Division of property assets

[SoggyBottoms]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice.

I bought a flat with a female friend in 2002 for £160k purchase price. She paid £20k deposit, I paid £10k. The remaining £130k was mortgage. Since then we have split (or taken responsibility for) all expenses inc the mortgage 50/50.

We never drew up an agreement at the time agreeing how proceeds would be split on sale (stupid, I know).

We are now selling - it's now worth about £375k - and she is claiming that she should get two thirds of the purchase price because she put in two thirds of the initial deposit. And yet this extra £10k is a drop in the ocean in comparison to all the many expenses/things we've paid for equally since.

I feel that this is hugely unfair. Can anyone advise me? I'd be hugely grateful. Goes without saying I am hugely stressed about this, and feel very stupid for not putting things down in writing at the start.

Thank you.

Her way is one way of doing it, an alternative is to repay the deposits and share the profit equally.
I think if you have paid half the mortgage for 14 years, the second is more reasonable.
Also consider you have paid 10k, plus 50% of mortgage for 14 years, so, say £40k in total. she has paid £20k deposit and same mortgage, so £50k in total
so split is 4 ninths you and 5 ninths her.

The most fair way to do it is to calculate the appreciation on your initial investment, return that to both of you, and then split the rest 50:50.

She put in 20k, so 1/8th of the cost in 2002, and you put in 1/16th.

So, let's say you sell it for 375k and clear 350k after fees, well then she gets 1/8th or 43,750 of 350k and you get half of that or 21,875 straight away, and then any remaining profit is split 50:50.

Your co-owner's 1/3 to 2/3 split is grossly unfair to you. The split I outlined gives credit for the initial differences in deposit proportional to the increase in the home's value.

What ever you clear, take your original deposits out of first then split the rest 50 50.

What Zillie said and start collating all info you can to prove what you have paid

Hello, I am a family lawyer and although you might think, "she would say that", you really do need to get some proper legal advice from a qualified lawyer. A list can be found either on the law society website and you should look for "family law", or on an excellent website called Resolution. One of your first steps should be to contact the conveyancing firm you used when you bought the flat and ask them to send you a copy of the file. They cannot send you the original without the other person's permission. A copy you can apply for discreetly and any family lawyer will need to see that before giving full advice. They could apply for it for you but it would allow you to get straight on if you have that ready for your first meeting. It will depend on if you bought it as tenants in common in specified shares or not. You say you didn't sign anything you recall so you may have bought it as joint tenants in equal shares. You can also do a search at the land registry for what is called you office copy entries but those may not mean a lot to you when you see them. Most solicitors offer a fixed fee initial meeting and it will be well worth your money making sure you get advice. They will be there to help you negotiate amicable not to encourage dispute, especially if you use a Resolution member. On the face of it you may well be joint owners in equal shares and the 1/3 2/3 will not be reasonable. If you wish to compromise I would perhaps look at offering her an additional £10,000 to reflect her extra contribution at the time. It will though all depend on that file and what was discussed and arranged at the time. Hope that helps. Hatton Law

Hi, thank you very much for your very helpful advice. To divorce diva, I have called the conveyancing firm and they destroy all files after six years so I am applying to the Land Registry to try and find out the joint tenants vs tenants in common information. I don't suppose there is any other way of finding this out is there? Hugely grateful, Thank you.