What happens here with split?

[Mrsalone]

Not married own a house together jointly but there is very little equity as we have a low deposit and only bought a year ago. We have 2 DC. I couldn’t afford the mortgage alone but DH could easily and could get a mortgage for my share if that makes sense.

In event of split can he force through sale of house? Can I refuse and keep him liable for mortgage if he leaves?

Probably. You are not married. See attached. He doesn’t have to agree to what you want. But he might. You need an amicable agreement to house the children.

How long do you expect him to pay mortgage on house he would t actually be living in op?

can he get another mortgage while also tied to this one?? ( not many people can)

No he couldn’t afford 2 mortgages. But we have the children. Doesn’t he have a responsibility to house them? (By continuing to pay his half of the mortgage). Surely he can’t force a sale and leave us with nothing.

It could also be argued that if you're living there you would need to cover the mortgage- your half and also paying his half to cover rent for staying in His half of the property

Yes he can force a sale, in which case I'd be inclined to let him buy you out. At least that way, one of you gets to keep the house and the children will have at least some familiarity.

Unless he is the resident parent (the children primarily live with him) he has very little financial responsibility towards his children in the eyes of the law. The sum total of it is 16% of his gross weekly income, that's it.

If you were married he may also have some financial obligation towards you, but you are not.

The resident parent has the full responsibility to house and pay for all the children's needs. If the non-resident parent has no income, they can pay nothing at all. And if they are on benefits its about £7 a week.

So if you cannot take the mortgage on your salary, you will need to sell and pay rent somewhere with what you earn. Unless he is the resident parent, or agrees to something else.

@Mrsalone
You are also responsible for your DC. You didn’t get married so he’s not wholly responsible. I find it odd that women don’t realise the situation they might get in by not being married. You have a responsibility towards your children too. So no, he doesn’t have to house DC or keep the house for you. You can be resident parent in a rented house.

This is a legal thread and sure a trained solicitor will be along to advise but yes I think it’s possible he could force a sale although even in cases where parents are unmarried housing children is still a priority

even if you were married there is no automatic right to remain in the house until the children are 18 certainly no automatic right to him continuing to pay the mortgage

So, how long do you want to try to force him to continue to pay for a house he does not live in? ( is he high earner ?)

You can’t force him to leave and he can’t force you to leave, but he could force a sale. You have as much responsibility to house your children as he does, and if you’re living at separate addresses, he will have to have somewhere suitable for the children to live when they’re with him.

A responsibility to “house” doesn’t mean that exact same house.or location.

No, with a joint mortgage both parties have to agree to sell.

in fact, he could walk out the door tomorrow and pay nothing more towards the mortgage ever again and leave u with the entire mortgage to pay

this happened to a friend of mine. Ex refused to pay any more of the mortgage and wouldn’t even agree to remortgage when fixed term ended so she ended up paying higher variable rates on her mortgage than necessary

she couldn’t afford to buy him out and, as the equity in the house increased over the years, the amount to buy him out simply also increased. Putting her in an impossible situation

the bank won’t care who is paying the mortgage, as long as it gets paid.

years later and many many solicitors negotiations later, she managed to buy him out and he managed to make a tidy sum of money from a house he hadn’t contributed towards in about 5 years. (They only lived in the house for about 6 months before he left)

He’s not any less responsible for the children whether married or not. But there is no split of matrimonial property etc. you both leave with what you came with

This isn’t true- you can get an order for sale. However it can be difficult to force the other party to cooperate such that buyers are not put off.

You aren't married and therefore your financial responsibilities to each other are very limited.

The fact you have children really doesn't help you unless he is a very high earner (and you could make a claim under Schedule 1 Children Act)

If you intend to be the primary carer of the children, his financial liabilities are limited to a proportion of his monthly earnings. You would then be responsible for housing them.

In respect of the house,

If you hold the house as "joint tenants" you each own 50/50 of the house and when it is sold, and after expenses are paid, you will each get 50/50 of what's left.

If you hold the house as "tenants in common" you each own the house in whatever shares the deeds say.

Either one of you can force the sale of the house.

To stay in the house, any court would expect you to be responsible for the mortgage, get his name taken off the mortgage and buy him out.

I'm sorry but not being married, your options are limited. You should start considering other housing options (council / private rent / buying another smaller property you could afford with your equity etc)

@MsPincher
I didn’t infer he was less responsible but paying all the mortgage, as op wants, makes him more financially responsible. It also
means he cannot release his assert. So it’s a case of agreeing what each party can reasonably do as they are not married. A partner waking out and paying nothing is the (best avoided) nuclear option. The children do need to be housed but not necessarily in this house paid for by one unmarried parent.

You are also responsible for housing the children. If you can’t afford to buy him out the house will need to be sold and you’ll need to buy a new house/rent as will he