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Ashby de la Zouch

01530 639 031

Tamworth

01827 758 041

I bought a house with my partner, but now we’ve split up: what should I do about the property?

We can help with the practicalities that arise when a relationship ends, including dealing with the property that you lived in as a couple.

 

Where the couple isn’t married, options for dealing with the property include:

  • selling the property on the open market
  • one of you buying the other out (a transfer of equity)
  • keeping the property in joint names, agreeing who will pay what, and who will get what when it is sold

 

These sound straightforward enough, but problems can arise if you can’t agree on how the sale proceeds should be divided, or on how much one of you should get for selling your interest to the other. Issues can arise if you carry on with co-ownership, without agreeing what will happen further down the line.

 

It is sensible to get independent legal advice at an early stage, so that you have clarity on your options and rights, to help inform any discussions.

 

Our first step will be to look at who the legal owners are are on the deeds. The chances are, the title to the property will be registered at HM Land Registry, in which case findingout who are the registered proprietors is simple.

 

If there is more than one registered proprietor, you’ll need to know whether you are ‘tenants in common’ or ‘joint tenants’; again this is easy to ascertain if the title is registered.

 

If you are joint tenants, the presumption is that each party has an equal share. If you’re tenants in common, it’s possible that you signed a document, sometimes called a ‘Declaration of Trust’, specifying the extent of the interest each person has; if there’s no declaration, the presumption will be an equal split. 

 

Another common scenario is where one party simply doesn’t cooperate with a sale/transfer of equity. This might be because the amount they will
receive is insufficient to allow them to purchase another property.

 

Where the parties cannot agree whether to sell a property, or how to split the proceeds upon a sale, the party wanting to sell (realise) their interest can ask the court to order a sale, and determine the split.

 

For help in navigating this complex area, contact our experienced family and dispute resolution solicitors.

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