Buying new place during divorce process

[backtoschoolsnot]

Told H wanted a divorce and filed earlier this year and after all these months of sleeping in home office on a sofa bed, have had an offer accepted on a new flat (he's buying me out the FMH). Am in the extremely fortunate position to be able to do this with a premarital inheritance and mortgage but my solicitor is now saying its not advisable to do buy a new place before the divorce is finalised. We've agreed finances at mediation and I am aware I need to come off the mortgage of the FMH before I complete on my purchase and being on the deeds of 2 places has stamp duty implications but surely there must be ways round this? Has anyone been through this process and can advise please?

Sorry I can’t advise. I wouldn’t do it in my personal situation as my Stbxh is a slippery rogue and I don’t trust him anymore.

We decided to sell marital home, paid off the mortgage with joint savings, he insisted we spend £20k on home improvements to get a good selling price. Surprise, surprise he now wants to live in family home and says its value is £60k less than the price we originally agreed. We even both signed a piece of paper to say we agreed to sell the FMH.

But I know how awful it is to be in the same house and I moved into rented as I felt I had no choice.

I think you need to get your solicitor to spell out exactly what could go wrong, then takes steps to mitigate it if you can, or just decide the relief of moving out is worth it.

Is solicitor saying he has claims on a % of your new purchase?

Are you in Scotland? If yes, should be ok as it is assets at date of separation that count, not date of divorce. But i guess as your lawyer is advising against, you are in England or Wales.

We were in a similar position. The solicitors advised not to either complete xh buying me out, or me purchasing another property until the consent order had been sealed in case the judge did not approve the agreement. There is the risk that you might need to rebalance the distribution of assets, which could be tricky if you have taken some irrevocable steps. That was my understanding anyway.

We did start, and complete on the transfer of the family home before the end of the divorce as it was during the truss budget shenanigans, and there was the very real risk that xh's re-mortgage deal would fall through if we delayed. It took a great deal of trust that things would go smoothly as expected, and if not, that together we would sort it out.

Thanks everyone. I am going to book a video call asap with solicitor before instructing agent to do searches.

More reading suggests it could be because he could claim it as part of marital pot. Will have to get him to agree to sign something with solicitors I think reflecting mediation agreement.

Hi, I am in a very similar position. I am ready to exchange and complete on my new property (STBXH is staying in the FMH for another 3 years) but have been strictly advised by my solicitor to wait until the financial order is sealed by the court. The cash I need (which is all in his name) is to be transferred to me once its approved, so I can buy my house. Also transfer of deeds on the family home to him so I don't pay additional Stamp.

I finally heard today that its been sealed by the judge - 4 weeks since it was submitted to the HMCTS portal by my solicitor. Its felt like the most stressful part of the whole process as your hands are tied until its sealed. Nothing is legally binding until then.

If you buy any property before the court seals the order there is a risk that the asset can be considered with other assets in the 'pot' and delay it further. Wishing you luck.

He's now not agreeing to sign the paperwork fron the mediation so my solicitor can't draft the consent order. I am beyond pissed off, not to mention having wasted £100s on mediation.

I'll run through the D81 with potential new financial situation and see what that might do to the balance of assets.

Your solicitor is right.

You cannot buy in England without the Absolute or you risk adding additional assets into the pot for division.

You risk a whole world of pain of it's not tied up legally with the divorce otherwise he could then claim a % of the new property.

The hardest part is to have patience and be guided by the solicitor. I had mediation with my STBXH twice but was so drawn out over 6 weeks in between that in the end we discussed together without mediation or it could've gone on for months and months - it wasn't pleasant as he has always controlled the finances (and me, despite me being the 'breadwinner') but at least we both knew where each other stood on our expectations.

I had an offer accepted on a property back in March and I am only now in a position to exchange contracts. If there is a chain anyway it can take that long. The mortgage offer had an 8 month end date. It was a gamble that I could've lost the property but it gave me time to reflect if it was the right one for me and my DS and not a knee jerk reaction just to get out of living in the single room in my house!

Nooooooooooo, I can't stay here til February 24 (the earliest date I can expect final order, 26 weeks+day) 😭😭

The place I am buying is not in a chain, all I need to do is get my name off the mortgage - he's in the process of getting an increased mortgage to buy me out so that should sort that but I have funds available anyway. I could exchange on the new place by November, I can't do longer than that, my mental health won't manage. I've even resigned myself to having to pay 2nd home stamp duty in the short term just to get moved.

@backtoschoolsnot I feel your pain. I've had to move into my Parents house 😱 Take legal advice - rent if you have to maybe? if you are prepared to pay additional stamp, there is still a risk. What if your H loses his job and your house makes money so he wants more equity / what is he can't buy you out because there isn't enough equity in your property when split 50/50 for him to get the mortgage - lots of stumbling blocks I have experienced too. It might seem amicable now but people change.

@bringoutthebranston thank you for your words of support and things to think about. In doing a moving stuff (ie having to buy every bloody thing imagineable as there is very little stuff I will be taking out the fmh) budget this afternoon, started crying while costing a washing machine wtaf!!!

Wow he is being a massive prick. No wonder it didn't work out. Hope you manage to sort everything OP

I have not taken hardly any furniture from the FMH either even though I was entitled to half and paid for it all. But I have found some amazing things on my local facebook freesite. Just to start me off, I have acquired all my kitchen equipment, a dyson, tables and chairs and some white goods in really good condition, a 40" TV. Friends have recently moved and I have a double bed and not shy in accepting anything that will soften the blow for a while. However, the thing that puts the biggest smile on my face is knowing that my property will be MINE no-one to answer to and I can finally invite my friends round without him being an arse, I can blast my music up when I am getting ready to go out and dance around the room like nobody is watching - and they wont be!! Manifest that image of you being happy in a new place, no compromises, and even if you are sitting on a plastic garden chair watching tv on your phone, this is the start of your new life and good things will come again.