How to define living with your husband

[QuickQuack]

My sister had asked an interesting question and I don't know the exact answer so I thought I'd ask the PH collective.

She's married and moved in with her husband when they got married. He had already bought his place and he is the sole owner on the deeds, even though they now pay the mortgage together. She's opening a new bank account and the options to choose for accommodation type are living with parents, living with partner, owner occupied, rented, and other. Living with partner doesn't seem quite as permanent as living together as a married couple so her question was whether she ticks other or whether she should tick living with partner. My initial thought was that ticking living with partner would include living with spouse but she's not hugely comfortable with that.

What are your thoughts?

[Zod]

There is no "living with spouse" box. Her husband is her partner, so she should tick that.

[RizzoTheRat]

Same situation and my wife always puts own house down. Surely even though the mortgage is in my name it became a shared asset when we married.?

[anonymous-user]

Owner occupied. Unless there is a prenup that specifically excludes the house.

[Squishey]

Surely it's "owner occupier". Regardless of who is named on the deeds, she is paying a percentage of the mortgage so therefore owns a percentage of the property.

[andy_s]

Partner, not all partners are husband and wife...

[TooMany2cvs]

Squishey said:

Regardless of who is named on the deeds, she is paying a percentage of the mortgage so therefore owns a percentage of the property.

Nope.

She might be putting some of the money towards the mortgage, but if she's not explicitly listed as an owner at the Land Registry, and she's not listed as a borrower by the mortgage company, she does not own any of the property. In the event of a divorce, part of the value of it might be included in any financial settlement, but that's a different thing.

I'd still put owner-occupier, though, on a form given those choices. Or living with partner. It doesn't make any real difference.

[Pica-Pica]

I think the issue here is that she is contributing to the mortgage but only his name is on the deeds. Get that sorted! So it is definitely not owner-occupied.

[TooMany2cvs]

Pica-Pica said:

So it is definitely not owner-occupied.

The owner is in occupation, is he not?

[Ekona]

I'd tick the partner option.

[QuickQuack]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's a bit confused! I'll say that she could tick either the owner-occupier or living with partner options and that it probably makes no difference.

Thanks all!

[hutchst]

If your sister is a female, and her husband is a male, I think you'll find there is no legislation covering the inclusion of such minorities in mainstream commercial agreements. Tell her if she wants any proper rights, she'll have to marry another woman.

[Gavia]

QuickQuack said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's a bit confused! I'll say that she could tick either the owner-occupier or living with partner options and that it probably makes no difference.

Thanks all!

Probably? What difference do you think it could make? Hint, the answer is none at all. It certainly won’t magically host her half the house in perpetuity, or be some special trump card should they get divorced down the line. It’s just a box on a form that probably has dozens of questions, most of which matter little.

[Decky_Q]

Our mortgage is in my partners name as that suited us best at the time. I have it in writing just in case that half of any equity belongs to me should things go tits up.

I was advised by my bank to put owner occupied on a car loan application.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Squishey said:

Surely it's "owner occupier". Regardless of who is named on the deeds, she is paying a percentage of the mortgage so therefore owns a percentage of the property.

That's good news. So anyone renting a property who is paying rent thus contributing to the owners buy to let mortgage, now has a share in the property. Who knew?

[bladebloke]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Squishey said:

Surely it's "owner occupier". Regardless of who is named on the deeds, she is paying a percentage of the mortgage so therefore owns a percentage of the property.

That's good news. So anyone renting a property who is paying rent thus contributing to the owners buy to let mortgage, now has a share in the property. Who knew?

Although Squishey's post does over simplify the matter, it probably is essentially correct, especially in the context of a husband and wife scenario. Perhaps not for the reason implied by the phrasing, but sharing mortgage payments one of the main ways in which a common intention constructive trust can be established. I.e. a common intention that ownership would be shared. And if there is one, it is correct that it doesn't matter whose name is on the deeds - that person holds it as trustees for both of the owners.

I think it's probably enough to justify ticking the owner occupier box, anyway.

Edited by bladebloke on Wednesday 4th October 07:05

Edited by bladebloke on Wednesday 4th October 07:07

[smarty156]

Interesting one this.
Our house and mortgage is in my wife's name. The equity from our previous (shared) house went into various named bank accounts as there was a large gap between selling and buying. As half of the deposit was essentially coming from a bank account in my name I had to sign a letter for the bank (mortgage company) to say the deposit was a gift and I wouldn't ask for it back. The monthly mortgage payment comes out of a joint bank account.
So, if I was asked to fill out the same form, what would I put? I guess living with partner as I'm essentially living in her house, legally. The fact that, should something happen to her the house would ultimately come to me (after the mortgage is settled) is irrelevant i assume?

[KevinCamaroSS]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

That's good news. So anyone renting a property who is paying rent thus contributing to the owners buy to let mortgage, now has a share in the property. Who knew?

Typical OTT rubbish from Twig. Since paying rent is one of the key differentiators for deciding who does NOT have any equity in a property, paying rent would actually do the opposite of Twig's proposal.

[JoBlack]

it doesn't matter if she is on the deeds - all property owned by either spouse is considered jointly in a divorce and divvied up according to need i.e judge awards everything to wife because 'vunerable'.

[Amateurish]

Owner occupied