Previous Marital Debt, DAS, Trust Deed

[ILoveYouMoreTheEnd]

Hi, I'm hoping with the power of MN you can point us in the right direction.

The law here applies to Scotland.

My husband took on all the marital debt of £32k in his divorce, he is currently still on the deeds of the previous marital home and his name is still on the mortgage of previous marital home. He DOES NOT pay anything towards the current mortgage payments. This agreement was so his ex wife could live in peace until 2023 while the fixed rate is still in place and not have to worry about going for a mortgage on her own. He also wanted his children of 22 and 25 to be able to live in the family home and for it not to be sold.

All done through solicitors. He has signed an agreement that he would have no claim over the property once the divorce was finalised.

Now, the marital debt of £32k inc joint debt his ex wife run up is crippling us. He entered into a debt arrangement scheme (DAS) which will take years to pay off. He wanted to go into a trust deed but trust deed Scotland advised that because he had a mortgaged property they would ask for any equity from that to pay the debt. This was before the divorce agreement.

My question for any experts is this, now that there is a legal agreement in place regarding the house that it's hers through divorce can he apply for either a trust deed or bankruptcy? Also would his ex wife be contacted regarding the property? She is a tad difficult to say the very least.

Thanks for reading its a long one I know and any help at all would be appreciated. X

I don’t know anything about DAS, so big disclaimer there. But, I was interested by your post this Scottish debt company says that one of the advantages of DAS is that you don’t have to release equity in the house:

Sorry, ignore me! I just re-read - he’s already in the DAS! It’s the Trust Deed that’s the issue.

I would have though, that the system would be pretty stringent on this. It looks very much like he’s trying to “give away” his asset in order to get his debts written off.
Why would he have agreed to take £32K of debt and leave her all of the equity in the house? He could have secured the house for her and his children for a period of time without giving up a claim to it postponed to a later date - that’s not unusual at all.
Did he trade house equity for pension? Even if he did, I expect it could look like deliberately protecting the equity.

Has he spoken to CAB Scotland?

She wouldn't agree to him having any claim, wanted it all with bells on. It got to the point he was possibly having to take her to court to have a judge grant the divorce as her demands were so unreasonable. One was to do maintenance on the house inside and outside such as cutting the grass, painting and general decorating and general maintenance man basically 😂😂

No he hasn't spoken to CAB hence why I'm asking in general. X

He has signed an agreement that he would have no claim over the property once the divorce was finalised.
Surely he should have had his name taken off the proprty and mortgage at that point?

@TempleofZoom

He has signed an agreement that he would have no claim over the property once the divorce was finalised. Surely he should have had his name taken off the proprty and mortgage at that point?

No, part of the divorce settlement was that he would stay on the mortgage and deeds until the fixed rate was up. Then he will be taken off the deeds and she will have them transferred to her and she has to get a mortgage in her own name. She also has to legally advise his solicitor if she thinks she won't be able to afford any payments and there's a clause it goes up for sale within 4 weeks.

@ILoveYouMoreTheEnd Why on earth would your DH keep on the mortgage that she could potentially default on but not have any claim over the asset? What about the equity that had built up from before his divorce? He should have been paid off from that.

If he’s taken no equity, why has he also agreed to take on her £32k debt? Is this all still in her name? If so, surely he should leave her to pay it back or default if she can’t afford it. He has divorced her but is continuing to financially prop her up and not in an affordable way, but by crippling you financially. His credit rating will be taking a hit from having any debt arrangement in place but why would he do this if it’s not his debt.

He won’t be able to file for bankruptcy or have his debts written off whilst he has his name on the deeds for this property. They will also look into whether he’s recently disposed of assets or taken his name off a property to qualify for bankruptcy. He can’t deprive himself of assets and then have the debt written off.

Did he receive legal advice before doing all of this as it sounds like a foolish idea.

[quote Tranquilitybasehotelandcasino]@ILoveYouMoreTheEnd Why on earth would your DH keep on the mortgage that she could potentially default on but not have any claim over the asset? What about the equity that had built up from before his divorce? He should have been paid off from that.

If he’s taken no equity, why has he also agreed to take on her £32k debt? Is this all still in her name? If so, surely he should leave her to pay it back or default if she can’t afford it. He has divorced her but is continuing to financially prop her up and not in an affordable way, but by crippling you financially. His credit rating will be taking a hit from having any debt arrangement in place but why would he do this if it’s not his debt.

He won’t be able to file for bankruptcy or have his debts written off whilst he has his name on the deeds for this property. They will also look into whether he’s recently disposed of assets or taken his name off a property to qualify for bankruptcy. He can’t deprive himself of assets and then have the debt written off.

Did he receive legal advice before doing all of this as it sounds like a foolish idea.[/quote]
Thanks for the last paragraph, that's what I thought although I'd need to find a time limit as in how many years.

He was advised against doing this by his solicitor and his family and me. He did it to be free of her. It's been explained regarding the default there's a clause in the agreement for her. He is a fool yes, soft and just wanted no more stress and harassment and also to be able to start rebuilding his relationships with his kids.

Thanks for the advice so far everyone.