Not married, joint mortgage, 2 children and splitting up - what am I entitled to?

[needsomeinfo]

The above says it really, I'm not married to p but it has become inreasingly apparent that we are coming to the end of our 8 years together. We have two children (under 5) and a joint mortgage were both of us are named on the deeds. We own our home like a married couple (eg, if I died he would automatically get my share and the same for me if he died).

There is about 120k equity in the house and the value of the house is around the 350 mark.

Can any body tell me what I am entitled to, can we stay in the house and he leave? Do we have to sell the house and split the equity, and if this is the case how would it be split - considering his earning potential is massivley more than mine as I am no longer the career woman that I was, although I still work PT but not in the sector I was in, and the fact that the children would stay with me.

any help would be hugely appreciated.

How have you been paying the mortgage -- out of a joint account?

You are entitled to half the equity of the house after it is sold, plus child support - you are not entitled to maintenance for yourself. If you were married you would be entitled to more. The only way to get any more would be to negotiate with your partner or take a punt on a risky court case. See a solicitor and the CAB. Good luck.

Doesnt' matter at all who paid the mortgage if the house is jointly owned.

Goog point, Aloha, I'd missed that bit in the OP.

thank goodness for that - he has paid the mortgage and bills since the arrival of the children but I have paid for all the childrens expenses, nursery, shoe etc.

Do we have to sell then? Can I not keep the house until the children are out of school and then divide the assests (hugely selfish I know - but I am not instigating this split and don't see why the children should have to be disrupted, esp as the oldest starts school in january)

You need independent legal advice as your assumption re: the house may not be correct as you aren't married. Are you likely to be able to pay the mortgage and/or raise money to buy his share of the equity ?

No - I couldn't pay the mortgage or buy his share. But surely if it is jointly owned it really should be at least straight down the middle?

Yes but you may not have the right to force him to tie up his assets, he could possibly claim his half share now rather than when the children are out of full time education. I'm not sure what rights you have regarding keeping the family home , hence the need to get legal advice.

ahhhh - I see - thanks

I know I sound cold and like I don't give a rats but I am on auto pilot at the moment

needs -sorry to hear about your situation. I think that you do need to see a solicitor for advice. You may have seen this but there has just been a case on rights of cohabiting couples

link here

cohabiting couples rights

'Unmarried couples who separate moved a step closer to acquiring the ?divorce rights? of married couples yesterday with a House of Lords ruling that they can win a half-share in their joint home....

...The law lords said that Ms Dowden should keep the 65 per cent because she had made the greater financial contribution'

That seems contradictory to me, could someone please enlighten me?

I thought it contradicted itself to? thanks for posting the link. I am going to try and get an appointment with a solicitor tomorrow, if I can find one locally that does half an hour free.

he has been sleeping in the spare room for the past 3 weeks and now I have been told he is going to be staying out overnight on "business" - bollx, he never, and I mean nver, stays out on business - so I think my suspicious thoughts may have been spot on

Dunno if this link will be any help

have a look at this

Their case was different because they started off with her house from what I heard last night - it did sound contradictory though, I agree.

If they hadn't later moved on to another house, with his name on the deeds of that, she would have been entitled to the full value on the basis of this new ruling.

It was on Money Box last night - scroll down for a listen again link.

Good luck

thanks, it has been our house right from the start, when we first bought together everythingwas straight down the middle, but with the birth of our first child 4 years ago I have only worked PT and have not paid in tthe house at all, I have paid for everything to do with the children tho, not that that will make ay difference.

This is a quote from the Money Box piece:

"What the House of Lords said is that where a couple are cohabiting and they own a property in joint names the starting point should be that the proceeds of sale would be divided exactly equally.

"Whereas the starting point if the property is owned in the name of one of the parties, then that party should be entitled to all the proceeds of the sale."

It's not fixed - just an initial position - it's obviously up for negotiation, hence Ms D's 65%

thanks :-)