House/mortgage advice please

[Sasquatch75]

Exh and I separated this summer. He's decided he wants to take his name off the mortgage when it comes up for renewal in a few months time.

The mortgage is £120k and I stay at home looking after our DCs, youngest is 2 years old, so have no income.

Can he do this?

I'm actually paying the mortgage on my own and managing finances fine as he earns a lot so pays a good amount of cm.

Would I be able to transfer the mortgage into my name only seeing as I don't work? Or would his name have to stay there for security until I can either take it on myself or the youngest child turns 16?

No useful advice other than speak to a solicitor and mortgage advisor. Just because your ex is paying now does not mean he will continue to.

Depends whether the bank will allow it. And that depends on whether they think the maintenance is secure enough to pay the mortgage. They might require a guaruntor.
I would phone them up and ask them but phrase it very hypothetically (thinking of splitting up...) to find out what their rules are. Then work out how best to meet them.

I've recently split with DH and am in the process of taking his name off the mortgage. They wanted 3 months wage slips, tax credit award notice in sole name, 3 months bank statement showing maintenance and proof of debts repayments. It's taking about 2 months to change the name and costs about £500 inc solicitors fees.

Noisytoys, do you work then?

I do think my ex will carry on with the cm payments, as he isn't being nasty and wants the DCs to stay in their home. He also doesn't really care about money and certainly isn't the money grabbing kind. He's willing to just sign the house over to me without me paying him anything (he'd only be due around £15k as I put money down from the sale of my old house). But doesn't care about that money, just wants a clean break so he can buy a house with ow presumably.

The solicitor would presumably change the name on the deeds?

Purpleroses... maybe he would be the guarantor lol.

Please get legal advice, whilst this may be perfectly reasonable you need to protect your children's home.

This is a bad idea if your sole means of making mortgage payments is from the CM - and I don't think the bank will agree to it either. I wouldn't advise agreeing to have the mortgage in your sole name until you have an earned income sufficient to cover the payments. you can't guarantee that CM will always be he same and shouldn't base long term financial decisions on it - it sounds to me as if he might be planning to screw you over - for as long as his name is on the mortgage and payments come out of CM, there is no point in him trying to reduce what he gives you as he is legally and enforcably responsible for making those payments. if his name is off the mortgage it becomes much more difficult to force him to keep paying if he chooses to stop - which he is much more likely to try to do if he takes on another mortgage with the OW. His name SHOULD stay on your mortgage because if he is planning to take on another mortgage he should only do so if he can prove to the bank that his income is sufficient to cover both.

I do work on an average (ish) 18k salary. The mortgage company accepted all income towards the calculation for how much I can borrow, even the 70% childcare tax credit payment that goes direct to the nursery!

Just writing so its on my list but have had vine with some friend. I had exactly the same thing but will reply better in the morning x

You need legal advice. IME generous offers of maintenance and financial support are motivated by guilt. It usually doesn't take long for the happy couple to start thinking that him paying you so much money really isn't fair after all and their housing needs are much more of a priority than yours. So many NRPs start to place conditions on financial support, particularly if they have an OW cheerleading. You may find that as long as you behave (i.e do as you are told) then things may stay settled. Throw her getting pregnant into the mix and all of a sudden, your childrens needs fall way down the priority list and relationships with your Wx can sour very quickly.
You really neeed to get legal advice from a good family law solicitor.

Agree with the others - please get proper professional advice. Unfortunately as amicably as it all is now, it won't necessarily stay that way (although fingers crossed it does).

yes get legal advice. I come at this from two lots of experience.

first when I bought first house over 15 yes ago. split with then dp. had house signed over to just me but cost me then £200 to do that.

now separating from husband and he too has said I can have house. however solicitor says I would have to apply for a transfer of equity and mortgage company would want to see I can pay mortgage and he would have to sign to agree and would cost with bank.

dont think it has any bearing on financial settlement of if you are married as all assets taken into account. but def gets some advice from an official place.

Mortgage is a debt.
Owning the house is a separate matter.

Why would you want to take on the debt of the mortgage???? Especially as you have no way of paying it unless ex pays it for you? A lender would never lend to you in your own name for that exact reason. You are a major risk.

Having your name on the deeds as sole owner is a separate issue and I doubt your ex is offering this. If he is it's only worth as much as the equity in the house.

You need to take legal advice and get a consent order agreeing a financial separation

Thanks for all the replies.

So I guess I probably can't get a mortgage on my own anyway... What if exh really wants his name off the mortgage though... Would he be able to force the sale of the house? Or am I entitled to live here until the youngest turns 16?

I think these questions are, as previous posters have said, best put to a properly qualified adviser now. I don't think you are "entitled" to live in that specific house, no - for a start, he could go bankrupt and the bank could force the sale of the house (and some NRPs have done this deliberately in order to sever financial ties). And it is also possible for him to force the sale of the house even without this (though he may need a court order to do so, depending on circumstances). It's possible that he could make you move to somewhere cheaper. However, there are so many factors involved and random strangers on the internet know so little about your situation that we can't give you definitive answers - which is probably why no-one else has added to this thread for a couple of days.

I think it's highly unlikely you will get a mortgage without an income. By income, I mean wage. Look at it from lenders point of view. They lend a large debt on the basis that two people can pay it back. They need exact details of wages and credit history in order to assess their risk. A few yrs later one of those people says I don't wish to be held responsible for this debt anymore...is that ok. We keep the money you gave us and you let me off the debt?. Of course it's not. Which means you have to ask the lender to reassess you as a risk and take a mortgage out on your own.

That's the lenders reason to not release exH. From your point of view: Think of it as a car loan. You jointly have a car but whose name is on the certificate of ownership. If it is exHs and he decides to leave you paying the car loan...with promises of giving you the money, would you say yes to that? Two months later he takes the car (it's his by certificate so he can) but you still have the debt because that is in your name.

You really need legal advice because otherwise you are going to get into a pickle.

No you don't have an automatic right to stay in the house until child is 16. Yes he could force a sale. However you do have rights (as well as responsibilities) so talk to someone who can help you.

The current divorce laws expect both parents to contribute financially to a child's upbringing. For your own sake I would consider how to make yourself financially more independent.

Something like 68% of lone parents receive no child maintenance whatsoever. I'm one of them. On separation my exH wanted the DC to stay in their own home, the DC were his priority and he would make sure we were alright. He wasn't money orientated, he wasn't nasty. It's amazing how quick that all changes when reality of divorce hits. Please get some advice.

FInally I am back. Hope you and a good christmas and new year. My ex did this to me and my DS and I even and a solicitors letter stating they were going to take me to court. I called his solicitor and told them I knew about section1 of the children's act, that I was paying the whole mortgage and had down since he left, that I couldn't see any judge throwing me out my house when the mortgage was less than rent in the area and that if I rented I would only be able to afford a one bed flat. 2 days later I received a letter stating they were not going to take me to court for now.

You wil not get a mortgage in your own name unless you work and earn around £27,000 at least for that amount. I do and get CSA and as it comes straight out of his wages it can be classed as income too. If his CM does not come straight out of his wages into your bank most mortgage companies will disregard it as it will not be guaranteed.

You do have some rights to stay in the house until the youngest child is 18 but this depends on how big the house is e.g. big house 6 bed house and you only have 2 kids etc. I think that he can sign the rights of the house over to you but whether that means he can buy another house is a different matter. I believed my ex was a fantastic father and would always put DS first but that turned out to be a right load of shite and he thought nothing of turfing us out so that he could forget I ever existed and marry OW. Don't underestimate the power of the OW getting want she wants. Know you rights and go and see CAB.

Thanks for the advice. We have 3 DCs and only a 3 bed house, so downsizing isn't an option. My friend seems to think he can't force the sale of the house... I'm going to speak to a solicitor when the kids are back at school next week.