My boyfriend and I bought a house together 2 years ago this…

Hello,

Your personal relationship doesn't affect your rights and entitlements. You are both entitled to a share in the net equity in the property based on your respective contributions.

The Courts will look at hard evidence of direct financial contribution towards the house, such as the downpayment, and direct monthly payments.

The Courts will also look at contributions in kind, such as labour to improve the value of the house, such as redoing the floors, finishing a patio. The Court may make a distinction between labour supplied to simply keep the place clean or safe, from making improvements that preserve or add value.

And the Courts will look at financial contributions made indirectly, such as one party paying the mortgage while the other party paid all the utilities and groceries.

The Court has a lot of discretion here to sort out who paid what and how much. It helps your case, if you can clearly lay it all for the Court chronologically. It is sometimes hard to know what a Court will take into consideration. I usually present all the financial info to the Court in a logical fashion, sometimes using two theories of recovery.

So if your hard financial evidence shows that you paid into the total relationship about as much as he did, there is a good chance that the court will apportion the share on that percentage basis.

The Courts may also take into consideration the relative incomes of the two parties and factor that in as well, although I have never heard a Judge refer to it in rendering a judgment.

But the short answer is: You are entitled to a share in the net house value according to your relative contributions as evaluated by the judge.

I hope that my answer has helped you. Please click “accept”. Thank you for using JustAnswer.
CanLawyer.