Jointly owned property - separating, will both owners be legally bound to carry on paying towards mortgage?

[ScandiCinnamon]

Hi all,
My partner and I (not married) are separating. I will carry on living in the property together with our two DD's (in primary school). We both agree on this and he is not contesting it. We both own it so have 50/50 split in the equity and both our names are on the mortgage. As he will still have an interest in the property; I.e .remain a co-owner and the equity will carry on growing (well hopefully) will he have to carry on contributing to the mortgage as his name is on it? As in on top of the money for child maintenance? I do not have the money to buy him out and am only working on a contract so cannot get a mortgage in my own name.

I am going to see a solicitor in a few weeks, but just thought I would put the question out there in case any of you knew. Thank you

I think you either buy him out completely in which case you own it and pay for it or it remains in joint names with both of you paying.

How long is your contract for? Could you look for a permenant job now, just in case? It would give you more options

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 thanks for your reply. I am not in a position to buy him out unfortunately. I have no savings (worked PT in low paid job whilst looking after DD's). The contract is for another 10 months. I hope it will turn in to a permanent job as it is a great (flexible) company to work for.

I am okay with both of us carrying being joint owners as long as he is responsible for part of the mortgage. I could not afford to pay for it all on my own on my salary even taken the statutory maintenance into consideration, as there will be childcare costs too. I will be living hand to mouth as it is.

You may find that if he carries on pay his half of the mortgage you may be liable for rent on his half of the property if he is not living there.
You need legal advice.

Lonecatwithkitten thanks for your reply. I will definitely seek legal advice. I have an appointment booked.

I just hoped someone had been in a similar situation and could share their experience.

He will carry on using the property himself too. We have a garage where he has a project that he is working on. So he will carry on housing his project there are carry on working on it.

You aren’t married so the law may be different.

You are both named in the mortgage so if it defaults you are both responsible.

My now OH when he left his wife and the FMH) paid the mortgage in full for 4 years. He then reduced it down to 50% as he couldn’t afford to keep paying in full. When their divorce finances went to court, the EW demanded that he pay the mortgage in full for another 11 years (until the youngest was 18). A judge ordered the sale of the house and as she’s living there she pay the mortgage in full (as she can’t afford to take on the mortgage herself he’s been indemnified should she default).

You can’t afford to buy him out, and you can’t get a mortgage. I would sell. You are delaying the inevitable.

We both own it so have 50/50 split

Not true. Unless everything was equal from start to end.

There are a few ways you can go with this.

The obvious being that one of you buys the other out. Logically the one living in it so as to reduce tax associated with renting out property. The advantage of this is the clean break. Which you both probably need to accept is inevitable. He will want to buy at some stage and owning 2 properties raises all sort of issues in term of costs and tax.

Otherwise you can continue to co own, with both of you paying the mortgage. But you then need to allow for change in occupancy. You will be getting the benefit of his 50% investment whilst you live there with sole occupancy. In other words you should pay rent to him for his half of the house. This would probably be equivalent to his half of the mortgage. A further adjustment would need to be made for the garage. You then split 50:50 when sold.

If you are very fortunate your ex may pay half the mortgage and not ask you for rent.

If you are less fortunate he could pay half the mortgage and not ask for rent in return for a bigger share of the equity when sold.

Another option is to sell up now.

Have you calculated child maintenance? We have agreed to a postponed sale, and he’s paying the mortgage in place of maintenance (the mortgage is the cheaper option) and then when we sell we split 50/50 (that’s been agreed). I did get advised that I could get more but it would be fair to split it equally as he will be tied to the mortgage for that whole time.
I think asking for him to pay for his half of the mortgage when he isn’t living there would be unfair and not practical as he would need to demonstrate that he can afford another property

My exOH does not want to pay child maintenance. So he is stating care has to be exactly 50/50 split.
He is refusing to take any action or have a sensible conversation until I agree to this. So we are all in limbo.
I like idea of a postponed sale. That would be a much better solution in our situation. Well the DCs and I. I don’t necessarily want to stay until youngest DC is 18 but for a couple of years. Until at least end of Primary School. Then I could hopefully look at moving to a cheaper area.
It would be horrifically hard but I could pay the current mortgage on my own but that would mean stripping right back and some cereal dinners for me. Of course no holidays, no clothes unless hand me downs and no car. FYI to rent in my area cost the same as my mortgage if not more.

Me and ex (not married) owned the house, we split and carried on living there for 18 months as he refused to let me buy him out. I couldn't force him to. I looked into staying and him going. Legally I was told I could live there and if he chose to leave he would still be responsible to pay half the mortgages as it's in joint names regardless of who is living there you're both responsible. He could ask for rent but you don't legally have to pay as you jointly own the property