Seperation with kid

Hi all

I would love some advise on my situation.. Currently not married but cohabiting (apologies i know this is a divorce forum but any advice is helpful) we have a 1 year old and the relationship is breaking down.

The house is in my name alone and almost mortgage free. GF has paid nothing to deposit or mortgage payments, only half of the bills for a short time before she became pregnant and then nothing after.

I would just like to know where I stand with the house?

I have the money to fully pay off the mortgage in about 2 or so months when the fixed term ends but I dont know if that is a good idea or not as I'm worried ill just lose the house and then be left with no money.

Any help would be great, thank you.

If you are not married and the house is in your sole name then the house is yours and your ex has no claim upon it. That is not to say that she might not make some sort of claim by saying that she has paid for a new kitchen or something of that sort but the basic position is that it is your house. There is no question of her being automatically entitled to half or anything like that.

The problem you will face is getting her out of the house. If there is a one year old child a court will be very reluctant to make an order to evict her. But that is a very different matter from saying she is entitled to some share of the house because she isn't.

Choosing to get married or not to get married is basically the choice between whether a couple can invoke the jurisdiction of the divorce courts or not. An unmarried couple cannot.

Thank you for the reply, that has put me at ease a little.

There has been no major work done the house only small jobs which are all paid by myself anyway.

I dont think I would want to evict them its just I dont want to be kicked out either.

Well, you need to think about that. The fact is that although it is your house if your ex and child continue to live there you may find that you are unable to get your ex out until the child ceases to be dependent which is a long time away in this case. During that long period of time you may easily meet someone else but find it difficult to move on with your life while your ex continues to occupy your home. It is in your interest for her to leave and for you to make it as easy as possible for her to do so by, for example, offering to pay her rent for a period of time or whatever incentive is required. That is preferable to perhaps having to share the same roof for the next 17 years.

Also, you should bear in mind that this is the law as it stands now. There is continual talk of giving someone in your ex's position the same rights as a wife in the event of separation. If the law were to change in this way sometime in the next 17 years you could easily come to regret your decision.

Is there nothing I can do to protect myself? Ive heard of cohabitation agreements but I don't know if that would help.

Not happy with them changing the law I hope it doesn't happen.

My problem is I'm too soft and couldn't evict them as I love my kid and just want to make it work between us but if it keeps getting worse it might come to that.

If I am unable to evict them further down the line am I still able to remortgage and reduce the equity in the property to a minimum or is that out of my control? I'm guessing I wouldnt be able to sell it.

Also she has considered buying her own property as an investment at some point although she doesn't have much savings so it's unlikely but if she did would that also change anything? I could encourage it and provide some of the deposit.

Or potentially I could reduce the equity as low as possible and then have her pay 50 percent of the mortgage and just put her name on the deeds.

Sorry for all the questions I just struggle to find anything helpful online.

I have told you the risk you are running. You are an adult. It is up to you whether you want to run that risk or not. You are the one who will be living with the consequences of your choices.