Sorry, new to Reddit but I’ll explain as best as I can. My (25) exboyfriend (27) and I recently broke up but we bought my mom’s house together almost 2 years ago. She sold it to us for a little over $200k and it is currently retailing for $480k. She wanted to gift me the equity in the house so she gave us a huge deal. Well my ex says he’ll take his name off the house for 70k, and I can switch the loan and get everything put in my name. He’s also threatening to lawyer up and go after half the equity in the house at its retailing price now. Is there any way I would win in court by proving the equity in the house my mom gave to me is mine, and not meant to be his if we split up, or because his name is on the loan with me could he potentially win in court and I should just settle for the 70k he’s offering to take originally?
Secondly, we have a puppy together. He bought the dog from the breeder but then I paid him back half along with some other bills in a bank transfer. Our puppy is in my name at the vet and we split all of our dog expenses down the middle. If he gets vindictive and threatens to take full custody and again lawyer up would he win the battle because he has proof that he bought him or would I be able to fight it because I’ve helped pay for him and his vet bills? Sorry I know this is a lot and oddly specific but I’m a young broke girl who fell in love with the wrong person and he is scaring me by showing his true colors and threatening legal action if I basically don’t bow down to his commands. I’m about to be paying thousands in mortgage and house bills now that he’s moving out and want to avoid big lawyer fees if I can. Any advice is so greatly appreciated.
Location: Ohio
Comments
Unfortunately, yes. He has 50% ownership.
The equity in the house isn’t yours. Your mom sold it to him and you 5050. If he owns half the house, he’s entitled to half the sales price, including the equity. You can try and put up an equitable / unjust enrichment argument but I don’t see that going very far.
You need to take that deal for 70k, because he is entitled to half the sale price. Dogs are considered property when it comes to the law. Technically he bought the dog so he owns the dog.