Risk of girlfriend 'taking half' some day?

[M3CS]

Hi guys,

Hopefully this is an easy question for the legal Gods on here, answered with "of course not you fool!".

I'm about to exchange and complete on my first property. My girlfriend of 1.5 years and I have spoken a few times about her moving in after a month or two (I'm 'all for it' by the way).

Assuming the lender will be fine with her moving in when the time comes (I might have to seek their permission, if memory serves), I just wanted to pose this question to you guys:
If my girlfriend moves in, then later on we have a messy break up and she decides to be vindictive (as I had with an ex), could she make any kind of 'claim' on the property?
Assume she'd be contributing to the bills of the household (maybe 25%) but NOT the mortgage, that my salary is and will always be significantly higher than hers, and that right now she has zero savings (versus my 100k deposit). No kids involved.

If there is a risk, what would you advise I do to protect myself? Some form of a prenup.?

Thanks!

[M3CS]

Red 4 said:

At the moment it is but time marches on.

Before you know it she'll be lawyer'd up and pointing to the stated cases.

As per the Daily Lie article... "Appeal judges awarded Miss Blackburn a payout under the property law principle of promissory estoppel, which covers promises to someone that they can use a property."

No such promise has or will be made in my case.

[M3CS]

Tannedbaldhead said:

Also bare in mind Scottish and English law differs. If you're in England any advice I have to offer is useless.

I'm in England my bonny friend.

[M3CS]

NathanJones said:

Have a rental contract drawn up to cover you on all aspects, seems fair to me, if she is wanting to move in then she should have no objections.

The reason I'm asking you guys (which I should have said up front - apologies) is I mooted the idea of us having "something written down". It didn't go down well.

Hence, I thought I'd see if it is really necessary (to address a genuine risk of future litigation), before insisting upon this with her (and having the inevitable argument).

[M3CS]

Centurion07 said:

You asked yourself why....?

It's very easy to say that. Consider this.... I've had to save up for this house for over a decade, so I'm naturally going to consider any risks which might mean losing substantial proportions of what little wealth I've worked so very hard to build up (for 8 years more than I've known my girlfriend!).

The fact is that many relationships fail, especially when people begin to live together. It's probably when you learn the most about them.
I obviously realised what I said to my girlfriend would lead to her having questions in her head, but I needed to ask. She could have been fine with it, believe it or not...she's a very reasonable person and listens to others' point of view. If that had happened, I'd not be here talking to PistonHeads about something other than fast cars and Welshbeef's latest 'purchase'!

When you take out insurance on a car, you're not declaring "I think I will crash" nor does having insurance mean you're fated to crash. To think something like a cohabitation agreement is a declaration that you think you've got no future together is a bit juvenile, in my humble opinion. If that's what she thinks, I want to talk about it like adults rather than just shying away from it and thinking "it will all work out fine". Before I do that, I'm here asking you guys if it's even necessary to pursue talking about it with her, from a future litigation risk standpoint - leaving aside how you'd personally handle it with your significant other.

So, thanks to those who actually gave their opinion in response to the core question, instead of critiquing my relationship skills.