Can I let the mortgage default if my ex won't "buy me out"

[Dragracer]

Financial order done 2 year ago was that ex had to pay off the remaining mortgage and I was to then transfer ownership to him.

House has always been in my name, mortgage in my name, but then we married, but never put his name on deeds.

He has been paying the mortgsge from our joint account. I want this account closed as I dont want to be financially connected. But then he won't be able to pay the mortgage as the mortgsge isnt in his name so he has no right to discuss it with them.

Aibu to just let it default and end up getting repossessed if he doesn't pay the outstanding balance? There's about 10 years left on the mortgage, I dont want it in my name that long.

Will it be seen as me breaking court order if the house is repossessed rather than me transferring it to him? Even if he hasn't paid what he should.

He has been paying the mortgsge from our joint account. I want this account closed as I dont want to be financially connected

Rather than close the account why not just remove your name from it? That way he will still be on it and be able to continue to pay the mortgage. In fact, I think this is what you will have to do anyway - I don't think you can unilaterally close down a joint account.

So has he not been paying what he was supposed to be paying?

If you let it default and get repossessed you’ll get nothing and you’ll have the defaults on your credit score, this isn’t a logical plan.

Why do you still have a joint account?

Is he paying money into this account to make the mortgage payments which I’m assuming are on a DD from this account?

Are you still using the account? Aren’t joint accounts also supposed to be covered in a financial order?

If the house & mortgage are still in your name can you sell? Is he still living there & you’ve moved out?

No he's supposed to pay the balance, not keep a mortgsge in my name for 10 years.

Tbh because I kinda want to force him to sort it out rather than keep it in my name for 10 years.

Owning a house and having a mortgsge has a massive effect on my finances. I dont want to be stuck like this for 10 years.

@Changingplace

If you let it default and get repossessed you’ll get nothing and you’ll have the defaults on your credit score, this isn’t a logical plan.
I won't get anything anyway, he's paying the mortgsge, not me. My credit score is already shot as leaving him put me in the shit.

Why do you still have a joint account?
Ihave been too scared to ask to close it essentially

Is he paying money into this account to make the mortgage payments which I’m assuming are on a DD from this account?
yes

Are you still using the account? Aren’t joint accounts also supposed to be covered in a financial order?
no. This account want mentioned in the court order. Maybe I should have included it would be closed but it wouldnt have been an issue if he wasnt still using it for the mortgsge.

If the house & mortgage are still in your name can you sell? Is he still living there & you’ve moved out
butsurely thst would.be breaking the financial order? Yes.

And is he making the mortgage payments from the joint account, and putting money into that account to cover the payments?

Is there any equity in the house? I don't see how your ex can pay off the mortgage and you hand over ownership? That leaves him with a house and you with nothing.

That aside, in the short-term, set up a rental agreement. He pays you rent equivalent to the mortgage, you pay the mortgage. Close the joint account.

Next step, you tell him you are selling the house. He has first dibs of buying it. Price is xyz. He needs to arrange his own mortgage to purchase the house from you. Sale goes through transferring ownership from you to him, his solicitor transfers funds from him to your solicitor, your solicitor pays off your mortgage. You are free to buy somewhere else.

If he can't/won't raise the funds to buy the house from you, it goes on the open market and he is evicted.

I'm struggling to see why a solicitor advised you to agree a financial order that specified he would pay off the mortgage. It should have been a specific ££ amount transferred to you for you to transfer ownership to him.

If he defaults on and it gets repossessed they will come after you and only you as your on the deeds / mortgage

If they sell it at auction for less than it’s worth they can chase you for up to 12 years for the shortfall

I think your overthinking this. If he was supposed to pay off the mortgage then most people do this by remortgaging with transfer of equity. It’s been complicated that it wasn’t sorted immediately. If it’s in your name I think you can still be liable if he defaults. I think you should revisit the order.

You can’t just default on a mortgage in the U.K. like you can in the US. You’re still
liable and the bank will come after you, plus I believe you get all the baggage of being a debtor, not being able to get credit or a bank account etc.

Can you consult a lawyer as to the best way forward here? Was the agreement that he would pay it off immediately or continue to pay the 10 year term? One solution appears to be to transfer the mortgage into his name, rather than yours, so that he can pay it direct rather via your joint account, however perhaps there is a reason why this wasn’t done originally?

But it’s in your name? it will affect you heavily in the future. They will chase you for the balance

If both mortgage and deeds are in your name then sell it and be done. No ties financially or otherwise. Either way you will be breaking a court order only this way you will end up better off.

She won’t be able to do this because he has an interest in the property backed up with a court order.

Well it seems daft that it is her name on property, mortgage etc and she has to sign it over to him. I cant understand why it wasnt an option to sell it rather than get her to transfer the title to him anyway.

Are you still living in property? If not occupancy is usually a clause so notify them and ask on next steps

I've notified the bank, they've said that so long as its still being paid monthly they won't do anything about it. Technically its a breach of contract but essentially they dont really care. But i figured if I fucked the direct debit, he wouldnt be able to set another up as its not.gis mortgsge. And he'll either pay the sum as agreed or the bank will take it.

Whether the court order had said to pay me or the mortgage company it wouldnt change that he hasnt paid, so I can't transfer the ownership, so I'm stuck with a mortgsge on a house I technically own but can't do anything with.

He lives in the house. I owned another house as well so I got one and he got one but he had to clear the mortgsge.

The mortgage is approximately a quarter of the value so they would sell it for enough to cover the mortgsge easily.

He wouldnt have agreed to selling the house as his finaces are dodgy and he isnt mortgsgeable. His only.option is to keep the house and pay the rest in cash.

I thought the discomfort of living in a house I owned would compell him to get on with it but 3 years later and here we are.

You need to go back to court and either get the first one enforced, or changed. It's going to hurt, and your ex is relying on this so you don't do anything, but you are hurting anyway.

First stop make a solicitor's appointment to go over your options.

I would go back to the solicitor who you did the financial order through and get some advice, I would be pushing to sell the property if he’s not paid you what he owes.

By not paying up he’s already in breach of the court order, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to force a sale given he’s not upheld his end for so long.