Does exDH have to pay mortgage if removed from house?

[Evecob]

Recently separated from DH but still living together. He has a history of abuse, throwing things around me and at me, punching holes in walls, verbal abuse, psychological abuse, and emotional abuse - he had tried individual therapy, couples therapy and he had done an anger management course in the past. I have been in therapy for 2.5 years, he dropped out. I felt unsafe and unloved for some time and told him i couldnt be intimate with him due to this which caused issues... then he ended up assaulting me (throwing objects at me) while driving at 60mph with our small children in the car. That was my last straw. After this he also wanted to separate.

Due to the above i had been in contact with police and after several weeks passed arrested him. I had a recording of him admitting to me what he did and i didnt want to let this slide after all the other things he has done in the past i didnt report. The police said if he admitted it himself he would get an out of court option for domestic violence course. If he didnt admit it he would be bailed on condition he doesnt come to house for 3 months.
He got a solicitor and no commented all questions so ended up getting some things and left to his dads.. which shocked me.

The mortgage is joint and he is now out for 3 months, will he still by law have to pay for the mortgage? We would usually pay half of everything together. Our incomes are relatively similar. I can afford to pay all on my own but leaves me with little left over.

Im unsure what he will do at this point, im sure he hates me and will not want to pay anything at all.. so likely everything will be through solocitors whoch arent cheap..

Any advice welcome..

Legally you are both still held responsible for the mortgage.

Neither of you can be "made to pay" if it's defaulted on you will both have your credit rating trashed.

No
the mortgage is held as joint and several so while he’s named on it you each are 100% liable in your own right. If he doesn’t pay his share you’ll be expected to cover it all. ( and vice versa). If noone pays it ultimately it will be repossessed.

If you are there occupying you pay whole in lieu of paying him "rent"
It s notcworth getting into bad credit.
Get the divorce under way and decide the way forward

No he doesn't have to.

Talk to your mortgage provider about a repayment holiday.

My friend stayed in the joint house and he paid nothing. Still got his 50% share in the divorce though she's been paying for the house alone for a couple of years.

Get the divorce started so you can see what the plan is.

No he doesn't

There is no legal mechanism to force him and if it's a joint mortgage you are ultimately responsible as the person still living there

Legally no, neither of you 'legally' have to pay, but if you don't you'll end up losing the house and have a shitty credit rating.

My exdh left and I ended up paying the mortgage and after an 18 month divorce he swooped in and claimed 50% of the equity, even after I'd paid nearly 12k off the mortgage between the time he left and we got divorced. Fair no, morally fair no, legally fair yes

Yes this is it

I don't know much about them but when there's DV it's sometimes possible to get an occupation order. Sometimes these orders can order the person who's had to move out to still pay the mortgage. According to the information below, the orders last for 6 months).

I'm not sure if you'll be eligible, as you say you can (just about) afford the mortgage on your own?

However, you need to find a solicitor who's experienced in domestic abuse regardless of whether or not you can get an order - so when you find one there's no harm in asking about it.

https://www.brethertons.co.uk/site/blog/what-is-an-occupation-order

@millymollymoomoo is correct. It's simply contract law. You have a contract with the bank that you are both joint and severally liable to. Either the mortgage is paid or the house is repossessed and your credit rating is trashed for 6+ years. Sometimes, if the person moving out is at risk of a Mesher Order lasting longer than 6 years, they prefer to let the house get repossessed.

Normally in these situations the person moving out either pays child maintenance, the mortgage or a combination of the two (for example, if their CMS calculated amount is £500, they might pay £250 of the mortgage and £250 child maintenance).

In theory you could get maintenance pending suit or an order that he contributes to the mortgage but given you are the sole occupant of the house it wouldn't be the norm nowadays and depending on the amount in question it might not be worth the legal fees to pursue. Unless he was particularly well paid (enough to pay a mortgage and rent, so normally well in excess of £100k) then you probably wouldn't get this. Given you earn similar amounts, you would probably find yourself getting ordered to pay the whole mortgage until final settlement albeit you might be allowed to go interest only.

In the end, you're both going to be relying on that home as an asset that you'll likely sell and split the proceeds of. So it absolutely benefits you both to play fair and meet each other half way regarding the mortgage.

You should register your home rights, OP, while you're living in the home. Even if you're on the mortgage, this is a good thing to do. It just gives you and extra layer of protection. Divorce is so stressful and it's important that you just create your own little buffer zone. Home rights is one of those safety measures that just allows us to breathe a little easier. I'm not saying that your ex would do anything underhand, but home rights protects you from that happening. Divorce can bring out the very worst in people we once considered 'the best husband/wife ever'.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-of-home-rights-registration-hr1

@SerenityNowInsanityLater Playing fair would probably be the OP paying the full mortgage as her ex has had to move out and pay rent, probably at a similar if not higher amount than the mortgage. As the ex who has moved out could buy his own place if he could access his share of the equity and remove himself from the joint mortgage, it is only fair that he is compensated for that by the OP paying the full mortgage.

I filed for a Maintenance Pending Suit claim during divorce and financial settlement process. He had to pay me a set amount each month to cover mortgage and bills. He was also ordered to pay me an additional sum to cover back payments.

There was abuse. He was particularly nasty during the separation and subsequent divorce. However, the Court did take his behaviour into account and he was harshly reprimanded and this was reflected in the eventual settlement.

When was this? Because nowadays Maintenance Pending Suit will reduce someone's benefit claims and that means it is rarely worth applying for, especially if the payer is going to be unreliable.

My divorce was finalised just over two years ago. I was on UC at the time.

Surely then the amounts he paid you would have wiped out your UC claim?

Did you pay rent to him? Why would someone pay for a mortgage if someone else is living there and not paying rent?

@JustWalkingTheDogs It never ceases to amaze me how many people don't understand why it is fair (legally and morally) for them to pay the whole mortgage of a house they have sole occupancy of.

Typically the non-resident is unable to get a mortgage (because the occupant is using all of their combined mortgage capacity) and has to pay rent, which is often more expensive than the mortgage.

In this unfortunate situation, why would the non-occupant paying £1k in rent have a lesser claim (legally or morally) in the equity than the occupant paying a £1k mortgage when the root cause of this situation is that the occupant is using the mortgage capacity of both parties?

The way I see it, when one household became two, the cost of housing doubled. It would be wrong both legally and morally for all of the negative financial consequences of that to fall on the party unlucky enough to be the one in rented accommodation.

Can you do a mortgage holiday?

Only if both parties agree. It wouldn't be in the non-occupant spouse's interests to agree to that. If they are not allowed to live in their property, then at the very least they should get an occupational rent from it by the other spouse paying the full mortgage.

Ex not paying rent as far as i know. He has moved back in with his dad. If he admitted the abuse he would have access to the house and put on domestic violence course but he is choosing not to.

Doesn't really matter. You are still enjoying sole use of the home and will be expected to pay for that. I was just explaining the thinking behind it.

I dont need to really.. I did look into it but it can affect your credit apparently and cause payments to increase which doesnt seem worth it

Does your ex have any access to the property?
I was told If ex has no access to property and you're the sole occupant plus he has living costs elsewhere he doesn't have to pay his half. Hope your ok x