wife moved out and wants me to pay her extra rent

Hi - My wife moved out of our flat in august and moved into her friend's house. She said I made it impossible for her to live with me because i didn't talk enough about important issues. The flat is shared ownership, we own 50% of it (no mortgage) and pay rent on the other 50%.

When the rent became due she said that she couldn't afford to pay for both our flat and her friend's house and asked me to contribute. She said she was paying £50 per week to her friend, and our rent is £400 per month each. She asked me to pay her £250 per month. Initially I agreed as I felt I didn't have much option and me paying some extra was ok in the short term to put some breathing space between us.
She says that the £250 is to contribute to her rent for our flat as she is not currently living there. She currently does not have a job but plans to have one in January. I have just told her that i dont want to pay this amount anymore as i don't think it is fair. I said i was willing to meet her halfway and pay £100 per month. She went ballistic.

We don't have any children. Do I have any more rights over her with regard to the flat which we both jointly pay rent for as she has moved out and is only paying a contribution?

Both our names are currently on the deeds. Are there any obvious legal issues with the current situation that I should be aware of?

thanks for any advice, i hope i'm making sense, i'm a bit of a mess at the moment

Just pay the rent/mortgage on the flat you both own and you live in and stop paying her this additional money. She decided to move out, you didn't force her to leave and legally she is free to move back in if she cannot find anywhere else to live.

The other issue is and this is longer-term but if you keep paying her money as well as paying the rent/mortgage on your own place then the court, if it ends up like that, will assume you can afford to keep doing this and potentially put in place a spousal maintenance order to that effect.

obviously if there is children involved then there is an obligation to the mother but as you are not you don't owe her anything , do you have any joint debts attached to the property? .

You post is confusing. Are you giving money to your wife or is it that the rent is £800 per month and you consider that you are each liable for £400?

You post reads as if you may be paying £250 towards your "wife's half" and so in effect she is paying £150 towards a house she isn't living in and you have full use of. You're not happy with this and now you want her to pay £300 and you'll only pay £100 towards "her half". Is this the case?

If so then you need to remember that you aren't each responsible for half of the rent you are both responsible for all of it.

Usual rule of thumb is whoever stays and has sole use pays the full costs. The landlord can pursue either, or both, of you for full payment but will usually concentrate their efforts where they are most likely to get a result. If your wife isn't working it is you they will pursue for all of the money.

If my interpretation of your post is incorrect post more details as the other contributors replying seem to have interpreted it as you are paying the full rent plus giving your wife money towards her own rent and living expenses.

hi, thanks for this.

I guess it could be seen as both ways. I am currently paying an extra £250 into our joint account which is covering £250 of the £400 she should be paying for her share of the rent, she is paying £150. It could also be seen as i am paying that £250 to help her out with the extra costs she has decided to incur by moving out and paying extra rent to her friend.
I can afford to pay it, I have a regular job, but it was pissing me off that she said she couldn't afford to rent both places when I know she has considerably more money than me in the bank
I'm not happy with it and all friends and family that I have spoken to about this situation have said 'don't pay it, she moved out' but I don't think it's as simple as that. I raised the issue with her yesterday, after I'd posted this, and the situation deteriorated rapidly to say the least. So in order to try and keep things remotely amicable, and to keep myself from slipping into some every dark places, I've said i'm going to pay it for the time being.

Thanks again

What you need to remember though is that if you don't pay it then it is you, as the person with the greater income, that will be chased for the arrears and you that will be inconvenienced if the house is repossessed and your credit rating that will be destroyed.

The rule of thumb is that whoever stays in the FMH meets all the costs as they have sole use of it.

You haven't signed up to be responsible for half of the rent each. You are both jointly and severally responsible for the full payment.

Why do you feel she should be paying towards the rent when she doesn't live there and has her own housing costs?