Q: My girlfriend (of the last decade) and I have split up – we’d been living together for eight years and whilst the mortgage was in my name she paid half the monthly mortgage. In this time my flat has gone up about £100,000 in value and she has made noises about wanting some type of financial settlement. She says she has wasted her money on my mortgage when she could have been paying her own. I don’t know what I am obliged to do legally (or morally!) Please advise.

A: Whatever way you look at it law and morality are bedfellows – no matter how uncomfortable this may be. Even though she doesn’t have a right enshrined in statute, if she decided to, she can go down a costly and detrimental route (for both of you) in order to recoup her financial investment.

As you are the sole owner of the property she is unlikely to have any rights to stay if you ask her to leave. However it is likely that a court will find that she has a financial interest in the property. She could even stop you from selling your home.

But by being sensible, you can both avoid this. Make it clear to her you’re going to be fair and sort this out, but let the dust settle first.

To avoid the acrimony and expense of lawyers you both need to sit down and work out the value of her contribution vis a vis the current value of the property. Then you would be able to establish what percentage of the property she effectively ‘owns’ and pay her this amount in order to settle any potential claim. Or you could agree that upon the sale of the property you will pay her a sum that reflects her contribution. Both of these options would need a simple legal ‘letter agreement’ in order to reflect the full and final settlement of her claim and prevent any future claims.
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