I was reading between the lines and somehow managed to think that the boyfriend had been added to the mortgage/deeds. If this is not the case, then probably Zeb is correct that he is owed nothing. BUT I seem to remember a recent court case, where someone was awarded a sum of money in the situation the boyfriend may have been. I think the case concerned a partner who had contributed towards the mortgage and the household even though they were not a joint owner. There was discussion afterwards about whether the case would set any precedent.

Whether or not the boyfriend was on the mortgage/deeds or not, I would suggest that you get legal advice.

I have to disagree with Hucksters normally great advice in this instance

What would your boyfriend do if you told him that after a valuation it turned out that you were in negative equity by £10,000 or £20,000 and that if you were to sell right now that you would each owe the bank £5,000 or £10,000? Would he cough up the money that he would owe or would he say he wasn't on the mortgage deeds and therefore he legally owes nothing on the mortgage.

Personally I think you need to ask yourself which of these answers he would give.

Legally, he has no rights and responsibilities on the mortgage and has never been entitled to pay a penny in return for living in the house. He has no responsibility for any bills that are not in his name and no responsibility for any debts that you have run up that are not in his name no matter whether they were directly for him or not!

And this is my exact point. From what you have said he has made little or no contribution to the house, the mortgage has been paid by you and so have the bills and you say that you have also kept him going constantly with financial aid. He has no legal right to the house at all, epsecially if you have given all this extra help and despite what some others contributors may suggest on this site the letter of the law stands and I have not heard of any other case where the property title owner has to pay compensation to anyone not named on the deeds unless there was overwhelming evidence that the non owner made a significant and majority deposit or mortgage contribution to the house. This does not seem to be the case here!

If he has a persistant argument I would ask him to evidence with documents and bank statements the direct payments and contributions he has made towards not just the house but also towards the running and maintanence of the house.

The mortgage lender will not chase your boyfriend if the mortgage is not being paid because he is not on the title deeds. He does not legally exist in their eyes.

I say be greedy and let him fight for what he wants, he is on the losing side all the way.

Unless of course you feel he should take something out of the house in which case I would follow Hucksters advice and speak to a mortgage adviser as you may not need to sell the house to pay him off.

Well, the way I would calculate any amount he may be entitled to, is work out what percentage he has contributed towards the mortgage and any spending on the house over the period. Then see what the rough equity is on the house, based on what you could sell it for. Be careful, as not many houses will be selling for the asking price. I would expect atleast a 5% discount on the selling price.Obviously you are not in a position to talk about offering him anything, as you won't know whether you can borrow the relevant additional amount to buy him out. Also get some legal advice, so you are aware of your exact rights and you may need help with the documentation to makes the changes.

Talk to your mortgage company about the situation and see what options they might have.

Then also speak to an Independent mortgage advisor to see what mortgages might be available elsewhere.

Hi there,

I have been with my boyfriend for 17 years. In 2001 we purchased a house together. I say together.... At the time we looked at getting a mortgage my boyfriend had several CCJ's and we were advised to take out the mortgage in my name only and so this has always been the case. In 2008 he decided to go self-employed which often meant there would be months went by without monetary contribution from him towards the mortgage etc. In 2010 he had an accident at work which was not his fault, has not worked since and again I have taken responsibility for all of the monies until such time as a claim can be settled. In a nutshell our relationship is at breaking point, he keeps telling me to give him his share from the profit of the house and he will be gone. So my question is how would I go about doing this, I don't want to put the house up for sale and as the mortgage is in my name alone can I just try and re-mortgage for the extra to pay him? Also how do we come to a decision about how much he is entitled to? He has borrowed extensively from me, am I entitled to remove this from his profit?

Many thanks