Consent order help please

[Loobyloo1961]

In the financial remedy under the heading the lump sum order it says :- the applicant shall xfr to the respondent all his legal estate and beneficial interest in "the family home" subject to the mortgage secured on the property within 56 days from the date of this order. At the moment we are both on the mortgage. My question is will he only xfr the house if I get a mortgage in my name? What happens if I cant? Will he still have a claim? Thank you

A consent order is too important to deal with in this way. It's got to be right or can have a massive impact on future finances. You need proper legal advice with someone who knows about your financial situation and can tell you what's best for you. Either contact a mediation organisation - legal aid is still available for mediation subject to your income, or spend some money on advice from a solicitor.

AliCat36 From the OP it seems the order has already been made.

OP - when does the 56 days run from?

The order should contain an undertaking by you to do your best to release the other party from the mortgage. That means that as soon as the order is made, if not before, you should have applied for a new mortgage - either with the existing lender or a new one. If you get rejected, or if your mortgage advisor tells you there's simply no point applying, he will have to transfer the property to you and the mortgage remains in joint names. I assume that you served the mortgage lender with either your application for financial remedy or a draft of the consent order (if made by consent) - if not, the lender could refuse to consent to the transfer of property.

Hi thanks for answering. The 56 days is from the absolute date. The mortgage lender says he can't be released off the mortgage unless I apply on my own. Just worried he can't come off mortgage and still has rights over house the way that the lump sum order is worded

If you get rejected, or if your mortgage advisor tells you there's simply no point applying, he will have to transfer the property to you and the mortgage remains in joint names

That doesn't seem fair - he gets none of the equity but all of the liability in the event the OP stops paying..?

It's part of the divorce settlement. He's not paid any of the mortgage. It wasn't the marital home. He stayed on the mortgage because at the time I couldn't get a mortgage. I'm taking less of his pension for him to gave no claim on the house

That doesn't seem fair - he gets none of the equity but all of the liability in the event the OP stops paying..?

That is completely irrelevant to the question in the OP. Obviously the husband thought it fair enough that he agreed to it.

Anyway, OP, you haven't mentioned how the lump sum part of the order is worded, and what you have described is a transfer of property order.

You must, urgently, apply to the existing lender for a transfer of equity. They will treat it like a new mortgage application. It will take a few weeks for them to process it, which was why I asked when the 56 days runs from. I'm still none the wiser about how much longer you've got.

We are applying the consent order with the decree absolute. When I sign the order it will go to the judge to sign the absolute and the 56 days is ftom the absolute. The lump sum is worded exactly as I have posted. I was just worried that it said subject to mortgage being secured within 56 days. My concern was if I wasn't able to secure a mortgage is that he would still have financial interest in the house. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. It's my first post. Thank u all for replying

OK I see what you've done.

Firstly, it isn't a lump sum order, whatever the paragraph heading erroneously says. A lump sum order requires one party to pay the other a sum of money. What you have is a transfer of property order, and your interpretation has the emphasis all wrong. To properly understand what it means you need to insert some commas:

the applicant shall xfr to the respondent all his legal estate and beneficial interest in "the family home", subject to the mortgage secured on the property, within 56 days from the date of this order.

The 56 days refers to the deadline for him to transfer the property in to your name. If by then you haven't used your best endeavours to apply for a new mortgage or to release him from the current mortgage he can reasonably refuse to transfer the property in to your name, but if you have applied and been refused he'll have to transfer it and the existing mortgage, in both names, will remain secured on the property. Serve the draft order on the lender before you lodge it in court.

Thank you. That's put my mind at rest