S
StressedinFL
Guest
What is the name of your state? Florida
Hello folks, I posted this in the marital law forum as well, but after doing a search for 'partition' I found there are folks here that are in the know as well, so I apologize for the duplicate post.
I need some advice.
3 years ago, my girlfriend (and her 2 children) and I, with the plans of getting married, purchased a house. Or I should say, I purchased a house. The mortgage is entirely in my name, and I've made every single payment from my bank account. Her name is on the deed, however, because at the last minute, the homeowners insurance company said her name would need to be on the deed for her stuff to be insured because we weren't married yet.
Anyhow, as I was saying, the mortgage is entirely in my name. I put $18,000 down (including closing costs), $4000 of which was 'gifted' to me from her. (I have a gift letter in which she states that I'm her fiance and she expects no re-payment ever, etc, etc).
So then, what are my options? She feels that simply because her name is on the deed, that she gets 50%, end of story. I've spoken to several attorneys quickly and they all tell me that I'll receive credit for all the mortgage payments and any repairs (I put a $6000 floor in the house when we moved in!) that I paid for. I've also had some tell me that since her contribution to the down payment was not 50%, that she's not entitled to 50%.
She argues that she paid the electric bill, the water bill, etc. Which yes, she did. She bought groceries too. But, as I mentioned before, she has 2 children from her previous marriage. It would seem that I'm only 25% responsible for the electric bill, as 75% of the people in the house are her responsibility. She was also unemployed for 7 months of which i paid EVERYTHING including her bills, car payments, etc.
So then, I guess I want to know what the real deal is? Does anyone have any advice on this? She's signed a lease on a new place and is supposedly moving out on june 25. Do her rights diminish at all if she moves out?
What do I do???? (I know, contact an attorney, but I'm in South Florida, and all the attorneys are greedy and will go after a case even they wont win. I want to know what my chances are, honestly) I'm trying to offer her half the equity, minus half the mortgage payments/downpayment, and she thinks that's completely unfair and says "take me to court, I'd rather eat up all the equity in attorney's fees and have a judge give me nothing".
Hello folks, I posted this in the marital law forum as well, but after doing a search for 'partition' I found there are folks here that are in the know as well, so I apologize for the duplicate post.
I need some advice.
3 years ago, my girlfriend (and her 2 children) and I, with the plans of getting married, purchased a house. Or I should say, I purchased a house. The mortgage is entirely in my name, and I've made every single payment from my bank account. Her name is on the deed, however, because at the last minute, the homeowners insurance company said her name would need to be on the deed for her stuff to be insured because we weren't married yet.
Anyhow, as I was saying, the mortgage is entirely in my name. I put $18,000 down (including closing costs), $4000 of which was 'gifted' to me from her. (I have a gift letter in which she states that I'm her fiance and she expects no re-payment ever, etc, etc).
So then, what are my options? She feels that simply because her name is on the deed, that she gets 50%, end of story. I've spoken to several attorneys quickly and they all tell me that I'll receive credit for all the mortgage payments and any repairs (I put a $6000 floor in the house when we moved in!) that I paid for. I've also had some tell me that since her contribution to the down payment was not 50%, that she's not entitled to 50%.
She argues that she paid the electric bill, the water bill, etc. Which yes, she did. She bought groceries too. But, as I mentioned before, she has 2 children from her previous marriage. It would seem that I'm only 25% responsible for the electric bill, as 75% of the people in the house are her responsibility. She was also unemployed for 7 months of which i paid EVERYTHING including her bills, car payments, etc.
So then, I guess I want to know what the real deal is? Does anyone have any advice on this? She's signed a lease on a new place and is supposedly moving out on june 25. Do her rights diminish at all if she moves out?
What do I do???? (I know, contact an attorney, but I'm in South Florida, and all the attorneys are greedy and will go after a case even they wont win. I want to know what my chances are, honestly) I'm trying to offer her half the equity, minus half the mortgage payments/downpayment, and she thinks that's completely unfair and says "take me to court, I'd rather eat up all the equity in attorney's fees and have a judge give me nothing".