Girlfriend put 5,000 in upgrades on a home under my name. We break up, threatens to get a lawyer involved. Does she have legal rights?
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Girlfriend put 5,000 in upgrades on a home under my name. We break up, threatens to get a lawyer involved. Does she have legal rights?
I purchased the home. Everything was under
my name. She wrote a check to contractor for
upgrades. She left the house. I sold it a
couple months later. Now I’m being threatened
she will get a lawyer involved.
Asked on November 10, 2016 under Real Estate Law, Louisiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
No, she does not, unless and only if she made the upgrades pursuant to (that is, according to) an agreement under which by making them, she acquired some rights in or to the home or for other compensation. Otherise, the amount she put in could be viewed as being a gift to you (since a gift like that to someone you are living with is certainly reasonable), or for her own benefit (so she could enjoy them while living there, or the equivalent of "rent"--her contribution or payment for being allowed to live there. In none of those scenarios is entitled to anything.
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