Not mine but..
a guy from work we shall call him Ethelbert always had doubts about the relationship he was in and always feared the worst. Alarm bells really began to sound when his partner, we shall call her Betsy moved in with him.

3 years later they split up and the conversation of what they're going to do about the house comes up.

Betsy: Well... You should probably sell the house and just give me half of the money.
Ethelbert: Why would I do that?
Betsy: Because I've been with you for over 4 years and living with you for 3 years so I'm entitled to half of everything.
Ethelbert: I'm sorry Betsy I have no recognition of having a relationship wiht you. According to the contract you signed you've just being renting a room off me all these years and I have the evidence to prove it....

It turned out that before Betsy moved in Ethelbert got her slightly drunk and made her sign a tenants agreement (that she didn't bother to read) declaring she was renting a room off him after telling her it was to let the council know there was two people living in the house now and they needed to know that or something along those lines. And when she gave him a cheque every month to cover her part of the rent he simply documented everything in a rent book he had tucked away.

He never saw her again after that conversation. He said it probably wouldn't of held up in court but it never came down to court so it was deemed a massive success in his eyes and I can only agree with him.

Hats off to Ethelbert because a full house is much better than half a house. Also better than a line and 4 corners....
( Mr Nerdy-Speccy-FuckNuts Ouchy ouchy wa wa!, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 13:21, 18 replies)

wow. i bet you did high-fives and got all flustered and had to clean your glasses with your t-shirts afterwards.
he sounds like a real prize.
( janet aylia y'all motherfuckers need jesus, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 13:27, closed)

I didn't know him then unfortunately, but if i did
we would of probably gone out for pizza and had a sword fight with our willies.
( Mr Nerdy-Speccy-FuckNuts Ouchy ouchy wa wa!, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 13:32, closed)

There really is no excuse
for your appalling grammar
( Geoff the Clownfish You know Myra, some people might think you're cute, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 14:54, closed)

You forgot to do one of those full stop things at the end of your sentence.

( Mr Nerdy-Speccy-FuckNuts Ouchy ouchy wa wa!, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 14:58, closed)

I haven't finished yet...

( Geoff the Clownfish You know Myra, some people might think you're cute, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 15:06, closed)

You berk
You mean you OFN'T finished yet. I know I don't of to point these things out, but I feel it's important to of good grammar.
(StapMyVitals wouldn't mind a bit of that, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 19:36, closed)

I hope he remembered to pay tax on the rental income.

(Reverend Fister "a disciplined fuckwit", Wed 27 Oct 2010, 13:39, closed)

Sadly...
Rent A Room relief lets you have the first £4k or so tax free.
(Mork, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 14:21, closed)

I hope he doesn't
get cancer or run over or anything, because that would be sad.
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 14:24, closed)

A bit of a cunt way to set it up - so some trust issues (proved correct) right there.
but why should she get half the house after 36 months of living in it just because they've split up?
(waxdart hello., Wed 27 Oct 2010, 14:35, closed)

^^ This.
What legal precedent is this following? He had no reason to be fearful of his property. At the most, she'd be entitled to a % of it, if she did work on the house or paid off any of the mortgage. I don't know of any 'we've been together 4 years so.. YOINK!' law though. That's what marriage is for, like.
( SigmaX0 Dear Die Hard. You rock!, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 14:41, closed)

I think after living together for 7 years
she would have become his 'common-law' wife and would have been entitled to half of everything. Can anyone confirm this?
(Reverend Fister "a disciplined fuckwit", Wed 27 Oct 2010, 14:49, closed)

doesn't exist any more. hasn't for ages.

( janet aylia y'all motherfuckers need jesus, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 15:01, closed)

Wikipedia (far more accurate and up to date than my law degree) agrees
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage
( SigmaX0 Dear Die Hard. You rock!, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 15:03, closed)

I think this might cover it...
'if you buy something but say to your partner 'this is yours' or 'this belongs to both of us' a court can later regard you as having created 'a trust' and can hold you to that promise. Or you may be regarded as having created a trust by implication - this means that what you had said or done led to the conclusion that something you bought is shared or given to your partner.'

I suspect she could argue that he had said it was 'their' house etc...
( Mr Nerdy-Speccy-FuckNuts Ouchy ouchy wa wa!, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 14:49, closed)

Sounds about as flakey as eczema in a blender.

( SigmaX0 Dear Die Hard. You rock!, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 15:04, closed)

You can try that but having been on the recieving end of a similair tactic its not an easy one to argue and you may just end up making the lawyers money more than anything.
(Quinch, Wed 27 Oct 2010, 18:24, closed)

The guy always had doubts
Without knowing where these doubts come from, you haven't told the full story.

But I like what he did. Her automatically thinking that she was entitled something is disgusting, and signing a piece of paper while drunk? Just stupid.
(lemonadegame, Thu 28 Oct 2010, 3:26, closed)