Ex-partner wants house bought with inheritance despite my name on deeds

[Guffy]

My partner and I were together for 10 years. I loved her dearly and believe we had a strong relationship. About 5 years in she came into a sum of money after her father sadly died and she decided to buy a house with the money so we could set up home together. She decided to put my name on the deeds effectively giving me half the house. I cautioned her at the time that it was a big step and a generous gift but she said she loved me and it was our home. A year or so ago, after 6 months of lying and deceiving me, she left me for a local man. I now live in the house on my own but she is indicating that the house belongs to her because she ‘paid for it with my dad’s money’. Where do I stand legally please?

Well, you certainly don’t have a greater right to it than her, so you should either be paying her rent or moving out now. Then see a solicitor re. what happens when it is sold. Don’t be a dick about it. Your lack of provision for yourself at retirement age isn’t her problem to solve.

I am sorry you were betrayed and she had an affair. Thats awful.

I think she was unwise to put the house in your name.

Morally and ethically you know the house is half hers and no matter how you both feel about each other now, she should have her half.

You own 50% of the house if your ex put you equally on the deeds.

Your ex chose to put you equally on the deeds and make the house both of yours when she could have put only her own name and bought alone.

I think her decision to register the house jointly is similar in effect to if you had married- I.e. she chose to compromise herself financially to commit to the relationship.

I think you should get your 50% share. Putting someone on the deeds jointly isn't a cute gesture- it's a legal commitment- you can't just take it back later if you get your head turned.

I think that you should agree the house can go up for sale and you want your 50%. The solicitor should agree with you both to send you each your 50% after their bill.

Morally she should not have cheated on him. Half the house is legally his. FAFO

Are you tenants in common or joint tenants? What exactly was said at the point of purchase of the house?

No, your age or health does not make a difference. She bought the house with her inheritance. You should get back any money you put into the purchase or into large items for the house, and money for the costs of moving. If you left a job you would otherwise still be doing (at 67, would you not have retired anyway?) then some compensation for lost earnings would also be right. But to claim the full 50% you are legally entitled to would be morally reprehensible. Did you own a house before or were you renting?

Its half yours, your at retirement age so your chances of making a fresh start (not through your doing) is very limited. She made her choice.

my ex put all the money down for our house deposit. He too insisted on it being jointly owned. I signed it over to him when we split up.

But, I was 30. At 67 (retired, I am assuming) I don't think I would have done so easily!

The answer is you need proper legal advice which would need to take into account all of your circumstances. On the legal advice I have received previously if an asset has been pooled and not ring fenced in separate accounts then it counts as part of the assets to be considered for divorce. I am not sure if this varies as you have been married for ten years or not. However, you need to take appropriate advice. Without understanding who has paid for what in the marriage and who has done what, it is not possible to say who is morally correct.

If this was a woman posting I am sure the advice would be that she is entitled to half the house.

Take what you owe….she cheated on you.

Surely you have plenty of money though after not paying rent or mortgage for a decade? Also what happened to your previous property? Were you renting for 40 years before moving in together?

even if you were 10 years of no mortgage surely means you have a huge amount of savings to buy outright?

I’d work out what you are entitled to legally. Then work out what you need to move back near your DD to a smaller place. Hopefully it’s way less than the 50% and you could present this to her, and ask her to buy you out seeing as you moved for her? Morally you should only take what you need to set up a new home seeing as it was her dad’s money.

Ffs they are not married . . .

A lot of assumptions made here. Not immediately obvious that OP is a man though many answers seem to have assumed that.

The ex put OP on the deeds, therefore they legally have a right to their share. The morals or ethics that others would apply are irrelevant.

@Guffy- what happened to your previous home? Have you long term rented or did you have a property?

You need to get legal advice asap- as I’m sure she will be. At best the house would be sold and you’d get half. However, she may well fight this and get more than half given she can prove she put in 100% of the money. Prepare yourself for being painted as financially abusive / having forced her into putting in joint names.

Given you were facing your 60s with no property anyway, you may well do better making her an offer, eg she buys out 25% now, and you continue to own 25% that you get when the property is sold /her death.

If you paid for any renovation or building work to the house, get paperwork together on that as well before you go see a solicitor. But do get legal advice. There is no “I’ll just stay here” option.

Until op tells us whether they are joint tenants, or tenants in common and exactly what was said at the purchase the answers are all speculation.

No at the end of the day their dead father put the money in. I’d never forgive myself if I made someone loose their home through my own selfish needs even though they’d been selfish

This.

That's fair enough if it's how you feel about yourself personally but to be so incredibly judgemental about others doing it and all the labelling and making out they're doing something awful is gross, so you're not in any position to tell other people to get some morals.

This is all the answer that is needed. I cannot see where the OP says which sex they are.

Seek legal advice.
On the face of it, from a lay perspective, if you are joint owners on the deeds, you are legally entitled to half the value once the property is sold. But you are not entitled to stay in the house indefinitely unless an arrangement is reached with your ex.

A lawyer for either party could argue on moral grounds if the case were to go to court. But as it stands you appear to own half a house give or take any extras such as renovations, maintenance costs etc.

I hope you get what you're legally entitled to and are able to start over.

If she added your name on the deeds then fair play, it's a legal document so more fool her.
She's obviously living somewhere else at the moment but sell the house and take what's rightfully yours and forget about her. Hopefully she'll learn from her stupidity and not add her new partners name to any future property she might buy.

This. 100%

Why aren't you answering the questions about paying into the mortgage or paying rent?