Joint ownership and splitting in Scotland

[Aperolspritz91]

Probably a niche post here but just looking for opinions. Own a home with partner and we are joint owners 50/50. He put in more upfront than me (£120k vs my 20k) but I have been paying a larger portion of the mortgage. Half of the upfront outlay was actually offers over as the market was so crazy at the time. The hope was when we paid off the house is own almost 50% with higher mortgage contributions. We do not have anything written up to reflect this and we have changed the mortgage split slightly in the last year to make it fairer to our salaries but I am still paying about 56% of mortgage payments rather than 60%. Basically the financial contributions have been unequal. I have also paid £30k in home improvements while he has paid around £50k. The house value has increased by 50k when we last got it valued but have since spent more on renovations so hopefully more. I do not want half of the equity in the house but just wondering from a legal stand point what I could be entitled to for him to buy me out?

Say we have £120-150k equity, I think legally as joint tenants I am entitled to half but obviously acknowledge that he has paid a lot more so I'd be looking for him to agree to 30k so I could have a deposit - does that sound fair? FWIW he has been emotionally abusive and I've had enough so just looking to understand my rights here rather than trying to take his money or whatever but it feels very complicated.

You might get better response if you ask MN to move this to the Scotsnet board

Think you need proper legal advice on this.

Technically you are entitled to half as you are joint owners, however morally that seems pretty off to take money that you didn’t pay initially. I would just go through your statements and add up how much each of you has contributed and then take that percentage.

Morally you can show on a spreadsheet who has paid what into the property, and therefore your expectation of percentage.
Legally however you need advice. I would make a spreadsheet up and take it with you to a solicitor.

If you are joint tenants then you are each entitled to half the equity. After completion your solicitor would make payment to you on that basis, unless you each state there’s a different intention. Ex-P and I (also Scotland) had the same scenario: we advised our solicitor that we had agreed a different split and this was documented and signed, and proceeds split to each of us by that agreement after the sale.

Your solicitor will make the above clear to your ex, so if you’re asking for a fair share but one which is less than 50%, it’s to his benefit that he communicates with you and you can reach an agreement about what your share should be.