Splitting up with girlfriend in a joint owned mortgage...

Splitting up with girlfriend in a joint owned mortgage...

Author
Discussion

jamesu

Original Poster:

8 posts

114 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
Hi guys,

Been lurking here for a while, signed up a few weeks ago and unfortunately this is my first post...

Me and my girlfriend bought our first property and moved in around January this year. But it all seems to have gone pear shaped between us and now we're separating.

I'm just a bit confused on finances and how to play this out, because over the 10/11 months she's paid pennies in comparison to me.

The mortgage was for £99k with £5k being gifted from my Father (which i know i have to pay back) and £6k being gifted from my cousin who lived in the property before us. (The property was up for £110k and we had to put down 10%, £5k which came from my father and £6k that came from my cousin when she knocked it down to £104k)

Now, our mortgage per month is £460, with bills added on it comes to around £800 per month to live here.

We have a joint account, of which i pay around £1,200 into a month and she works in a pub so pays around £110-£150 into depending on the week she's had.

Some of the cash i take out of that account to pay for a credit card bill i have for shopping and other things we needed when settling in for the first few months.

Looking at the sheet i was given when i moved in with our mortgage payments over the years, we've so far paid off £1,200 of the £99k mortgage.

Everything inside the flat apart from the curtains her Mother bought were bought by me with no input from her side, the sofa, the TV, beds etc.

I'm just wondering how much i would have to pay to have her leave and be done with it, legally.

Would it be half of the £1,200 we've already paid off? Or because we both owe my Father £5k would it be half of that minus the £600 from the mortgage? If so i was thinking of just telling her that she can leave and call it quits.

I know i can afford to live her, albeit a little tight, but alone. Whereas her wage would struggle to cover the mortgage payment and council tax.

Any help is massively appreciated, if i've missed any details let me know.

Cheers.

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

145 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
If her name is on the property title (i.e. the deeds) and the mortgage is in joint names then chances are you'll need to get a solicitor involved to thrash it all out and ensure it's legal. For sure you can buy her out of her share but it needs to be done properly.


PurpleMoonlight

22,362 posts

157 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
What's the house value now?

Muzzer79

9,961 posts

187 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
PurpleMoonlight said:
What's the house value now?
This

If your £110k house is now worth £130k, she may very well ask for £10k plus whatever has been paid off the mortgage. You do own it jointly....

First off, speak to her - find out what she wants. She may want nothing and to just walk away - they're not all SWT.

She may however want 50 grand - a lot are SWT.

Either way, establish that and then work out what you are obliged to give her.

Dave350

359 posts

118 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
Have you not discussed it with her? What has she said she wants?

IanMorewood

4,309 posts

248 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
Half any equity in the property if she's at all savvy.

jamesu

Original Poster:

8 posts

114 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
PurpleMoonlight said:
What's the house value now?
Same, i'd assume. I know assuming is dangerous but it was on the market for just under a year at £110k and we've only been in it a month and haven't added anything to it.

She has said that she wants half of the £11k we've put down, but will that happen because both parts (£5k and £6k) were from my family as gifts to me. Not us?

She has also said she wants half of everything, which is really grinding my gears because she hasn't paid for any furniture at all.

If i'm honest, i pay the money for the bills into the joint account and then what she pays into it just pays for the shopping or going out.

PurpleMoonlight

22,362 posts

157 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
jamesu said:
She has said that she wants half of the £11k we've put down, but will that happen because both parts (£5k and £6k) were from my family as gifts to me. Not us?

She has also said she wants half of everything, which is really grinding my gears because she hasn't paid for any furniture at all.
Never under estimate the sense of entitlement engrained in all women.

IanMorewood

4,309 posts

248 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
Unless when you bought the house jointly you specified proportional ownership I would say you are on a sticky wicket. I also doubt you specified where and how the deposit was paid and that the £5k was a loan that needed to be repaid to your father. What I would suggest is you seek legal assistance and then after that have a grown up conversation with your soon to be exgirlfriend.

jamesu

Original Poster:

8 posts

114 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
IanMorewood said:
Unless when you bought the house jointly you specified proportional ownership I would say you are on a sticky wicket. I also doubt you specified where and how the deposit was paid and that the £5k was a loan that needed to be repaid to your father. What I would suggest is you seek legal assistance and then after that have a grown up conversation with your soon to be exgirlfriend.
Thats where i think it might get a bit confusing. The money from my Father had to be put down as a "Gift" because taking any form of loan for a mortgage deposit isn't allowed.

But either way, the gift was to me, paid into my bank account and back out of my bank account, so everything that shows the deposit shows no contribution from her or her family at all.

If i just have to pay her what she's paid in i'd be happy with that, because we have only paid off £1,200 of the mortgage so far anyway!

Thanks for the help, i appreciate it!

Pit Pony

8,557 posts

121 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
not sure I understand your cousins Gift? The way it looks to me is that they reduced the price of the house for a quick sale, so now the increase in equity is Likely to be larger than that.

She is entitled (in my humble opinion) to half of any increase in the equity, minus any deposit that you put in - which can only be the gift from your dad.

She is entitled to take anything from the house that she paid for, or which was a present from you.

The way forward is to advertise the house ,and get a few mates to make offers less than you paid. and then offer to take on the house and mortgage yourself.

Oakey

27,566 posts

216 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
I'm confused, you moved in in January but then say you've only been in the house a month?

Gareth79

7,667 posts

246 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
Pit Pony said:
not sure I understand your cousins Gift? The way it looks to me is that they reduced the price of the house for a quick sale, so now the increase in equity is Likely to be larger than that.
I read it that the OP wanted the house but didn't have any deposit. The house was sold at £110k, but the seller gave the OP £6k cash towards the deposit rather than dropping the selling price. Father put in £5k making £11k/10%.

I'd reckon that unless there was a specific written agreement then the girlfriend is legally entitled to half of the £11k.

williaa68

1,528 posts

166 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
Gareth79 said:
I'd reckon that unless there was a specific written agreement then the girlfriend is legally entitled to half of the £11k.
This. You own the property jointly (A) and the mortgage jointly (B). Absent a written agreement to the contrary she's entitled to half of A-B. You will absolutely need to get a lawyer involved so I'd be inclined to tell her £5k, you keep the furniture etc and you will cover the legal fees. If you end up in a legal battle you will quickly end up spending far more than that on legal fees.

Also, don't forget that your mortgage company will reassess the mortgage with just you as the borrower and the rules have tightened considerably since January. You should speak to them first as if they force you to sell, after estate agents fees etc there will be nothing left and she can go whistle.

smithyithy

7,245 posts

118 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
Gareth79 said:
I read it that the OP wanted the house but didn't have any deposit. The house was sold at £110k, but the seller gave the OP £6k cash towards the deposit rather than dropping the selling price. Father put in £5k making £11k/10%.

this is correct, to my knowledge (OP's friend here)

I'd reckon that unless there was a specific written agreement then the girlfriend is legally entitled to half of the £11k.

I would argue to the contrary - the £11k deposit was funded, after personal donations, by OP, not his girlfriend. I'm not sure how deposits work, whether it will state that it was paid by them 'as a couple towards a joint mortgage', [i]or[/] OP had effectively bought 10% of the house because of those personal contributions, and the only part of the house they have to split is the sum of the past ~10 months of payments?
What if for instance, OP had been given the same donations, got the same mortgage for the same value etc, then after a few months his partner had moved in and had her name put onto the deed, would she then own half the equity he had already paid, or would she only begin to own part of the house after she'd started making payments?

It's a complicated situation by the sounds of it, even if I'm completely unbiased about it, OP has physically 'paid' for 90% of the mortgage so far.

IanMorewood

4,309 posts

248 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
If she moved in at a later date you could argue that he bought the house and is therefore only entitled to a portion of what she contributed. But as it was a joint purchase from day one she is probably entitled to the value of the property less any outstanding property loan. So £6k, less any legals if none of the deposit was noted as proportional and all payments have come out of a joint account...

Queue lots of if it fly floats or f**** rent it by the hour quotes.

jamesu

Original Poster:

8 posts

114 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
Really thankful for all the advice i'm getting.

It is correct that:

"I read it that the OP wanted the house but didn't have any deposit. The house was sold at £110k, but the seller gave the OP £6k cash towards the deposit rather than dropping the selling price. Father put in £5k making £11k/10%"

On the legal paperwork though, it states that my cousin had gifted me, not us the money, same with my Father.

If her taking £6k is the case, then what would happen for instance if this happened:

A couple get together, a few months later they agree to move into a mortgaged property together, the female has no money at all but the male has £30k to put down.

6 months into the mortgage they split up, is she then legally entitled to £15k + whatever they've paid off the mortgage in the 6 months?


Froomee

1,423 posts

169 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
Find statements and receipts for anything that can verify what your saying and seek proper legal advice.

If the ex gf wants "half" ask her for half towards the bills...

jonah35

3,940 posts

157 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
She gets half the house regardless so if worth £110k and you owe £98k that's £6k.

But, how will you get her off the mortgage/deeds? The mortgage lender won't just let her walk away and transfer the mortgage into your name! Why would it?

She won't care about where the deposit came from, it's owned fifty fifty.


jonah35

3,940 posts

157 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
jamesu said:
Really thankful for all the advice i'm getting.

It is correct that:

"I read it that the OP wanted the house but didn't have any deposit. The house was sold at £110k, but the seller gave the OP £6k cash towards the deposit rather than dropping the selling price. Father put in £5k making £11k/10%"

On the legal paperwork though, it states that my cousin had gifted me, not us the money, same with my Father.

If her taking £6k is the case, then what would happen for instance if this happened:

A couple get together, a few months later they agree to move into a mortgaged property together, the female has no money at all but the male has £30k to put down.

6 months into the mortgage they split up, is she then legally entitled to £15k + whatever they've paid off the mortgage in the 6 months?
Yes, the house would be fifty fifty and when they buy it the bloke would have signed up to buying a jointly owned property.