OllyK

Hi All

Currently live with the gf in my house. We are looking to move and the house is on the market. We are looking to go with a joint mortgage and no doubt both names on the deeds.

The question is to do with what would happen if we were to split up in the future (nothing like be pessemistic, I know), would we end up splitting the house 50:50 or is there some way to register the fact that I will be putting in over half the value of the new house. I know if we were married I would be screwed any which way, just wondering about the not married situation and if there are any ways to mitigate the situation?

ProperCharlie

you can get your solicitor to draw up a deed - i forget what it's called now - but it states that you have put in £x thousand pounds, and you will get this money back upon sale of the property. Any remaining profits will then be split equally.

i had one of these drawn up when i bought my first flat with my g/f. went down like a very heavy balloon, i can tell you!

however, can't have been that bad as we're getting married in 2 weeks. when we bought our second place together i didn't bother have the deed thing renewed as most of the capital came from the sale of the 1st place.

hth.

OllyK

OK - worth me looking in to that (She is pretty mellow about most things so hopefully shouldn't cause too much of a row). Could be interesting as the solicitor doing the work is her Uncle

ProperCharlie

she was fine with the principle of it, but she argued along the line of "what, you think i would try and take your money? you think that's the kind of person i am?"

i argued along the lines of "well you might feel a bit differently when you find out that i've been ******** your sister."

OllyK

She doesn't have a sister otherwise I may have already been there

little miss fire

I had this a couple of years ago. I paid the deposit on the house, but managed to prove that I paid it, and therefore it came off the profit of the house. I did buy him out though, cost be £22K! All I can suggest it get a solicitor to draw up something to say what you have put into the house, or keep records of who paid what!!!!

OllyK

Cheers - hope it won't come to that, but having seen all the "My wife / husband has left me and cleared me out" type threads, I thought a contingency plan may be a wise idea as I have had my house for over 10 years.

Spoon

The fuss by your g/f was unnecessary then in the end because ironically your security measures have lapsed and she's up for the lot now!!!

OllyK

Unless he has donated it all to the cats home in his will

ProperCharlie

yeah i know, but what can you do? now that we have a daughter i am more concerned that they would be ok financially in the event of any mishap. i haven't told her how much my life insurance is worth though.

don't want to end up under the patio quite yet!

Spoon

PC- Unfortunately it is a shít on a grand scale should things go the wrong way.
No amount of secrecy now either will be worth a jot if all has to be declared to the courts.

I agree with the daughter reason but I'm damn sure you'd be more than angry if you thought you were doing right by her, yet your wife prevented you from seeing her some how.

It's so sad that it appears all doom and gloom if and when that day comes but it is also fact.

ProperCharlie

Spoon - I'm well aware of how it can all go wrong, i lived through 2 divorces in childhood/teens.

That's one of the reasons I didn't rush into anything, and made sure that my partner was prepared to contribute equaly to get what we wanted. We have been together for nearly 8 years, and whislt i know that doesn't mean we will be together for ever, it is certainly an extensive road test of the relationship.

plus if it does go wrong, i know what the cheapest separation advisor looks like.

Spoon

I think anybody that has been in any kind of relationship is aware how things can go wrong.

However unless they've personally been married and on the opposite side to a gold digging partner, (who was a gem for 9 years), supported wholeheartedly by the law, then I don't think they have a clue just how staggering and unbalanced divorce law is.

I wish you and others who marry, the best of luck, I really do. Marriage for me was good, the powers for my wife when she chose to leave, weren't.

The fact that I provided everything really was the killer because I always standed to lose and she standed to gain.

The percentage gain was a "Ray Parlour" despite good barristers which only actually served to increase the cost considerably in the end.

If there's a next time i will make sure she has more to lose than I. Plus it will start as a 50/50 input in whatever route we take. Should see live in my place then she'll be giving me half to start with. She will then contribute half to everything.

That way, should we split, 50/50 is fair.

ProperCharlie

As my dad's ex wife destroyed the family business and then proceeded to launch a legal challenge to another business of which i was a director, i think i am reasonably well qualified to comment on the damage a gold digging partner can do.

Total costs to all parties were itro £1M. Our company's legal bill alone was over £100k. Although that particular action was unsuccessful, the martrimonial proceedings are still going on, 7 years later. Not that there's anything left to fight about.

Spoon

I'd say you were qualified too, just.

OllyK

Did some reading - "Trust Deed" would seem to be the thing that I want - found this site very handy if anybody else is in a similar situation