Where to start!

[Mgods]

Hi, I'm posting on behalf of my daughter. Her 6 year relationship has come to an end. They have a 2 year old boy who is waiting for a autism diagnosis. They moved into their property last October. The value of the house hasn't changed. Her partner as offered to buy her out for 10k! He is being very irrational & irractic at the moment. He has told her no rental agents will consider him as a rental applicant because his name is on a mortgage? He earns 60k & my daughter earns 38k. The rental market in her area is extortionate. Without a decent deposit she will be unable to buy her own place. Where does she stand? Will he just have to pay her child maintenance? She's worried about nursery fees, her little boy is so settled & happy in nursery & she really doesn't want to move him. I think it will be detrimental to his wellbeing if he's moved. Obviously the nursery comes at a price & she couldn't afford it on her own. Would she be entitled to any benefits? She's also worried about the cost of a solicitor. How do they sort out his visitation rights? I don't trust him to stick to his word in any of this promises. Sorry for all the questions. Many thanks for reading, any advice will be gratefully received.

Start with Wikivorce - government backed website with all sorts of information and advice.
https://divorce.wikivorce.com

Can’t help with much on there, but the part about not getting a rental agreement because he has a mortgage is rubbish. I have two mortgages (family home and buy to let) and am currently renting because I moved out. As long as you pass affordability checks you can rent.

Are they married?
How much equity is in the house? If he wants to buy her out, he needs to give her half of it (unless there’s a legal agreement between them that states otherwise).
Entitledto is a good site to find out what she’s entitled to benefits wise. She may get help towards childcare.
Initially, she can go through child maintenance service, they’ll work out what her ex needs to pay her monthly.

They aren't married and there is no equity in the house. Thank you.

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Are they tenants in common in the house? All she will get is half the equity of the house if so, if there is no equity and he's offering to buy her out then thats fair enough what does she want? Can she take on the mortgage?

Sorry for my ignorance... tenants in common? It's a joint mortgage. She can't afford to take on the mortgage alone.

I think you need to be realistic. Their incomes will be very similar and neither are high earners that put them in spousal maintenance territory. As he is in higher rate bracket the net income on 60k won’t be too dissimilar to 38k,

its most likely that the house will need to be sold, split 50:50 or very near other and then depending on child arrangements cms due based on that. Or if one party wants to buy the others share out that might be one outcome - if mortgage company allows and they can pay all mortgage and bills in their own

I expect there isn’t alot of assets but these will need declaring including both parties pensions. I’m presuming they’re young so these likely not high and possibly not overly relevant.

she should be able to get help with childcare fees.

she should get legal advice but legal fees can run into 10s of thousands if they fight over largely non existent assets.

if they can’t afford to buy they’ll go into rented like thousands of other people.

it’s possible he can’t afford to rent and pay share of house - many people can’t - hence they live together while going through the process of divorce and financial settlement

Oh I just see she’s not married.
then it’s really simple. If they own the house as joint tenants they each own 50%. So any equity there is after selling fees /2 is what they’re each owed.

pensions don’t come into it,

she’ll get cms based on childcare arrangements. That’s it.

Joint tenancy is when two or more people own a property equally. It does not matter if one person paid 70% or even 100% of the deposit or mortgage payments. When you own as joint tenants, all the owners have equal rights to the whole property.

Not really much she can do really as they weren't married, her ex could just force the sale of the house and any equity that did exist would be eaten up with conveyancer and estate agent fees, or she can accept the 10k and move on.

If she can’t afford yo take on the mortgage alone the house will be sold. He won’t have to pay to contribute and she can’t get a mesher as they’re not married.

he will be able to force a sake ultimately

When you buy a house you either own as tenants in common ( usually unequal shares stated by way of deed of trust) or joint tenants. You can google those to get more information. The deeds of house tell you which. Usually joint tenants unless specifically discussed and agreed to tenants in common.

all she is owed is her share of house if there is any plus cms

If there is no equity in the house then maybe she should take the 10k. She should enter her details into a benefit calculator. The high childcare costs could mean she qualifies but she probably is on the cusp of earning too much to qualify for benefits. She may get help with renting though if she qualifies. She is in a difficult position as he won’t have to pay half the childcare and maintenance. He might though. She needs to look at the maintenance calculator and have a look what is reasonable for her to pay.

If they aren’t married then she’ll get CM and that’s it

If they’re not married and no equity, I would take the £10k if I were her!
If they sell, she’d have to pay half the selling fees etc and could end up very out of pocket.

She needs to apply for Universal Credit, they woll pay for up to 85% of childcare costs, they can also help with rent. They do not help with mortgage costs. She needs to get that application in ASAP.

If they agree 50/50 for the child then ex won't pay CMS. But again there is a CMS calculator where you can work out roughly what he will have to pay depending on how much he earns and how many nights he has the child.

What deposit did they put in? That and anything paid since they bought the house will be split 50/50. If she can't afford the mortgage she will need to rent.

They child try mediation to discuss the house and child arrangements. It might help a smoother conversation with that impartial third party. You can currently get a voucher through the government for the first couple of sessions. So call a Mediator and ask about it. Hopefully can all be agreed outside of court as that isn't fun at all.

Thank you for your reply.

Hey love this must be mad stressful. Good for you helping your daughter. I think the reason he is saying 10k is because there's no money in the house, so thats all he can offer. Because there not married its only the house she's got claim to. She needs to go to the local council and say she's being made homeless, he may want to share custody so its likely he will not have to give her any housekeeping ass its 50/50. Your daughter is a good earner and she with your help will be fine 🙂