How should we structure the tenancy agreement?

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This is a financial question but one which impacts on relationships and partly for traffic. What would people advise I do here?

Am buying a property with my partner of 4.5 years. I have a 12 year old DD (not his child, he doesn't have children). I'm putting in the vast majority of the money: cash deposit of £100k from inheritance and paying about two thirds of the mortgage. I earn about three times what he does. Partner is putting in £10-15k. I own an existing property which I am planning to rent out which will cover most if not all of my portion of the mortgage payments and critically this is an investment which will be exclusively in mine (and later my daughter's) name and won't be at risk in the event that we split.

My primary concern is to make sure that the bulk of the equity in the house remains in my daughter's name if a) we split or b) I die before him. I've discussed this with my partner and he's happy with the agreement being structured in this way and obviously based on what I know now I don't plan to split but clearly you don't know.

We're not married, never going to get married.

I'm obviously going to go for an agreement as tenants in common, not joint tenants and I'm having a cohabitation agreement drawn up which specifies my share of the equity versus his in the event of a split. Going to see a lawyer about this next week but want to get clear in my head what I'm asking for:

Question is:

a) What portion of the equity should I seek to ringfence in my name from a purchase price of £570k
b Can I have a document drawn up which requires him to leave the property in the event of a split?

Both these issues are matters for negotiation between you. If you are putting in 90% of the deposit and paying 2/3 of the mortgage then you might perhaps split the property 80/20? Or you could agree that in the event of a sale each party will get the amount of their deposit back and you will get 2/3 of any profit with your dp getting the other 1/3 to reflect the input into the mortgage.

You could have a document drawn up requiring him to leave - he would probably insist that you repaid his deposit contribution and mortgage contributions in those circumstances.

You both need independent legal advice.

Thanks. Those both sound like sensible approaches. I'm seeing a lawyer and advising him to see one.

Oh gosh, is buying alone not an option? What happens if you die where would your DD live? Would she stay with him or go to another family member? Would he be forced to sell or could he remain there potentially with another partner while your DD lives somewhere else?

I'm not a lawyer so I don't know the answers but I know that if my FIL dies his kids get the house but his step-mum is allowed to live in it until she dies.

I would probably see a couple of lawyers to be crystal clear what would happen in the event of your death and if you split up.

Tenants in common, with each buyer having a % interest in the property relfecting their respective deposits and contributions. Personally I would never buy a house with another person as it becomes complicated if the relationship breaks down. You couldn't get him out in the future unless there was an injunction against him for abuse (for example). He may want buying out when the property is worth more. Remember the housing market is depressed now, but it may increase a lot in the future. You need a decent will that is in place from the day of completion of sale to ensure your house goes to your child. You can set it up in trust where a guardian (another relative) looks after the assets until a certain age is reached. My will is set up to say my brother is guardian, and my kids cannot independently own my assets until 25. They can get access before then via requests to my brother for Uni. fees etc. Don't let a solicitor persuade you to use them as the guardian, as they will rip the estate off with admin fees. If you are going ahead with your partner, please insist he gets legal advice from an independent solicitor over the cohab. agreement. It stops him claiming you coerced him into signing a legal agreement to facilitate the home purchase.

Are you sure you can't buy alone?