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pingumech · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Yorkshire

Hi

My partner & i split 7 years ago. i have no idea where he is, or even if he is still in uk.
I have since paid for the house (which we bought together) solely on my own plus a lot of DIY etc. ( he has not made any payments at all even though his name is on our joint mortgage)
At the time we split he said he would sign the house over to me but even after £700 worth of solicitors fees it all fell apart & he vanished.
The house is now worth roughly 3 times what we paid for it and whilst i don't want to sell it - i also don't want him to re-appear and force me to sell it.
The prospect of another £700 for solicitors fees for nothing is daunting to say the least.
Surely if i've made attempts to trace him over the years (i have, several) and he has not returned calls even when i've been told he was there - i've done everything i could
Is there a length of time after which i could claim the property in my name only as he has made no contact or will it always be half his?

Obviously because of this i cannot remortgage etc and couldn't sell if i wanted to!!

Totally fed up
Pingumech

thescruff · Moderator Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 4249 Location: Bath

Unfortunately Solicitors fees have gone up 10 times in the same period, and equally unfortunate I'm not one.

We always advise people to have a chat with the CAB, they are very good at most advise and will point you in the right direction, although I think you will need the services of a Solicitor eventually.

It would also be a good idea to have a chat with your morgage lender, they must come across a whole range of variations of your problem.

Good luck and let us know how it goes please.

shelleyb · Joined: 04 May 2006 Posts: 1

Hi, I'm not a lawyer and please don't attempt to rely on this without seeking proper legal advice (sorry) but I have been looking into a question regarding occupancy rights for a client regarding an insurance claim and there is a lot of case law you might be interested in.

The majority of information I've seen is in the reverse of your situation and deals with property purchased jointly but where ownership is made only in one name - you could simply reverse the decisions made in these cases which supported the unnamed party who was trying to prove an equitable interest.

Under resulting trust principles (see below), he should only be entitled to a share based on his contribution to the purchase price.

http://www.lawinabox.net/lbnewswire19n.html
Lloyds bank v Rosset (1990)
Midland Bank v Cooke
http://kevinboone.com/lawglos_AcquisitionOfBeneficialInterestsInLand.html
http://kevinboone.com/lawglos_ResultingTrust.html

Good luck!
Kind regards
Shelley