Legal advice?

[alwaysthepessimist]

Can someone advise? Have been with partner for 15+ years, own a house together and have a 6 year old, relationship has failed quite honestly, he won't accept it but I will. If we split up what happens to the house? I've spent a huge amount of money renovating it - he hardly puts his hand in his pocket for anything but I don't have receipts for it all. If we split would we have to sell or could me and my child stay here?

You need proper advice from a solicitor. Can you afford to buy him out and pay the mortgage on your own?

Where are you? The legal position is different in England & Wales from that in Scotland. Whatever the answer to that, you need a solicitor not the thoughts of a bunch of on-line randoms (like me).

There are issues with being unmarried in these circumstances. You need proper legal advice.

Ok thanks all, am in England, probably could afford it but it would be tight as I don't earn very much, he earns just over double what I do, will get some legal advice and go from there

Is it jointly owned? Do you pay 50% of the mortgage each?
You definitely need legal advice. How much equity is in it? Could you buy somewhere smaller with your share? Could you get a mortgage to cover his half?

Yeah get legal advise but generally it’s either sold and then split according to how it’s owned bought eg. 50/50 or different, or one buys the other out for equivalent of 50% of equity or lower if negotiated and agreed upon

To buy the other out you must be able qualify for the whole mortgage regardless of what you pay your ex for their share

In a divorce if you can prove you’ve spent x on renovations or paid the mortgage by yourself it can come out of the pot. Not sure in this situation

@alwaysthepessimist

Ok thanks all, am in England, probably could afford it but it would be tight as I don't earn very much, he earns just over double what I do, will get some legal advice and go from there

It isn’t just about affording the mortgage, you would have to both afford the mortgage and buy him out of his share. You would need to come to an agreement as to what would be an appropriate £sum for his share.

Because of the child you should get more than 50% of the house.
Does he have a private pension ? If so there may be a deal to be done there where you don’t touch it and get even more of the house.
Solicitor is the best place.

Because of the child you should get more than 50% of the house.

IANAL but I really don’t think that’s accurate (unless it’s your subjective opinion that morally she “should” get more, rather than stating a legal certainty).

AFAIK, the property will be split 50/50 unless you split the shares differently when you bought it. Whether or not you have kids doesn’t come into it.

The extra spending on renovations might, but did he pay extra against the mortgage and/or on household bills as the bigger earner?

OP is not married and therefore pension and other assets (shares, savings etc in his or OP’s sole name) don’t come into play.

Are you on the mortgage/title to the house? Check the title deeds - if you're joint tenants then you both jointly own the whole house together (or at least the equity in it), there is no predefined share of the ownership, and you'll need to decide/agree/fight over it. If you're tenants in common then you each own a defined share, no scope to argue any different. If there's nothing in place to say otherwise, then it'll be a 50/50 share.

If you're not on the mortgage/title, then you potentially have a massive fight to get anything at all back from what you've contributed to the house costs. If you've had the house for anything like the length of time you've been together, there is likely to be a decent amount of equity in there to be worth legally pursuing.