co-habitating rights

[on2wheels]

I have lived with my girlfriend for nearly 3 years.We moved in together since day 1 when she bought this property.She owns the property,its in her name.I pay her �500 per month to help with mortgage plus �250 per month to help with bills every month.I have furnished this house nearly entirely from a payment i had been awarded.It equates to around 10k pounds,including money i gave her to pay her debts before we moved in together.
We are splitting up and she is moving to a smaller house so that she can release some capital to invest elsewhere.
Do i have any rights in claiming some money i " invested " in this property as its gone up around �70k since she bought it ?

[Catso]

I don't know for sure, but I would say 'yes'. You have been contributing to the purchase, running and maintenance of the property. But you'll have to be able to prove it and you'll only be entitled to a proportion of the total.

Bit late now, but if you were paying towards the mortgage, you should have got your name put on it.

You should seek proper legal advice. Try the CAB first, its free.

[ummmm]

Yes you do. It's not the same as being married as you can only claim what you have put in. If you have been paying �750 pm and you can proove it then you will get a cut. It depends how much the mortgage is etc. If you were paying 750 towards a house that cost 3000 to run then you wouldn't get much. If you can see what I'm saying. You can take all the furniture if you paid for it, unless you have children.

[WendyS]

I'm not sure I agree with the two previous responses unless you signed a cohabitation agreement and I suspect she could unfortunately claim that you were effectively paying her rent if the house and mortgage were in her sole name, especially as you would still be incurring these expenses if you were living elsewhere on your own. If you paid for the furniture then that does belong to you.

If she was an honourable person she would release some of the profit to you, but I'm afraid there doesn't seem to be much honour around in split-ups these days. All you can do is appeal to her sense of fair play.

Talk to a solicitor, but I suspect he may not have much good news for you. In future, never trust anybody in financial matters in a "live-in" arrangement. If your name isn't on the deeds you could end up penniless again.

[daftpixie]

This is going to be difficult because as your not married this wont come under the protection of various acts within family law.

Such cases like yours will come under Land Law, and it is a very strict process. You will need to prove all your financial contributions and improvements to the home, and you will only get back what you put in (however interest and any property price rises will be taken into account)

Get yourself a solictor, this is a technical and complex area of law and you need someone who knows what they are doing! Good luck, hope it works out for you x

[bevlybobs]

I have been told by a solicitor, that
There is no such thing as common law wife/husband.
If you was on the mortgage , even if you have not been making contributing payments, you can still claim the value gained. It doen't matter whether you was married or not.
Therefore because you was not on the mortgage it is unlikley you have any legal claim to the added value gained.
It would be a gesture of good will, from your ex to co-operate in getting this sorted out .Go see a solocitor, BUT!Be carefull how much time you spend with them, as they will spin out this out for there own financial ends.Just get the facts and then make your mind up, if it is worth pursuing or not.

[Didwot]

I assume from the wording of your quesion that the property was bought by your girlfriend in her sole name. The main question to ask is whether there was an agreement betwen you and her at the time of purchase that the property was to be shared in some way. If there was such an agreement then you may be entitled to such share as was agreed. If there was no such agreement then I would not hold out much hope for you having any claim