TR1 Submission As "property On Trust For Themselves As Joint Tenants2 But No Declaration Of Trust

I purchased a property in 2007 with my now ex-partner. At the time of purchase my partner suggested we use her solicitor, that was dealing with sale of her property, said solicitor said to my ex-partner that she should have a declaration of trust written to ‘protect’ her deposit she was contributing. When this document was presented to me there was absolutely no way I was going to sign it as I was going to be paying the majority of all costs, mortgage and bills etc. Despite the fact that I refused to agree to and sign the Declaration of Trust it appears her solicitor has submitted the TR1 on the basis of “they are to hold the property on trust for themselves as joint tenants” instead of “they are to hold the property on trust for themselves as tenants in common in equal shares”.
The purchase price of the property was £265,000 and my ex-partner provided a capital contribution of £100,000 while I was to cover the majority of the monthly costs as it was my annual salary that allowed us to obtain a mortgage for the balance of £165,000 as I had provided no capital contribution.
A joint bank account was set up solely for the purpose of paying mortgage and all household related bills, since purchase of the property my ex-partner has contributed £75,000 and to date I have contributed £188,000.
As you can see from the term ex-partner we have now separated and are trying to deal with the situation as amicably as possible so as to avoid litigation. However my ex-partner has now retained a solicitor who is stating that as the property has been registered as “they are to hold the property on trust for themselves as joint tenants”, despite the fact that I rejected the declaration of trust and refused to sign it, she is entitled to the following based on a sale price of £325,000 and total equity of £198,500 –
37.73% of equity (based on £100k initial investment of £265k purchase price) = £122,622.
½ of remaining equity of £75,878 = £37,939.
Total = £162,561
And that all I am entitled to is £37,939.
My position is that I feel the property has been incorrectly registered with the Land Registry as I did not agree to or sign a Declaration of Trust and that the property should be registered as “tenants in common in equal shares” and as such despite the fact that I have invested a larger total amount than she has that any equity be split 50/50.
I am really confused as to how her solicitor can be saying what they are with no agreed and signed Declaration of Trust and since I have been paying 100% of all household costs and mortgage since December 2018 and continue to do so, so in my opinion my equity share should in fact be increasing. Based on the above from her solicitor, after selling the property, paying estate agent and other fees and bearing in mind that we may not get the actual asking price for the property I stand to get circa 20% of what I have contributed and she will get circa 93% of what she has contributed. I clearly feel disgruntled by this as she stands to walk away with a bit fat deposit for another property which I won’t be able to afford?

1 Answers

My eyes glazed over as I tried to read the essay, sorry