It almost boggles the mind how naive some people are.
Poll: Moving a partner into an owned-home? Finances
- Thread starter ov_sjo
- Start date
It almost boggles the mind how naive some people are.
I'm sure there was a thread on here with someone asking if he should put his GF's name on the mortgage, they'd only been dating a few weeks, some people just don't have a clue.
There are practical realists, and there are romantic dreamers. The smart ones are a mixture of both with an emphasis on the practical realism.
Soldato
- Joined
- 31 May 2009
- Posts
- 21,257
Yup.
If you have her pay the bills or mortgage then it should give her some entitlement later when you break up.
If keeping it all for yourself, pay for it all your self.
Indeed. Although it's a slightly different situation my mum bought a house with the proceeds of her divorce from my father. She later allowed a new partner to move in. When he died about ten years later his sons came to my mum asking how much was theirs and when she was going to sell the house to give them 'their' share.
Luckily she had taken advice and hadn't allowed him to pay towards the mortgage. She had insisted on taking a peppercorn rent and having a signed rent book. So they had absolutely no claim on her property. Her partner had been unemployed and on disability benefit for most of that time and she was the major wage earner between them (getting up at 5am each day to travel to London for her job). Yet if she hadn't had the rent book then there may have been a potential for the sons to try to claim part of the property that only she had contributed to.
Ha, yes! But on the basis of what the OP has said there aren't any facts to suggest any equitable ownership (which I trust I don't have to bore you on) -once you start bringing marriage, contributing to the mortgage for 10 years with the promise of a share, or 'giving up your job to look after the kids in the house full time' into the equation then balances and burdens will start to shift... as they would in any other situation where it could be claimed that an equitable share is owed... just a girlfriend moving in though... most people are going to make or break it well (I.e. get married or break up) well before any of these arguments arise. If I was getting married, it's something I would think about (obviously). Edit - with that final sentence, I should re-emphasise how unnecessary seeing a lawyer would be in OPs situation unless there were material facts, yet announced, that would imply it's a good idea.
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Except for reassurance, considering the amount of misleading information about this there is on the internet (lies, hyperbole and half stories) he could become paranoid and that isn't good for him or his relationship.
Well I can't argue with that... if it's bugging him that much then by all means discuss options... although they will probably steer clear of advising on the degree of risk for self-preservation reasons (sad but true).
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Associate
I'd say it depends on how long everyones been going out.
If it's a partner of, lets say, a month, I wouldn't even entertain the idea.
If you've been going out a couple of years, let them live with you a couple of months freeloading to see if you get on and then decide from there what to do.
Me and my girlfriend have a joint account where all wages go into and all bills get paid from whereas on the other side, I know people happily married that keep everything separate and even go as far as keeping track of individual drinks in the pub to reclaim later on.
If it's a partner of, lets say, a month, I wouldn't even entertain the idea.
If you've been going out a couple of years, let them live with you a couple of months freeloading to see if you get on and then decide from there what to do.
Me and my girlfriend have a joint account where all wages go into and all bills get paid from whereas on the other side, I know people happily married that keep everything separate and even go as far as keeping track of individual drinks in the pub to reclaim later on.
Any payments for rent or anything else which contribute to the property or relationship, are taken into consideration by a court when said relationship ends.Can you provide a citation for this, even one example, ever?
I've seen a few fingers burnt by scenario's similar to this. Initially I'd go for a modified option B.
Person A owns house and continues to pay the mortgage.
Person B pays her half of the bills, person A pays his half.
This way you are both equally contributing to the upkeep of person A's property, while person A continues to pay for and keep 100% equity of the property.
If after a time you feel like everything is going great and she is the 'one' etc, then by all means go for option A, but only after legal advice with a view to a contract/agreement on what happens after separation.
Soldato
D - Personally I'd bring them in as a 'tenant' and 'charge them' for rent/utilities. In writing obviously but what you'd be actually doing is splitting the bills and mortgage but the house would still remain yours.
Makes things so much easier if you break up although it may cause issues with income and tax but I've not checked that area in detail.
If you do decide to stay together 'forever' you can then look into joint ownership of goods etc, you may fall out living together so best to be on the safe side is my view
Makes things so much easier if you break up although it may cause issues with income and tax but I've not checked that area in detail.
If you do decide to stay together 'forever' you can then look into joint ownership of goods etc, you may fall out living together so best to be on the safe side is my view
Options seem a bit simplistic to me, for example option B is currently most popular and might be workable / 'fair' but it depends a bit on how much the bills are relative the effective 'value' of the property usage. So for example the bills might only be say £600/month but it could be a luxury pad that the equivalent would cost thousands to rent half of in which case the partner is getting a good deal. On the flipside it could be a shoebox in a cheap/bad area where they might feel annoyed at covering all the bills.
I'd just go with some sort of rental agreement (e.g. the partner pays £400 month to live there) but obviously check into the legality to make sure they don't have any claim on the property.
I'd just go with some sort of rental agreement (e.g. the partner pays £400 month to live there) but obviously check into the legality to make sure they don't have any claim on the property.
So re-visiting this one a bit... how is this for an option?
Partner moves in, makes no contributions for a period of time to see how it works out
Release equity from house into my pocket
+
Re-mortgage 50/50 joint owners at market rate
Now I appreciate that will effectively mean borrowing £80k (current equity) over 25 years, but some of the money will be used to plough back into the house and pay off some personal debts.
If I was 5, 10 years into the mortgage then this would be a horrible option, but as i'm only 2 years in.... doesn't seem so bad?
Thoughts..
(Ultimately I would change the mortgage product on this house to let-to-buy so I could buy a bigger house with the current missus but the lender would want all the equity to secure the loan and frankly I don't have enough spare cash to put down on a new place ~25k even using help2buy)
Partner moves in, makes no contributions for a period of time to see how it works out
Release equity from house into my pocket
+
Re-mortgage 50/50 joint owners at market rate
Now I appreciate that will effectively mean borrowing £80k (current equity) over 25 years, but some of the money will be used to plough back into the house and pay off some personal debts.
If I was 5, 10 years into the mortgage then this would be a horrible option, but as i'm only 2 years in.... doesn't seem so bad?
Thoughts..
(Ultimately I would change the mortgage product on this house to let-to-buy so I could buy a bigger house with the current missus but the lender would want all the equity to secure the loan and frankly I don't have enough spare cash to put down on a new place ~25k even using help2buy)
Soldato
Buy a property together, both share deposit + mortgage payments on a joint mortgage.
When you get married she'll be entitled to your assets anyway.
When you get married she'll be entitled to your assets anyway.
Protect yourself and your home first and foremost and get it down on paper.
If she doesn't agree then bin her anyway. We all need somewhere to live and if she can save a little living with you then thats good enough.
After X period of time she gets half anyway UNLESS its on paper even if your not married.
If she doesn't agree then bin her anyway. We all need somewhere to live and if she can save a little living with you then thats good enough.
After X period of time she gets half anyway UNLESS its on paper even if your not married.
Soldato
What a bad attitude you have.
Potentially lose the love of his life? over what? 2 years of equity? he doesnt own the house yet, the bank does.
Come back when the puberty has finished you might have changed your tune.
Soldato
What about the equity used to buy the house?
Don
Soldato
I've not read the thread because these kind of things always always attract very strong opinions.
Speak to the partner, get a legal document written up stating that should the worst ever happen, the equity put in before they moved in belongs to the original owner and that going forwards bills and ownership is split. Agree on how this should be dealt with in the case it is needed.
Do you get only the original amount back exactly or would it be worked out as a % of the total worth of the property taking into account for increases in value.
It doesn't mean you are preparing to fail, it just means you're taking sensible steps of protection and not just for you, but for them as well.
Speak to the partner, get a legal document written up stating that should the worst ever happen, the equity put in before they moved in belongs to the original owner and that going forwards bills and ownership is split. Agree on how this should be dealt with in the case it is needed.
Do you get only the original amount back exactly or would it be worked out as a % of the total worth of the property taking into account for increases in value.
It doesn't mean you are preparing to fail, it just means you're taking sensible steps of protection and not just for you, but for them as well.