Hi, please can I have some help/advice??
My ex partner left me 3 years ago. We have a son who is now 4 1/2 years old.
We bought a house together and when we split up my ex decided that she wanted to move out of the house. I gave her Β£3000 towards a new place and things to buy e.g. furniture as she didnt want any of the things we had bought together for the house.
So, i carried on living in the home we had together and still live here now.
As soon as our son was a few months old, my parents juggled their jobs so that they could provide the childcare for my ex to go back to work full time without added childcare costs. This continued after we split, up until recently where my ex has had another baby and has left work.
Anyway, this was our "maintenance" agreement I suppose.
So now, she wants weekly payments of maintenance. I have agreed to this and have started paying. However, she is now threatening to have the CSA backdate the payments (I dont think they can as she hasnt put a claim in?)
Basically she has sent a txt saying she wants to get everything she can out of me. Even though she hasnt lived here, is there any way that any of the mortgage is her responsibility? I dont want to go down that route at all....but I know how far she is willing to go and need to check my options.
Sorry for the lengthly post but any information would be gratefully received!!
Thanks
Hi Lee
Is the house and mortgage in joint names? Is it still in joint names?
How long did you own the property before separation?
Was there any equity (money) in the property when she left? Is there any now?
Did she sign a receipt for the Β£3k? Or do you have evidence that you gave her the Β£3k?
While I am not into finances of family know, I do know that if the property is owned jointly, and there is equity in the property, she could ask to be bought out or you give her cash.
You say ex partner, so I am assuming you were not married. Usually the Courts will look at a straight split down the middle for cohabiting partners, as long as there is not a document in place confirming the shares you hold in the property)
Thanks for your reply! No we were not married.
The house and mortgage was and still is in joint names (although I am in process of trying to have her name taken off)
We owned the property for around 2 years before separation. However, she has never paid into the mortgage.
I could only provide a bank statement showing that I withdrew the 3k around the time of seperation- no receipt or anything (didnt think i'd end up in this position to be honest!)
Hi there π
CSA payments are only active once the claim is made, they cant be backdated. If she had put a claim in you would have received a notification of the CSAs intent to take payments from you and a request for information about your income.
If the property is in joint names then theoretically you are both liable to keep up the repayments but how would you enforce that! If the property is jointly owned then she is entitled to a share of the equity. I don't know much about the financial side of things apart from the basics but I'm pretty sure someone with more knowledge will be along to advise you. π
If you want to know how much you should be paying you can google the CSA calculator, input your details and you will be given a guideline amount. There is also a sticky at the top of the Child Maintenance section called "How does the CSA calculate payments" which links to a CSA leaflet that you may find useful.
And was there any equity in the property when she left, if you sold the property at the time she left, would you and she have made a profit on it and if so, approximately how much? You can PM the info if you want to.
So if i get her name off and then sell- will she still be entitled to any equity? As i said, this is all ongoing at the moment, but she hasn't actually signed anything yet!
There was no equity when she left but there is now.
...I cant say definitively but she could try as you have a child together she may well be entitled to a share of your assets, regardless of the fact that there wasn't any equity at the point when she left. I'm just thinking out loud and don't know this as fact..
I got my ex partner off my mortgage but I had to track him down and get a solicitor to draft a transfer of equity which we both had to sign. This was then sent to the land registry.
If she has said she wants to get as much out of you as she can then I cant see her signing the property over to you, unless you're going to buy her out.
If you were able to remove her name off the property and the mortgage, then you should be okay. However if you are not able to remove her name, i.e. you don't earn enough, the mortgage is in arrears, the mortgage company wont allow her name to be removed.
That is why I asked you all those questions, however if she did make a claim now, the fact you gave her Β£3k will be taken into account as will the fact that there was no equity when she left, but yes, she is entitled to make a claim.
EnyaM...I don't understand? ...In the first paragraph you said if he can get her off the mortgage and property them he should be ok. Then in the second paragraph you say yes, she is entitled to make a claim.
Thank you all for your advice it is greatly appreciated.
As soon as she left we tried to get her name off the mortgage but we couldn't as I was only a temp in my job. At this time she wanted her name off more than me as she wanted to get a mortgage with her new partner and couldn't do so until she was off the existing mortgage with me (this is what she told me anyway) Now I have been made permanent all the paperwork with solicitors etc has been sorted, we are just waiting for her to sign now so basically it depends on whether she will put her mortgage plans with new partner on hold in order to get what she can out of me first?
And I definitely think she will try and get a share when I do sell the house, I just really hope she doesn't get very far with it! Money isn't an issue as far as providing for my son is concerned but its getting to the stage that she is taking so much I cant afford to provide for him when he is with me....which is mon-wed between 3 and 6 and then every Friday at 3 until Sunday at 11! Its a lot of time to keep him occupied every single weekend while I'm struggling with money a little!
Anyway, thanks so much for all your replies, I guess mine is a waiting game :zzz:
If he cant get her name removed, she will be entitled to make a claim.
Is the CSA taking into account the two overnight stays per week? You're entitled to a reduction of two sevenths on the weekly amount.
The only positive is the amount of contact you are getting with your son! π having him every weekend doesn't give you much leisure time for yourself though...you must be a very dedicated Dad!