Found out I’m not on a house deeds..

[KindOpalBear]

When we bought the house, our twins were just 4 weeks old and I wasn’t well enough to look into paperwork. I’ve put in £70k my life savings, my partner same £70k and his mother helped us and borrowed us £500k (she basically remortgaged her house to help us). We are paying her loan and our mortgage every month and have been for the last 5 years we’ve been here. Today during an argument my husband shouted that I’m not on the deeds of the house. That shocked me. I’ve paid for title registry on gov.uk and it says the registered owner is him alone, no mention of me. He says that I’m definitely on the deeds but he would need to ask the lawyer to send him documents proving that which will cost £200. Am I being fooled? My heart sunk and I’m just In shock. I feel like him and his mum did this together. Is anyone here who knows legal stuff and can confirm it title registry shows just one person that means I’m not on the deeds?

@KindOpalBear which country are you in as everyone is assuming you are in England (law is different in Scotland). Are you in Spain?

Just to note, yes if you are married you have some protection, but that would not stop him doing some other things, for example, remortgaging without telling you, or taking another loan secured over your property. You should be on the deeds.

Op has he explained why he did not add you on the deeds and why has he kept this information till now, 🤔

@KindOpalBear
To go with the previous advice, this website: https://propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk/ lets you set up an alert on the house, even if you don't own it. It takes 2 mins, I encourage you to do it right now. They send you an update email every 6 months even if no activity, so link it to an email address he doesn't have access to.

So in addition to registering matrimonial rights ASAP, I would also set up an alert here, as this will tell you if he tries to mortgage or sell it. And then you can use the details in the notification they send to contact the party (it's usually the bank's/other side's solicitors) and inform them of your claim, which then usually stops the transaction.

Best of luck.

He's behaved despicably but you're in a much better position than he thinks. You're married with his child. You were married when you bought the house. The equity is half yours.

Unless the loan has actually been secured against the house, which mist lenders wouldn't agree to. And hasn't been secured to you, like you didn't sign anything, then it's nothing to do with you without proof you agreed to pay her back.

You should get legal advice but don't panic, you're in a stronger position than you think. Don't tell him that though, keep your cards close to your chest.

She said she looked on gov.uk

Are you sure his mum isn't down as owning all or part of the house? Because if I'd stumped up half a million, I would want that recognised as owning a share or having an interest.

Yes and if that is the case a gift form will not have been filled in and if she is paying it back along with the mortgage and she is NOT on the deed, it doesn't leave her in a good place.

I read that the deeds are in his name only when she checked but he said this was a mistake. I would have thought that if she has no ownership of even part of the house then she cannot be on the mortgage, because if she defaults, they will not be able to recover any equity form the property.

No it says they each put in £70K, his mum leant them £500K and that they are repaying her loan and paying the mortgage monthly.

Complete miss AI - what does that mean, it is my understadning of roughly how it works.

I'm so sorry that this has happened, especially when you were very vulnerable having just had twins. I'm thinking if he's done this, what other financial "mistakes" has he made?
I'd be having a through review of all things financial and whose name(s) things are in and be looking to get your ducks in a row in the long term. 💐

Get a solicitor now.

this sound serious, good luck.

@KindOpalBear same happened to me, arsehole ex husband happily took my deposit but never put me on the deeds

You are entitled to the house as it’s a marital asset, if you do plan to divorce do not tell him as he can sign over the house to his mum as you aren’t on the deeds

My solicitor put a home rights order on the house which meant he couldn’t sign it over to anyone or sell it and then issued him with the divorce papers

Wishing you lots of luck xx

If you are married you will at least get half any way

I work for the Land Registry. The title docs you've been sent literally ARE the deeds, and if you're not on them then you 100% aren't on the deeds. Get a lawyer.

But she hasn't signed anything so how can her name be on the mortgage.

In an argument he said she wasn't on the Deeds, she checked on the land registry and she wasn't on the deeds. He later denied this and said it was an error and she was but that it would cost £200 to prove it.

She hasn't answered this but I have asked how her £70K was paid for the house as I don't understand how she hasn't signed anything? All I can come up with is very dodgy. If she gave him her £70K and Mum gave him the £500K and he has purchased the house with that plus his £70, that would explain why no gift forms have been filled in and he could have the equity in the house (i.e 2 x £70K & £500) as being paid by him. Is this mortgage just in his name and she is paying towards the mortgage and loan repayments to his Mum. In my mind this is financial abuse.

If its tenants in common, which would be a possibility, then she would need to sign the agreement and Trust. She can look on her Credit Record and see if a mortgage shows there. I could sort of see that his mum had gifted the £500k to her son she would want to ensure it remained his if the marriage went belly up but it says its was a loan which they are repaying so this shouldn't apply.

All sounds dodgy to me.

@KindOpalBear Just a thought but do a quick online credit check on yourself, it will show if there is a mortgage in your name and how much it was for originally and who, if anyone is co named?

Is the mortgage only is his name then?

Not a cat in hells chance, did his Mum manage to take out a £500k mortgage on her home, when she's probably very close to retirement. Imagine the monthly repayments of that on say a 10 year term? That's over £5k a month!

Also, as PP have alluded, you would have to show a solicitor where your £70k came from, by providing bank statements on that account for the last 12 months.

Depending on where you are in the UK, the house could indeed be all his in a divorce. In Scotland for example, if one person owns the house, they do not have to share it on divorce.

My ex did this. Wa quite smug about it when we were getting a divorce…saying he’s taken my name off the deeds ( must have forged my signature)…. I ended up with 60% Don't think he ever quite recovered from that!

I'm thinking it would be an equity release mortgage.

Yes, she lent them 500k, that is pretty involved, they wouldn"t have the house without her.

This would make me wonder about his winder financial habits and behaviour. It sounds very controlling doing this. Then throwing it in your face too - shows he knows it’s wrong.

1. are you financially dependant on him?
2. do you have joint or separate bank accounts?

I would be ensuring I see a solicitor and ensuring my rights were protected. I would be doing that independently of him.

One complication is the £500k mortgage was taken out on his mother's house and the money used to pay for the house you live in. If you are on title and then divorce, you would get half the proceeds of the sale of the house (or if your husband dies, you get the whole house). But you are not legally obligated to pay off his mother's mortgage. So both you and your mother-in-law need legal protection in the evident of death or divorce.