Partner wants to split but his name on mortgage !

[Purplehighness57]

Today 15:03 Purplehighness57

Hi any advice would be great . My partner told me this morning that he wants to split up , this is on the back of me putting my foot down about his controlling ways and he's wanting me out . We have had the house two years now and the mortgage was in his name as I was still selling my own property which I lived in as a single parent . I have given him half the money each month for bills and mortgage despite him being a bigger earner than me . I also gave him a few thousand pounds which was all my savings towards the deposit . Does anyone know if I'm entitled to anything ?? I need to think also if I need to stay put rather thAn get out of the house incase this would jeopardise anything :-/

When you purchased was your name on the deeds or was it solely in your partners name?

You will need to see a solicitor - but in the meantime you need to gather all the evidence you can which proves how much you gave him.

I can looking for the docs when he goes out later , you see I signed something which I think was putting my name on the deeds . Also I can trace my account back to the day I transferred the money to him but who's to say that was towards the deposit

On the land registry, was your dead registered- if it was he should have specified that he is holding on trust for you. Does the dead split the ownership 50/50 is he is the legal owner but you own 50% in equity?

If all these doesn't count then you will be given a proportion of what you paid so far. He won't get complete ownership and you can claim actual occupancy

Go and speak to a solicitor and take bank statement etc

The money went down on the house and was added to his deposit - the money didn't appear out of thin air so it came from you and you have the accounts to show it.

Plus you have the statements showing you paid half the bills etc and he doesn't have a rent book

Ok will search for everything , I think I am on the deeds I just need to find the docs . Will anything be registered online re the land registry do you know ?

I thought most mortgage companies would not be happy to have someone on the deeds (and have a claim) if they weren't also on the mortgage (for the liability).

You need to find that paper work and check.

If you are on the deeds good you are lucky and in a much stronger position.

If you are not then it is his house not yours and his and it makes it much harder to make a claim.

I fear if you weren't party to the mortgage, and not on the deeds, and are not married, you may struggle here. V unlikely you would not be on the mortgage, yet still named on the deeds (from recollection, only one, possibly two, lenders entertain this)
I think what you may have signed as the purchase went through could have been an occupier consent form for the lender-basically, waiving any occupier rights should the lender need to repossess.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but probably how the land lies...sorry!

Magoria and everyone else is not correct. If you contributed to the house then the courts have ruled that you do have a claim to the house but you might need to go to court for a judge to agree. In LL (Land law) I've done a case study similar to this and the claimant (in this case you OP) had a claim even though they only lived together (co-habited) and each contributed to not only the house but expenses of the household. The problem with court is that you have the solicitor's fees and court fees but do not fool yourself into thinking that you have no claim OP. A lot of women think this and not make a claim when they have every legal right to. I'm revising land law tomorrow so I will bookmark and come back here to give some advice.

That's amazing , lucky for me you saw this needfemalesdvice I will wait to hear from you . I'm not being greedy in this process as I've been in a position ,before I met my partner where I've had nothing ,worked hard , done extra shifts as a single mother and don't want to now end up with nothing . :(

That must be really reassuring for you! Right place right time needfemaleadvice

if your not on the deeds or the mortgage then you will struggle to get anything. my friend went through this last year and was taken for a song. there was no proof she was paying towards the mortgage just money being transferred every month - he claimed it was rent and she couldn't prove otherwise. She also had to pay her own solicitor bills and didnt get any legal aid for her fight. think her solicitor bill was just under 5k and walked with nothing.

oh, my friend was living with this person for 6 years and had all her bank statements etc. yet nothing.

Please take advise from an actual solicitor, not a law student!

What's with the ? I was just pointing out that needfenaleadvice is a law students and you're better off getting advice from someone qualified and experienced.

Your ex can easily argue the deposit was a gift, or used to fund a holiday, and the payments you've given him are for rent and bills only.

Assuming there are no children? If there are that changes things considerably.

Have you actually asked him how he wants to split the house? It may be he is perfectly willing to arrange a settlement that you both consider fair (?)

If you can prove that you paid a large chunk of money into his account around the time he bought the house, and that you pay a standing order which covers half the mortgage and bills, and you have shared the house from the start, then you can argue at least that you have a claim to some of the equity, and arguably perhaps that it was a trust intending you to mutually own, I think - intention is demonstrated to share ownership. You need to see a solicitor, I'm afraid, but it isn't solely down to names on deeds. It is also down to intention to jointly own, and contributions in money or money's worth to the purchase price (deposit and mortgage).

Do you have any emails, texts, anything of that nature showing intention to jointly own? Did you search for houses together - were you at viewings together, did you both talk to estate agents? Get every scrap of paperwork you can together, and put it somewhere safe.

You can check the land registry online - it will tell you the named purchasers, and whether you are one of them. It's cheap and you can get an answer in 5 minutes from reading this. Anyone can get that info.

Given the amount of money involved I do think you should see a solicitor. Nobody here can give you a definite answer. Ask the CAB for a list of those locally offering free initial appointments - some still do.

If you aren't married, then your claim relies on the law of property. Thing is, you've effectively bought a house together and paid for it jointly. That gives you rights under the law even if you were just mates, or siblings. People confuse the situation where a SAHP hasn't ever paid anything, and the person paying had already bought before the SAHP moved in, which would entitle someone to nothing, with a situation like yours where you've split all costs down the middle with a clear intention to create a shared ownership.

I wouldn't agree to move out, but you need to see a solicitor sooner rather than later if you aren't on the deeds, as on the face of it he could change the locks tomorrow and you wouldn't have any way of getting back in.

I put the to state I'm just thinking that's all . I would get advice off a solicitor but it's good the law student can give me ideas of what to ask if anything I've missed . I've not asked him yet re dividing the house as would rather get advice first as he's very temperamental at the moment and it's been a very controlling relationship

peggy was the house bought at the same time as they moved in together? That's fairly key, here - she paid a chunk over to his account at the time of purchase, which indicates intention potentially. And she's paid half ever since.

I also think your friend was pretty unlucky, as there are lots of other cases where someone in her position has been deemed to have a right to some of the equity. Though obviously it's impossible to know all the facts.

I do agree that a law student isn't capable of advising adequately and you need professional advice, though. That isn't insulting; it's the truth. I'm a law graduate myself, and all it taught me was how much I don't know - hence why I tell people to seek legal advice if there's much at stake.

Thanks sleeponeday I agree and will take that advice . I know the estate agents well who dealt with our viewings and purchase will gather my info and look in land registry now

Ah right. The emoticon is usually used here to voice scepticism rather than thinking something over.

This is the Land Registry search page. We used it whenever we thought of buying places, so we could check out how much they'd paid, whether there was a mortgage, whether there was a flood risk, if there were any restrictive covenants etc. It's really quick and fairly cheap.

How much is the house worth now? Is there even any equity in it?

Two years' worth of mortgage contributions probably don't amount to a huge sum of money; it might not even be worth fighting for.

The deposit on the other hand is different. Would he agree to refunding your deposit? If he would return that then I'd be happy enough and move on. If he does agree then get it in writing.

Kidnapped that's really good advice if OP lives in an area of lowish house prices. Thing is, in our area prices have risen by 40% in the last two years, so the equity at stake here would be really substantial, and OP's chances of buying anywhere else minimal if she walked.

Agree that she needs to consider costs of fighting this against what she could reasonably stand to gain.