Profit sharing help! My ex wants 30%. Does anybody have an experience or know legal rights?

[Matthew443]

Here is my scenario. I operate one home on Airbnb in Alaska. I’m the administrator, manager, owner and complete 100% of the work. I own the house with my ex, long story, but she abandoned the house 5 years ago and lives in Bali. I’ve completed 2 summers of rentals and now she is demanding a 30% net profit share. She believes, because she is part owner of the home, she has the rights to claim 30% net profits for doing 0% of the work. 

Does anybody have a similar experience or know any legal ramifications?

I have paid all the property taxes, insurance and related expenses, so she basically pays nothing and contributes zero to maintenance. 

[Sarah977]

@Matthew443   This sounds like a question for a lawyer, not a bunch of hosts and guests on a public forum. 

[Matthew443]

Thanks Sarah. My post is relevant to Airbnb and I thought it couldn’t hurt to post a topic as I’m sure I’m not the first Airbnb host to have this situation. 

[Sarah977]

Sorry, @Matthew443  I didn't mean to sound unsupportive- it's just that asset distribution in separation and divorce cases may go by different laws in different places, so a local lawyer would be able to give you accurate info, whereas here you might get responses that don't apply in your situation.

[Letti0]

@Matthew443 Time to lawyer up... Also be prepared to buy her out.

[Matthew443]

Yeah that’s obviously the case, thanks Letitia. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Matthew443

I'm no lawyer and don't know U.S. laws but in case of hosts that are hosting while residing in leased apartments, I remember reading that they need to get approval from the owner and to get the owner to agree, some hosts offer a certain percentage of the payout which is given in addition to the monthly rent. So even though your ex did not contribute to hosting, if she is part owner then who knows~ maybe she could be eligible for a small portion of the hosting income. Make sure you have recipts for all the hosting related investments you made, and a log of all the turnovers you've done and calculate what it would have cost for a professional cleaner to handle it (if your ex wants a share of the hosting profit she should also pay for the cost and expenses that when into hosting, meaning she needs to pay YOU for handling her share of the work before she gets her cut). And also if she wants to exercise her rights as part owner, you could always take her to court to make her pay for her share of the  property taxes, insurance and related expenses for the home that you've paid for all along. And agreed that you should lawyer up and start thinking about buying her out. Good luck~! Please come back to the CC to let us know how things turn out~