Thank you soooooooooooooo much for the advice. I am off to see a solicitor next week for "proper" legal advice. Not saying the advice here wasn't proper but you know what I mean.

I will let you know how I get on.

Thank you again.

You can get information here if it helps;
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/rel ... gether.htm

I hope everything works out amicably for you.

Hello there,

I have just read your post which is a frightfully common situation. I am a local solicitor practicing in Richmond. I would be more than happy to discuss this further with you if you want to to give me a call.

I am Jane at Mullenders solicitors http://www.mullenderlaw.com tel 020 3322 8771.

All the best

Hi there, a friend of mine is an expert in family law of all kinds, especially separation and has his own practice called Prism Mediation which specialises in mediation avoiding court and all the expenses associated with. I hope he can help you, or at least give you the advice you need. Best of luck.

http://www.prismmediation.com

Hi there

You have two sets of potential claims- one relating to the contributions to the property and the other relating to capital and income claims for the benefit of your children.

If you'd like to discuss further, give me a call. I am a family lawyer based locally in the Battersea area (next to Battetsea Arts Centre).

You can find details on our website-www.burgessmee.com. The number is 020 7801 6207.

Best wishes

Peter Burgess

I could be wrong but I believe that if you contribute to a mortgage then you have some interest in it financially but o have explicitly said you contributed as rent rather than as mortgage so I fear that you have no interest. Maybe that is different given there are children involved but y should definitely seek legal advice IMO.

What a horrible situation, adding financial insecurity to an already emotional time must be just awful.
I'm not a lawyer but my experience is that as you are not married he has no legal obligation to provide for you, only to help with the childrens upbringing. However it would be shameful of him to carry on living in what is now his childrens home all on his own whilst leaving you and them homeless. If I were you I would be talking to him, from the angle of the children's welfare, and see what his intentions may be.
Best of luck with it all.

Hi i m so sorry you going through a break up and the horrendous zone of not knowing for sure. I ve been through that before my current husband and it is an agony. But you must keep your straight and think about your options.

I agree with papinian, if your partner is a decent he will not let you let alone his children with nothing. So if you can open your worries yo him and both find a compromise, talk to him. Gently.

Look for a part time job, even if all the money you earn go straight into childcare. In this way you are showing him that you will not live off him.
Plus it will help you move on, take care if your sanity.

Not sure where you stand re house. Maybe through your children shares???? I m no expert. But since you have clearly gave up your job to raise your family snd he carried on working up the career/salary ladder, you should have ground for loss of earnings or sonething like that. The law will make sure that you are not worth off outside the relationship since you gave up your job for his children. But they wont let you profit from the relationship. So they wont let you be better off.

But this will cost you a lot of money as you will need to find a good lawyer should you need to go to court.

Good lyck. Sx

The house right now is in your partner's name. From what you say:
- all mortgage payments have been paid out of your partner's account;
- there have been no contributions from your account to your partner's account;
- there have been no improvements to the house paid for by you;
- there has been no settled arrangement (doesn't have to be in writing but would be evidenced by bank statements showing payments) between you and your partner whereby, for example, your partner pays the mortgage and you pay the bills; and
- when you initially moved into the property you paid money as rent.
In this case, I think it is unlikely that you have any interest in the property. If any of the points I have set out is not the case then you may have some claim, but the amount of your claim may not be very much. You should get specialist advice on this.

As you have children, then you may be able to apply on the children's behalf for a share of the property under the Children Act 1989, including the transfer the property from your partner to you as the parent who is caring for the child or children. The property will be held by you for the benefit of the children. This is uncertain and complicated and not necessarily desirable from your perspective and, as already noted by kiwimummy you should take legal advice from a solicitor who specialises in this (not just a general solicitor).

I will say two more things:

(1) What sort of man is your partner? Most decent men, on the breakdown of a relationship, would want to make sure that their ex-partner and their children are properly supported. Certainly, get some advice so you know where you stand, but if you can approach this openly and fairly then do so. I hope that he will recognise that you have given up your job to look after the children that you had together and that he should support you. In my experience, going in guns blazing re legal rights just puts people on the defensive.

(2) Let this post be a warning to those readers who are in relationships and have children without being married to their partners. Make sure that your position is protected. Too many people in this country drift into relationships without any clear marker and end up in the situation of the original poster. There are a lot of people who go on about how they don't believe in marriage, etc. but it's the best way to secure your position and you can do it down the registry office for a few hundred pounds without any fuss needed. No woman should give up her job to look after children unless she is married or has got equivalent protection by other (more hasslesome) means, e.g. house and bank accounts in joint names, etc.

The short answer is that I don't know, but I very strongly recommend that you extremely discretely find a local solicitor experienced in matrimonial law and have a chat for about an hour to get an indication of likely position on a break up. Have you kept records of all payments you've made (eg as "rent" coming out by direct debit to your partner). These could be your bank statements, for example. Also, were any capital improvements made to the property (eg an extension, new kitchen, renovation or other works) while you were in it, and did you contribute to them? Stuff like that.

I'm sorry to hear you might be breaking up, I really hope things improve. Even if they do though, you should get some advice as to your situation with the house. My mum was in a similar situation and when they decided to stay together, they signed a second contract recognising her interest in the house, so she's protected now in the event they break up later or he dies.

Hello
I am a regular poster but using a new username for this question.

I have been with my partner for 12 years. We have three children and both worked, although I gave up when we had our second child.

I think we may be in the process of breaking up. I'm not entirely sure, and those in this sort of situation will realise it's not entirely clear cut, but I think it's likely.

My problem is that the house is owned by my partner.

We both earned similar amounts but he'd bought the house with a previous gf. When they split up his parents helped him with mortgage but once I moved in I paid half as rent. Over the years we became closer and closer, had children and I never gave it a thought. However if we are going to split up I realise I now cannot afford to buy a house or flat!

Do you know where I stand on this? Can I ask for half of the house?