Divorce - Marital Home advice needed

[cornerstone75]

DH's brother is separating from his wife, and it is becoming v.acrimonious. He wants to move out of the house (they have no children) as he has been sleeping on the couch for a while now, but has been vaguely advised by his solicitor not to. He pays the mortgage and wants to just leave and not pay anymore...long story but house v.expensive and he didn't want to go for it in first place.
He says he's not bothered about repossession, but surely this will affect his future prospects for getting a mortgage? Please can someone advise on this as we are concerned for him.
Thank you

According to Shelter, not only will it affect his future prospects for getting a mortgage, it will affect his ability to find rented accommodation.

thank you for the tip on Shelter, I will have a look at their website.

Yes, it will affect his chances of him obtaining a mortgage in the future so he really should not stop paying towards the mortgage even if he does move out.

Are either of them looking at issuing divorce proceedings in the near future or are they thinking about going for 2 years separation? In my opinion it would be best to try to resolve the financial aspects of the breakdown of their marriage sooner rather than later so that they both know where they stand and he can move on and perhaps purchase his own property. If the matrimonial home is too big/expensive for her to keep and maintain then the sensible thing would be to agree to sell and market it as soon as possible. If she will not agree, then his only option really is to issue ancillary relief (financial) proceedings which will get the ball rolling with regards to the possibility of an order for sale. This can only be issued once divorce proceedings have been issued so he needs to give thought to that.

I'd recommend he think about instructing a lawyer who is a member of Resolution, have a look at their website for ones local to him.

Thank you
She is being really difficult and unreasonable, and refusing to discuss matters. She also refuses to pay anything towards the costs of the house despite the fact they both work. I think this is the main reason he wants to stop, he is struggling and can't afford the solicitor he has already been to see (sol. is a member of Resolution)
I think the main concern is whether if the house is repossessed, could he stand to lose his other assets? He really has had enough and I get the impression doesn't care if he has to live with FIL and MIL for the foreseeable, but he has built a business up and if he loses that he will be devastated.

The fact that she is being difficult and unreasonable is precisely why he has to get things moving on the divorce and finances. All well and good him saying he doesn't care if he has to live with his parents but if the house is re-possessed he could end up living with them forever as there is a good chance he will be blacklisted for a very long time. And yes, this could affect his business. He needs to stop burying his head in the sand and take action. I appreciate it is a lot of money to see a solicitor now, however it could be money well spent in the long run.

I agree, just wish we could help him with the legal costs, DH v.worried about it all. I think BIL thinks she won't risk losing the house and will pay the mortgage, she has the money to do that. But as I understand it this could affect his share even though he has been paying the mortgage for last 3 years?

Is the mortgage in both their names? He needs to push for a sale. He is quite entitled not to pay for a house he is not living in - the problem occurs if she won't either!!! How much equity is there in the house?

Hi Helen

Yes it is in both their names. It is about 150k equity.

Need to get it sold asap then or they could both lose out. I would stop paying if she really won't pay cos i bet she will want some equity & for her credit rating not to be damaged.

If he stops making his share of the mortgage payments, it could affect why hard of the proceeds of sale he recovers in the end.

He should press on with petitioning for divorce (on grounds of her unreasonable behaviour if no adultery) and get on with the ancillary relief proceedings to sort out the house.

Also if the house is not repossessed but they decide to sell, if he's not there wife will control viewings etc and could hugely delay the sale

Iwantcandy - yes absolutely, it is precisely what would happen, she doesn't want to let the house go, but expects him to cover the outstanding mortgage - that is what she has demanded, the house, and the 200k odd to cover the outstanding mortgage.

A real mess, just hope it is over soon. I will speak to DH today about pushing for solicitor, BIL is def. struggling to cope with it.

Thanks for advice
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