Separating but not married - house entitlement?

[Sassy777]

Posting for a friend. He's recently separated from his gf of 7 years. They have no children and the house/mortgage is in his name. Will it be a 50/50 split or isn't it as easy as that?

If she is not on the deeds or mortgage then unless she has contributed to the mortgage or repairs she isn't entitled to any part of his house.

She would need to prove her contribution and may be entitled to a % based on that but he needs proper advise.

His girlfriend has no automatic right to anything. If she has a mind to, and the money to do it with, she could ask a court to award her a percentage of the increase in equity since she's lived there. That is if she's contributed money which could be construed as rent, proveably paid towards any improvements or repairs, or paid for things like holidays in lieu of rent.

Unless his girlfriend is a co-owner of the property then she has no claim to any part of its value, even if she's paid 'rent' for living there for seven years. Otherwise lodgers and tenants up and down the country would be going to court insisting on money from landlords... If there are no children there is no maintenance to pay. Would suggest that, rather than take the word of people on website like this, he should talk to CAB and get proper legal advice.

She isn't entitled to anything unless she can prove theta she has made a significant financial contribution to the house over and above what covers her living costs for the duration. For example: if she paid a lump sum towards the deposit or a major renovation project then she might be entitled to that cost back. If she covered the entire mortgage and bills whilst her ex was out of work for a long period of the time then she would be entitled to ask for some of that money back. Otherwise she is entitled to nothing.

legally she is his 'lodger' and entitled to nothing. If she paid for say a new bathroom she may be entitled to get her contribution back but that's all. No such thing as 'common law wife' in law.

She is entitled to nothing! I hope this teaches his ex a lesson to protect herself legally next time she is in a relationship.

It all depends if your friend has contributed to stuff such as house improvements - this happened to an acquaintance, in a very long relationship with a partner. Partner had contributed to various home improvements to the house owned by her partner, and when the relationship broke down, she went after some sort of recompense and got it, through the courts. Seems fair enough to me, by the way.

Thanks for the advice. He's a nice guy and wants to do the right thing so is talking about giving her a cut of the profit when the house is sold... I have told him to see a solicitor but not sure he will!