Help... we had an elderly relative who lived with us, we both put money into the house, however things took a turn for the worse when she got quite nasty towards us and our children, she still had plenty money to buy another property and has done so off her own back whilst saying she has nothing to remain in this area for she has bought a house local and is continuing to make our lives difficult, we have now made the decision to put our house on the market, the question I need answering is do we legally owe her any money from this property? She isn't on any deeds, and she chose to move out. Can anyone help? Many thanks

How long did she live with you? Did she move in with you when you purchased the house? How much has she paid and how were the payments identified? Did she pay a monthly amount?

It depends on the answers as to whether she could make a case to a return on the investment

Hiya she lived here for 18months, she didn't move in origionally when we purchased the house, she moved in approx 6 months after us, she was contributing to the bills at £200 per month. Thanks for your help

Sorry I forgot to say, she pais approx 40% of the property but didn't want to move in right away, we never had any kind of legal documents drawn up to be honest, we never dreamed it would come to this situation, we just want to get as far away from her as possible, it's a pattern which happened in the past with her which we we not aware of and if we were we would never have agreed to it!! Her payment was made through her solicitor. Thanks again

When follow-up questions are asked we usually need to have the answers to all those questions.

I think you need to consult your own solicitor. If her solicitor made those payments, I'd be willing to bet he made them in such a way as to leave no doubt that his client was investing in the home. So, I think you probably will need to at least pay her back what she put in.