So, how do you keep your house?

Mr Badger

Mr Badger

Mr Badger

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Fortunately I'm not in this situation, however some threads here have got me thinking about how could you keep your house in the event of a relationship breakup? In particular where "you" (the man) have put in most or all of the money.

It sounds from some experiences as though if you have kids or your partner's name is also on the mortgage that the amount of money you have put in is irrelevant and you can end up losing your house if you split. Is this still the case if only your name is on the mortgage, or indeed if you actually own the house outright? If you get married and/or have kids does your wife gain any rights or can you claim that the house is your personal property and not a marital asset?

I'm guessing there are a lot of people out there who may now wish they had known the answers to these questions before they made certain major decisions!
 
She's usually entitled to 50/50, more if kids are involved - that is very generally speaking.

But my mate is due a £140k lump sum and £18k per year pension, so she isn't touching that in exchange for their £300k house.
 
There are a number of different issues really. Firstly, if you're married, the house is a marital asset so split in accordance with divorce law, which I don't know much about.

If you're not married, if your partner is a registered owner of the property, obviously they will have a share as a legal owner. It is likely to be an equitable joint tenancy, and therefore probably split evenly. This is unless you agreed to share the equity in different proportions, in which case the value will obviously be divided in those proportions.

Even if your partner's name is not on the register, and she is therefore not a legal owner, she can still be entitled. If she contributed to the purchase price of the property (not including mortgage payments) she may be entitled to the value of the property in proportion to what she contributed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resulting_trust

If she contributed to mortgage payments, legal fees, or even bills, she may be entitled to a share of the property. This will be at the court's discretion, and they'll look at the entire circumstance surrounding use and ownership of the property. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_trust

All of the above can (I believe - DON'T rely on this advice!) be rebutted by the intention showed when the property was bought, or when the agreement for paying bills was made. If she was told "you're contributing to mortgage payments but that doesn't mean you get a share of the property" when the agreement was made, that should be sufficient to negate her claim provided you have evidence of saying this.

In short, it's a complex area of law. There are an awful lot of variables. At its heart, the law assumes that when somebody contributes to a property, they are entitled to a share in it, unless the parties had agreed otherwise.

If you are in this situation, however, don't rely on forum advice. Get professional legal advice. I'm not a lawyer!
 
The advice given in Breaking Bad is that if things turn sour, to make sure you stay in the house every night so it is considered your residence.
 
It's not as clear cut as a straight split down the middle.

Pre marital assets are usually safe providing you can prove that the marriage did not play any part in the maintaining that asset during the time of the marriage.

The minute you get into a relationship where you start splitting bills or what ever, then that person has a right to a % of the assets you have in line with the contribution they have made.

It's perfectly feasible to be able to marry someone, take no money from them (if they work) in relation to the cost of living and divorce them and not have to pay then anything and them have no claim on your assets.
if they make any form of sacrifice or contribution, then that a when you have to pay.
 
Mr Badger said:
Fortunately I'm not in this situation, however some threads here have got me thinking about how could you keep your house in the event of a relationship breakup? In particular where "you" (the man) have put in most or all of the money.

It sounds from some experiences as though if you have kids or your partner's name is also on the mortgage that the amount of money you have put in is irrelevant and you can end up losing your house if you split. Is this still the case if only your name is on the mortgage, or indeed if you actually own the house outright? If you get married and/or have kids does your wife gain any rights or can you claim that the house is your personal property and not a marital asset?

I'm guessing there are a lot of people out there who may now wish they had known the answers to these questions before they made certain major decisions!
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I have no children and I still got stitched up big time when I got divorced.
I moved out the house, taking only a few bin bags containing clothes, aftershaves and bits, but still had all the bills coming from my bank account. She continued to live in the house but refused to pay them, and eventually owed me thousands. She then stole everything from the property and left the house as a bare shell.
The police stated they couldn't do anything, my solicitor advised me that the cost of dragging this through the court would cost more than the value of what she owed me and I would be better to walk away and take it on the chin.
If there's something I know now that I wish I could have passed on to me back then it's that a stupidly expensive one day ceremony, p**sup and piece of paper which changes her surname is not worth all the crap that comes with it when it's time to split. It really is betting someone half your stuff that you'll stick with them forever.
 
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its a family home, if we split i'd simply take my stuff and walk away.

I wouldn't want my daughter to lose her family home, that's a horrid thing and as long as I have my 3 cars, PC's, books etc then I can find somewhere else to live. I'd help pay to keep it as well on the condition it stays as a joint venture.

I see no need to be bitter or greedy, no matter why the relationship breaks up.
 
AHarvey said:
its a family home, if we split i'd simply take my stuff and walk away.

I wouldn't want my daughter to lose her family home, that's a horrid thing and as long as I have my 3 cars, PC's, books etc then I can find somewhere else to live. I'd help pay to keep it as well on the condition it stays as a joint venture.

I see no need to be bitter or greedy, no matter why the relationship breaks up.
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In all fairness, do you not think that it depends on your financial position? You sound like you're pretty well off. If your house was your only asset, you'd probably think differently, and to receive what you see as a fair share in it.
 
Gets even more complex when the property is in negative equity too, because in the event of a sale you're splitting the debt rather than walking away with anything.
 
Lopéz said:
Gets even more complex when the property is in negative equity too, because in the event of a sale you're splitting the debt rather than walking away with anything.
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That sounds like a nightmare. If both paid equally then the debt could be divided equally. But if one paid more than the other, do they then have to take on more of the debt too? Or the other way around?
 
I think the easiest way to ensure you'll keep the house is to remain single. Don't marry, no girlfriend, preferably no one night stands.

A really thorough legal arrangement might work, or it might be discarded by the courts and you'll have to give the wife the house regardless.

This is not an area where gender equality has any great meaning.
 
When I buy a house I will register a LTD company, with all the shares belonging to me, then buy the house on the companies books.
 
JonJ678 said:
I think the easiest way to ensure you'll keep the house is to remain single. Don't marry, no girlfriend, preferably no one night stands.

A really thorough legal arrangement might work, or it might be discarded by the courts and you'll have to give the wife the house regardless.

This is not an area where gender equality has any great meaning.
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Or do what I did. Buy your house on your own, that way you can move the other half in and if anything goes wrong you can kick them out and the house is still yours.
 
86JR said:
When I buy a house I will register a LTD company, with all the shares belonging to me, then buy the house on the companies books.
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Not that I know anything about these matters... Wouldn't your wife also own half of the company and to make things worse you'll have to pay capital gains on the increased value?


Keep the kids, keep the house?
 
Trifid said:
Not that I know anything about these matters... Wouldn't your wife also own half of the company and to make things worse you'll have to pay capital gains on the increased value?


Keep the kids, keep the house?
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Not as far as I know. I would rent my own house off my own company, so at the worst she would be entitled to her rent back.

I would have to pay capital gains on the increased value yes, but I don't see a problem with that, and also any house improvements would negate that tax.
 
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