To buy a house with my partner whose still married?

[onedaymaybeone]

Hi,

I would like some advice please. I'm divorced and have been renting since. I would like to buy a house but cannot raise enough mortgage to buy in the area I live in now and where DP go to school. I would be £35k short on the amount I need to buy in the area. I know I can afford the mortgage repayments as it would be half my rent but I don't earn enough in my own to get the full loan amount required.

My partner has offered to come in on a joint mortgage with me to make up the difference. We would be joint tenants and he would be paying no deposit and would 'own' a minimal percentage of the house. The reason being he is still paying for his previous property which he is not living in whilst he fights for custody of his daughter through court. Due to the complicated nature of the case he can't get divorced yet.

What are people's thoughts on doing this?

So his now wife can claim half 🤔

I'm confused. If you were to become joint tenants, he wouldn't own a percentage share of the property. Are you talking about being tenants in common?

Op... please please get advice you can't get % and his wife will have a claim on your house...do not buy with this man until he is divorced.

I think your solicitor would strongly advise against this.

Unless and until he is divorced with a clean break order? Absolutely NOT.

Run forest run

Be sure to have an attorney draw up an agreement in case he wants his money back, or to sell the house for the profits, he doesn't want you to live in his house any more or you don't want him to put another loan against your home. You can do it but protect yourself iron clad. Sounds like trouble.

When you say partner, I assume you mean boyfriend/lover and not business partner.

There's no way I'd do this. Assuming he does divorce his wife, she could get a share. Seems a bit strange for someone who's married to do this anyway.

@cherish123

When you say partner, I assume you mean boyfriend/lover and not business partner.

There's no way I'd do this. Assuming he does divorce his wife, she could get a share. Seems a bit strange for someone who's married to do this anyway.

Why the snippy comment about the word partner? It’s obvious what OP means, even if they hadn’t explained that they live together and are committed.

Surely if he is still married his wife is entitled to half of what he owns and have a legal right to claim on his half of the property?

Also bear in mind that if you do buy a house with him, in the unlikely event that he died unexpectedly, his wife would automatically inherit his share, and not you.

Generally not a good idea. His part ownership may also run into CGT issues if the property is sold, and he may trying to hide the cash from a divorce settlement. In addition, he may be your partner now, but things can change in relationships. If you have a mortgage lender they are entitled to know of this arrangement and they may well scupper your mortgage.
However, if you are still keen, you need to have a chat with a solicitor, who could advise you on a legal agreement that will secure your interests and set, probably, a tort on the ownership documents that will ringfence a payment to your partner should the property be sold.

The best arrangement for you is to get your married partner to make a straightforward loan to you, to be realised on the sale of the property, or earlier if you can,and at a very low flat interest rate (say 0.1%) so that your home will remain fully under your own control and not under shared ownership.

P.S. A solicitor will also explain to you the legal implications of shared and proportional ownership of a property.

Are they legally separated? If they are then and a minute of agreement is in place for this then I think any assets accrued after that date or not part of the marital assets? This is a rough memory but worth a Google

Ask him to be guarantor

Not sure what you want people to say.

Surely you can see that this has ‘disaster’ written all over it to outside parties?

Nobody is going to encourage you to do this, and if you think you know him better than all of us then I come back to my original point - what do you want from us?

We paid a huge rental bill for four years until the consent order for his divorce came through to ensure my protection. It just wasn't worth the risk to me.

@SoniaFouler

Haven’t you ever heard the saying “once a cheater, always a cheater?” Do not buy properly with this man.

HRTFT, but wanted to jump in to point out that there are two parties in a marriage, and both are capable of cheating. Strange to jump to assumptions without any evidence @SoniaFouler!

Nope. He could walk off with half of it .. and his wife is also entitled to half of his half...

Oh my god no! Your house may become part of the settlement so you lose half, he may leave so you lose half. I would wait a bit - prices may come down or look into any other options than this!

Ask him to be guarantor and get a mortgage that u can pay off lump sums so that when he is divorced he can pay off the exact amount you paid in and then add his name. Good luck sweetie hope it works out for you. May I add please be careful and do everything by the book , get advice get a solicitor x

Nope. Because the divorce court may decide that his wife has rights over the property. Are you willing to take that risk??

Also, fyi you can’t own it as joint tenants and have him own a percentage of the property. Legally those are contradictory. He is EITHER a joint tenant, OR a ‘tenant in common’ who has a fixed percentage.

If you buy it as joint tenants and he happens to suddenly die, then his wife will automatically become a joint tenant with you and you’ll eg need her permission and cooperation to sell or make major changes. If he is a tenant in common for eg 30% then its slightly different but still complicated.

If he wants to help you buy property there will be far simpler and safer ways to do this. Eg he could lend you the money and have a legal charge over the property (ie can claim money back if it’s sold etc) but not be an owner. Talk to a lawyer. But don’t buy joint property with a married man it’s a recipe for disaster.

Nooo, I wouldnt trust him. He is married, yet trying to set up home with you. This has disaster written all over it. If I were you I would run as far away as possible and dont look back.