What happens reg. house if we break up?

[PigmyAcne]

Basically the house is in his name. He's contributed £20k to the initial deposit and I contributed £2k however we couldn't get the mortgage in a joint name as I had dependants and was not working at the time. Therefore, the house is solely in his name although I have continued to contribute to the mortgage from the start as well as upkeep etc.

I have told him I'm not happy with this arrangement and I want my name on the deeds and mortgage. So once I'm back to working full time we'll be reapplying for a mortgage in joint names.

My question is, if we split (after my name goes on the mortgage) what happens to the house? He has still paid more into it than me so obviously £20k of is still his. But what happens to the rest? Does it have to be sold and divided or if he wants to keep it ... What happens to my money? Do I just get back the initial deposit or do I get back half of what has been paid to it since the beginning? It will be worth more now ... Will I get anything to reflect that? Because if not he could just give me half of what has been paid since the deposit and then sell the house and make a fortune off it despite the fact that I contributed to the house after we moved in ...

I don't want to get burnt but neither do I want to rip him off. I'm just wondering what would happen in the event of a split once both our names are on the house.

What proof do you have of your contribution?

Speak to a solicitor. You can have a deed drawn up of your agreement on shares, and they can advise what to do about proving your contribution in the past and going forward.

Are you married? It does make a difference.

If there is no Deed of Trust drawn up when you apply for a joint-mortgage, all of the equity would be split 50/50. Whether he gets his initial 20k back as an equivalent lump-sum or a percentage of the total value would be a matter of whether you both agree to it later or not. Ditto for the couple of grand you put in yourself.

If you're married none of that will matter as the property is an asset of the marriage regardless of whose name it's actually in.

So once married it's 50/50 no matter what?

Whether you are married, whether you have children who live in the house and you have residency - all make a massive difference!

If you are married all money and assets are assets of the marriage: as well as the house this can include pensions, insurance and savings policies, everything. However, if you spolit and have dependent children and there is not enough money to house the children on a 50/50 split is it common for the parent with residency to get 70% of the house value, for example.

If you are not married you have absolutely no rights to a house unless you are named n the paperwork. Even if you contribute towards the ongoing costs of running it.

If you are not married but wish to co-own you can do so as tenants in common, in which each party is named in a deed of covenant or trust that details how much each part owns. For example of the purchase price, A owns equity of £XXX, B owns £YYY and they on the mortgaged amount 50/50 - and that is represented as a pro rata amount as the property increases in value (hopefully!).

I think as 'joint tenants' it is simply understood to be owned 50/50.

And I think, but am not sure / can't remember, there is some different arrangement if one of you dies and it is owned as 'joint tenants', in which case the other simply inherits, whilst as 'tenants in common' you can each leave your portion to whoever you like.

Your last comment is right Blu.