Can I go ahead and buy my own place yet?

[Housebuy1]

Posting here for traffic and name changed. I’m a currently separated…heading towards getting a divorce, hopefully all will be done my march/april. My question is can I go ahead and buy a house myself or with new partner before it is complete? Like, can I apply for a mortgage with new DP (he has the deposit) or will ex be able to claim this? How does this work legally? Please be kind. Thank you.

Any assets will be marital assets so don't do that before you're formally divorced and there's ideally a clean break of financials

If you buy before you’re divorced then the property will be considered a marital asset.

This is so frustrating 😓 a great house has come up…such a shame. Not long to wait though I suppose

You need to ensure that you have a financial order in place as well as the divorce. Otherwise it is only the marriage that is ended and not any financial ties.

Yes, it will be included.

Thank you all.

What money are you putting in?
How long have you been separated?
How long have you been in this new relationship? @Housebuy1

Buying a house is a big commitment

Putting in money I have saved since separating.
Im not going to answer the other 2 questions as I don’t think they really matter on the face of it. Sorry
yes I know it’s a big commitment, hence why I want to have everything sorted and all ducks in a row.

I looked to buy a house with new bf been together 2 years looked at this 6 months ago. Then found out he's a cocaine addict and dropped all that buying stuff. Don't buy together yet

Please protect your assets if buying with a new partner!

I was trying to be helpful, but that's fine. I was thinking about you protecting your money.

I know you were trying to be helpful, I understand that, I just want to stick to the question at hand. I want to buy a new home with my new partner yes. I will be protecting any money I put into the house accordingly (as will he).
@Treeinthesky im sorry that happened I’m sure that must have been a shocker, this guy doesn’t even drink to be honest (like myself…maybe one glass of wine every so often) we are very boring 🤣

And thank you 🙏

Can the house be just in your DP's name until after the divorce if he is putting up the deposit anyway? You would seem to have zero stake in it.

Any cash you put in would be part of matrimonial assets I assume, you couldn't hide them by putting money into a new house.

If you have a divorce lawyer ask them the best way to do things.

That did cross my mind yes. It’s a possibility i suppose. But we would need to apply with both incomes to afford it.

We have already declared all assets etc through affidavits so we are just waiting to do mediation now. I have a lawyer yes, I’m going to call her on Monday for advice/opinion. I just couldn’t wait til then so asked on here 🤣

As others have said, don’t buy until you’ve got a financial separation order.

Go for it. You might find the mortgage company takes a bit of persuading, e.g. if you're still on the mortgage on the formal marital home.

But from a settlement point of view it makes little difference. You change £50k savings into a 50% share of a mortgaged house with £100k equity -> no impact on the settlement.

In fact it might be slightly in your interests, since your share of the various moving costs, including stamp duty, will come out of the marital pot.

There’s No mortgage on other formal marital home, I’m hoping he’ll buy me out to be honest.