If only one of you owns the house then that’s what they are. It’s obviously going to vary case by case but one person has a mortgage, and all the responsibilities that come with it, and the other can cut and run any time. It would be pretty unfair to the homeowner if the SO got all the benefits of renting and buying.
I would hope you treat your SO as an equal partner, but that also means healthy boundaries equal to where the relationship is at the time. If one doesn’t pay rent, but pays toward the mortgage, and you break up instead of getting married, do you expect the home owner partner to cut the other partner a check to cash them out of their “equity”? How is that fair to the homeowner?
That’s sorta the issue. You shouldn’t treat your SO as a tenant.
If only one of you owns the house then that’s what they are. It’s obviously going to vary case by case but one person has a mortgage, and all the responsibilities that come with it, and the other can cut and run any time. It would be pretty unfair to the homeowner if the SO got all the benefits of renting and buying.
I would hope you treat your SO as an equal partner, but that also means healthy boundaries equal to where the relationship is at the time. If one doesn’t pay rent, but pays toward the mortgage, and you break up instead of getting married, do you expect the home owner partner to cut the other partner a check to cash them out of their “equity”? How is that fair to the homeowner?