Help Needed Re. Buying Out DH

[Raining12345]

DH and I have agreed to split. We want to keep it amicable. Current plan/ideal is for me to stay in the house with the kids (primary age) and him to buy a house somewhere else. Current house is joint owned outright. Where so we start and what do we need to consider. I'm thinking start with getting the house valued to see if I can afford to buy him out, but not even sure how to go about that. An estate agent will likely give a 'best case' price, which will probably be unlikely on the open market so we need a realistic valuation.

You can obtain a more formal valuation from a RICS registered surveyor - which will cost a few hundred pounds, but will be based on their experience and knowledge of property type, condition, and local markets, as well as what they assess mortgage lenders would typically value at / agree to lend.

Get 3 estate agents round and ask them for written valuations. Agree to go for the middle of the three. Then speak to a financial advisor who will talk you through mortgage options etc.

You MUST have a solicitor when agreeing all this as part of the divorce. The last thing you want is to hand over a bunch of cash to your dh and not have it legally agreed he has no further interest or rights to the property during the divorce

You need to have a financial order drawn up that both parties agree to. This isn’t just about the house, it’s about pensions, savings, earnings and needs of both parties to house themselves and their children. It’s very unusual for one party to be able to remain in the marital home without the other party receiving half the equity.

Look on right move sold in your area that will give you a realistic idea. Look at what’s asking, what’s selling, what’s sticking, that will guide you. An estate agent will usually be able to say, if putting on market I’d advise putting on for x and think about accepting offers around y

you also need to know what % you are giving and that will depend on many other factors. Sort this before you agree to buy him out.

Thanks all. I had thought of the three estate agents and then working out the realistic amount from that but didn't know what the more formal approach was. May try that and then go for the RICS if we can't agree.

Absolutely agree about getting it legally processed so that whoever needs to end up on the deeds does so and there's no confusion.

I know there's the whole financial order thing but it's when that comes in that I feel has the potential to change this from amicable to nasty and nit-picking. I've seen elsewhere that even if the parties agree on how they want to split it the Judge can disagree and rule differently. Is that correct? I totally understand that that provides a lot of protection to a lot of people but in this case we really could do without it!

Judges can reject if they believe it’s unfair or imbalanced, or if one or both parties have not had independent legal
advice.

until you look at your full financial picture you don’t know what % of house you’re buying out

Mesher Order and move out when the kids turn 18.

If op can buy his share out then mesher won’t be awarded- it’s used as last resort when there’s no alternative or occasionally if kids are say 16 in the middle of exams and it’s short term.

snd it just kicks the can down the road. They are generally not a good idea

Ask estate agents to give a realistic price what it would sell for within 6 weeks. Don’t say you don’t plan to sell at all say sale will be for divorce and so won’t go on market until legalities are resolved. Say it cannot be an aspiration value. They should give you a fairly accurate view.

I have one and he contributes to the mortgage, our youngest is 6 years old. It works for us, short term is 12 years in this case.

There’s always outliers. That is not the norm, and not usual especially if not a very high earner unless parties agree. And still not advised for most people.

In the case here it’s unlikely as house owned outright and there is equity available for both parties