Is he entitled to equity in my house?

I''m hoping for some advice please. My husband and I are splitting up after being together for 7 years. I bought my house just before we got together and he moved in shortly after. The mortgage/house is solely in my name. His financial contributions during the marriage have been approx a quarter of mine as I have worked full time whilst he hasnt. I have 2 children living at home from a former spouse, one of whom is still in full time education. He is saying that he is entitled to half the equity in the house (which isnt a lot anyway) and I will need to sell the house now as part of the divorce settlement to buy him out. Is this the case please?

How old are the children, and what are your respective incomes?

What is the value of the house and how much is left on the mortgage?

It is very unlikely he is entitled to half but the amount he could get really depends on the figures.

Thanks for your reply. My children are 18 and 16, the youngest is about to start college. My monthly income is about £2200 plus £350 maintenance from the childrens father. His varies but is on average £700 per month. The house is worth about £240k and the mortgage is £206k. I also have a large amount of debt which I am in a debt management programme for. The debt has been accumulated whilst we have been together but is in my name. I''m not sure if this affects anything.

Yes the debt does affect it very much. You say a large amount, does this mean more than the equity in the house? If so then I would simply tell your husband "fine you can have half of the equity in the house as long as you take half of the debt too".

With children living there, a sale would never be ordered, unless downsizing would be an option?

In any case there is hardly any equity so it''s certainly not worth fighting over in court. He''s having a laugh if he thinks he is going to get a £17k payoff.

Yes the total debt is slightly higher than the equity in the house. This built up due to having to live off credit cards during the months he wasnt working as his work is sporadic. He may argue that this isnt the case though and that I ran up the debt myself, as its all in my name.

The house is just a 3 bedroom semi so nothing excessive. I guess they could argue that we could live in a cheaper smaller 3 bed house?

Thank you for your final comment - reassuring and first time I''ve laughed in ages!

He is living in a dream world. The debt is clearly marital. Presumably you have (or could get) credit card statements to back this up. As long as you didn''t buy things which are exclusively for your own use (eg. a solid gold epilator) then the debt is marital, no matter whose name it is in. If he wants half of the assets then he will have to take half of the debt as well.

If he has any sense then he has registered home rights on your house (you will have received a rather scary sounding B94-1 form)? I would simply apply for the divorce, get the Absolute, and remove the home rights.

If he wants anything from you then let him take the initiative but at that point you will be pretty much done.

Yes any credit card statement would back up what they have been used for - not a single gold epilator in sight!

He says he has spoken to a solicitor who has told him he''s entitled to half the equity but he obviously didnt mention the debt to them. The two just cancel each other out in my opinion. He hasn''t asked them to formalise any action yet though so no, I haven''t received that form. What is it??!

Are you able to advise on how I actually get him to move out plesae. Is there any way of doing this before the divorce is settled?