Basically my partner got divorced some years ago but never had a financial settlement for the house.
My partner moved out and the ex stayed, despite saying they would pay the bills they ended up never paying the mortgage or bills for a year and left.
My partner moved back as one of the older kids was still at home and going through a breakdown.
My partner subsequently found out about the arrears and paid them all off and the ex that'd now left kept saying he wanted off the mortgage (interest only) but my partner couldn't on paper to afford it even though they were paying it.
About 7 years ago I moved in and while my partner paid the mortgage I paid all the bills and over the years I personally have spent the best part of 15k doing the house up as it was in a sorry state.
We're now in a situation where we have a mortgage in principle and now we find the ex isn't signing any paperwork and will just leave it for the next 6 years to when the mortgage runs out to make us sell. Obviously he's wanting some cash, but as my partner was left with 10K of debt and as since paid that off and continues to pay the mortgage, £54,000 so far My questions are:
Can my partner claim the 50% of the mortgage the ex hasn't paid or any of the arrears they left?
If we're forced to sell, the equity that would be left would be £17,000 each, could a claim be made against the ex's part?
Would my substantial financial input just be ignored?
We know the financial settlement should've been done but my partner loves the house and neighbours and it just doesn't seem right we'll ultimately loose out at some point.