Sharing a Home What Are Your Rights?

Many people share and contribute to the upkeep of homes that are owned by someone else, without stopping to think about their ownership rights. The problem of who owns what, when no legal agreement has been entered into, has led to many cases before the courts when couples break up or when one partner dies.

The law in these circumstances is complicated and difficult to apply. Where there is no formal agreement and where the person sharing with the homeowner makes no direct contribution towards the purchase price of the property, the courts decide matters on a case-by-case basis. They attempt to identify the "common intention" of the parties involved and quantify the share.

This is clearly unsatisfactory, so the Law Commission set about developing a scheme for determining when a person who is not the owner of a house would obtain an interest in it and to devise a method for calculating the value of their share. The Commission considered various situations in which people might live together, not just couples in a relationship.

After several years the Commission had to admit defeat. They concluded it was not possible to devise a statutory scheme that would operate fairly in all the circumstances they considered. However, they did recommend that the courts take a broader view of the sort of contributions that infer a common interest, including where one person covers all the household expenses, thereby enabling the homeowner to pay the mortgage.

Many people think that having their name on the deeds means they automatically own a share in the house. This is not so, as is illustrated by the case of Goodman vs. Carlton . Mr Goodman wanted to buy a house but couldn't get a mortgage. In order to secure the necessary finance, he purchased a house jointly with his long-term girlfriend, Ms Carlton. The couple did not live together however. The house was in joint names but no express declaration of trust was made. Mr Goodman paid the deposit and all the mortgage payments.

When Mr Goodman died, without making a will, Ms Carlton claimed an interest in the property. The court decided that even though her name was on the title deeds, in the absence of any specific evidence of an intent to create a trust for her, Ms Carlton had no right to a share in the house.

Whilst the circumstances are somewhat unusual, getting another name on the mortgage application is by no means unheard of. The case does show that it is always important to get your intentions properly evidenced, in order to prevent disputes arising later. It also demonstrates the problems that can arise when someone dies without making a will.