Financial settlement when never married

[PositiveLife]

Asking for advice for a friend.

Him and his partner were together for over 10 years. They jointly own a property and he owns other property in his sole name.

They have been split for a number of years but his ex is suddenly wanting to "sort the finances" and is determined to get more than her half of the house they jointly own. She wants a ridiculous amount of money from his other property. He has repeatedly told her its his own asset and nothing to do with her. She keeps threatening to get a judge to award her the money, go to solicitors, etc but nothing ever materialises. Friend would ideally like it sorted. Is there anything he can do to get it sorted once and for all? Or is he going to have to spend the rest of his life listening to her make these threats?

Obviously if they were married, it would all get sorted in one go but they weren't. And I get that she can start a claim against his asset if she wanted to (even if she would lose). But is there anyway he can get the equivalent of a clean break so she can't keep using it against him? (she's made a few comments in front of their child)

Did she pay towards it?

Any kids?

She doesnt own the other house so thats not happening its his alone she has no claim

The house they owned together- tenants in common? Any legal contract on purchase about the dirlstribution of the deposit and equity? If not surely it would be 50/50 split can he buy her out if he wanted to

Oops how did i miss "their child"

She isn’t entitled to anything from his other property. Time to involve a solicitor.

She didn't pay anything towards the property in his name.
The joint property is joint tenants and he's happy to split that 50/50 when their child reaches 18 or leaves full time education - either by selling the property and splitting the equity or by buying her out. At the moment she lives in it.

If I was your friend I would seek legal advice. Hopefully that will get her off his back. Does his ex think that 'common law wife' is a legal thing in the UK because it's not(assuming that you are in the UK).

He needs to sever the joint tenancy of the property they jointly own and make sure that it is now held as tenants in common.

She has no claim over his other property.

If she wants the property they jointly own to be hers alon now she needs to buy him out.

I suggest he gets it valued. Then takes off a bit for what estate agents would cost and then offer to settle by her paying his half of the equity and her taking out a mortgage to repay any joint mortgage they have. That puts it in her court.

@BedknobsNoBroomsticks

If I was your friend I would seek legal advice. Hopefully that will get her off his back. Does his ex think that 'common law wife' is a legal thing in the UK because it's not(assuming that you are in the UK).

To be honest, I think she thinks (hopes?) he'll pay her the money just to stop her from hassling him about it and criticising him about it in front of their child. But it's a huge amount of money.

He thinks she's since seen a solicitor because she's suddenly started to pay her half of the joint mortgage costs (he's paid the full amount since they split to avoid any issues with the bank). I expect she knows she can't get anything because she keeps saying she's going to get her solicitor to write/get a judge to award it/go to court but it never actually materialises

@SeasonFinale

He needs to sever the joint tenancy of the property they jointly own and make sure that it is now held as tenants in common.

She has no claim over his other property.

If she wants the property they jointly own to be hers alon now she needs to buy him out.

I suggest he gets it valued. Then takes off a bit for what estate agents would cost and then offer to settle by her paying his half of the equity and her taking out a mortgage to repay any joint mortgage they have. That puts it in her court.

Can he get it valued while she's living in it?

He needs to take the initiative and see a solicitor.

On the information posted she does not have a claim against the property in his sole name. She is clearly entitled to something from the jointly owned property and the default position would be that she gets 50% of the equity. She may be able to delay a sale until their child is grown up but there is nothing in the information posted that suggests she would get more than 50%.

She's trying it on. If she takes over the mortgage she might be awarded a benefit from that, so they need a solicitor to sort this out and clarify whether that's possible?

He can ignore her. Or he can make the first move and contact a solicitor.

Are they joint tenants or tenants in common? If it is a joint tenancy, he should instruct his solicitor to sever the joint tenancy a create a tenancy in common. She doesn’t have to agree to this. It can happen without her consent but she does need to have notice served.

Either way, a solicitor can write to her and explain the state of affairs and suggesting at time at which the property can be sold. Personally, I would also have something put in the letter warning her of the consequences of parental alienation.