property and could easily prove your contribution towards the deposit and renovations of the house.
I would ignore some of the posts that have been put on and seek independent legal advice as soon as possible in order to protect your assets.

Thank you @Collaborate and @dewisant2020...

I can't really afford legal advice, but I may have to try find the money from somewhere - will be worth it if it helps me get back my investment.

I appreciate all the responses x