How do I "protect" my half ....

[confusedhelpme]

So this sounds a bit cynical but I think it's important.

About to buy a house with DP (NOT MARRIED)

I have my money and he has his.

We are putting in the same and will be paying half and half on mortgage.

I also have a DS from previous LTR.

If the relationship goes tits up or we are forced into a situation where we need to sell the house due to finances ......

How do I make sure that my half I put in and the half of equity output goes to me and my DS? (And he would obvs get the other half)

Through a legal contract drawn up by a solicitor and signed by you both
Also keep all bank records showing payments etc

And would this be independent of the solicitor we use for the conveyancing?

Hi,

Property solicitor here

It's quite straightforward - you need to hold the property as Tenants in Common, which gives each of you a defined share in the property. These shares can be whatever you like - 50/50, 60/40 etc.

In your situation you could just leave it at "Tenants in Common in equal shares", so you'd each receive 50% in the event of a split.

There is also the option of having a Deed of Trust drawn up, which are useful when one party puts down a large chunk of the deposit compared to the other. Your conveyancing solicitor should be able to draft one, although they may charge an additional fee. They essentially set out, for example, "£20k to person A, £10k to person B, the remainder to be split equally". Doesn't sound like this would be necessary in your situation, but just so that you're aware of the option.

As you're unmarried, you absolutely must ensure that you both have up to date wills so that if one of you passes away, their share passes on according to their wishes.

Hope this helps

Thank you so much!! Sad we have to think suck things, but I've got my DS to think about.

Very helpful.

QQ - in the event of a split, can a house sale be forced?

Our deed of trust specifies that in the event of a split we have the option to buy the other out- if no agreement on that can be reached the House is sold. Presumably if we both want to buy each other out and can't agree we also sell!

Good point Fish

Deed of trust was my life saver when I split with my ex in 2013. My £100k that I used as the deposit in order to buy our house was ‘ring fenced’ and he couldn’t get his greedy hands on it. Unfortunately I only ended up with £80k as had to sell at a loss to escape the idiot.

@BG2015 it's a good point thou isn't it? I'm not being greedy but you just don't know what is going to happen.

I have to protect me and my DS should anything go wrong

I never thought we would split. We were together 6 years. He was horrible when we separated - he stopped paying the mortgage as he wasn’t getting anything out of the sale, don’t really blame him but it was very stressful for me.

I’ll never be financially linked to a man again. My current partner lives with me and pays rent.

Protect yourself and your DC. You really don’t know what can happen