Where to start - please help me navigate this

[Stockwell20]

Hello,

I'm really hoping someone can help point me in the direction to work my way through my current situation.

Separating from husband of 15 years, 2 children 17 and 15, joint mortgage with £100k equity. Looking to buy him out and split the equity - kids will live with me as that is their choice and he is looking to rent a small 1 bed property.

He has recently quit his job but was a low earner before that and I earn £50k working full time. He has small pensions and I have a medium one. We are amicable and have agreed to just consider equity and not pensions, no other assets.

My question is where do I start? Do I apply for divorce and then the mortgage or do I get the mortgage and give him the £50k equity but then what happens with the finances? Does the split feel fair and likely to be accepted? Grateful for any views and advice on where to start. Thanks in advance x

You can apply online to get the divorce process rolling as there are a minimum number of weeks between each step - you will need to pay £695 for the application. You will still need a solicitor to draw up the financial consent order but you can download the D81 form yourself and fill it in to show your workings out of assets/equity etc and just have them do the final document (cost about £500). You'll need to get the house valued and also contact your bank to obviously lend you the additional monies to buy him out - you don't have much equity...are you sure you'll be given the additional monies?? A solicitor to do the conveyancing transfer to remove him from the land registry is about £1500 and the mortgage lender usually charges a couple of hundred pounds to remove him from the mortgage

Thanks for responding, that's really helpful. I've had the house valued and can borrow enough to buy him out - I would be remortgaging and borrowing enough to pay off what is left on the mortgage which is just over £100k and an additional £50k to pay him. It does mean starting a new 25 year mortgage now despite only having 9 years left on my current mortgage but it's worth it to keep the house and have stability for the kids I think?

Keeping the house does offer some stability to your children but 18 months down the line since my own husband left I wish I hadn't fought so hard to keep the house. It's full of memories and ghosts and no amount of putting boundaries in place can stop my ex seemingly thinking it's still his home too. If I could have afforded to I would have much rather moved and started again (my children are much younger though). I have taken time to completely redecorate and renovate each room so it's visually different to what it was....but it will always be the home we bought together to raise a family. And where it ended.

My situation is not too dissimilar and advice is get the ball rolling on the divorce ASAP as it's lengthy. Once that has started get a consent order in place and agreed before you start any mortgage applications etc as without this he can at any point come back for more money even if the house is in your name.
Once consent order is approved then you can sort the mortgages and final order on divorce.
Good luck

For context I applied for divorce in the November and divorce was complete and financial order sealed by the end of the June the following year so 6 months for me so actually very quick

Thanks for your replies. That's my concern really is the time it is going to take, I was hoping to buy him out as soon as I could otherwise we are going to have to keep living in the same house which I don't think is good for anyone. He's not really contributing much financially anymore either so I'm becoming really resentful. Sounds like I need to get the divorce ball rolling first though. Please share any tips on house to survive the next few months!