Partner still tied financially to ex wife

[Fuzzynavelgazer]

My partner and his ex wife split 11 years ago and he divorced last year. Upon the split, he left the family home with no hope of reconciliation. My partner paid child support (an amount determined between he and his ex) into a joint account that they hold together. This account still exists in both names.
Partner is named on the mortgage of their old house and on the deeds yet there was an agreement (nothing legal) that he wants no part of the house. All nicey nicey and well and good.

Now, partner and I have recently moved in together (been together 4 years) and his address details have been changed with the bank.

I am wondering what the financial implications are of him still being tied to the ex wife with the joint account and the mortgage but living with me.
I understand that as his name is on the mortgage etc, he's still jointly liable should she default on the payments - but is there anything else that im missing.

I'm not inclined to put our finances together all the time there's these links to the ex wife and maybe opening myself up to some kind of risk - but I'm unsure as to what sort of risk there actually is.

Ideally one day, we'd like to buy a property together but I cant see that happening whilst they're still tied financially but don't know whether my concerns are justified.

Can someone please let me know whether my concerns are reasonable and what exactly my worries should be.

Thank you

He can’t have divorced without a financial consent order - what does that say?

if he has his name on the mortgage he can’t get another one and upon the sale of the property as he doesn’t live there he will be liable for capital gains tax on his half of the house.

Theres no Consent order. The divorce was done online through the divorce court and was simply signed off as all amicable and the split was over 5 years prior.

I thought that about the mortgage thing, but overlooked the capital gains tax. That's interesting, thank you

They are two separate things. You don't have to have a financial consent order as part of the divorce. We didn't. It's better to do it though no doubt about it.

OP your partner will still be tied to his ex financially. She has a claim on any money he has or will get without an order in place. That would include a new house he buys.

I only know as I am in this position and neither of us have taken the step to get it sorted out.

Yes he can, a divorce and financial consent order are two seperate things.

I wouldn't want to be tied to an ex, even less if I were the gf of the man tied to his ex

You’d probably have to pay extra stamp duty as technically it’s his second home.

He needs a financial consent order asap. Otherwise if you won the lottery she could claim. If he bought a house she could claim. Outlandish but it can happen!! Just get one drawn up and signed it’s pretty easy

Keep your finances separate and do not buy a property etc until this is sorted. Make sure that it is done properly. Take legal advice

He needs to get appropriate legal advice and get his name taken off the deeds and the mortgage. He would be liable if she defaults and with a cost of living crisis the risk of that could be a lot higher. He should also get his name taken off all the bills - council tax, water, utilities, cable etc as he will be liable for those too. Whilst he is legally associated with the property his credit rating could also be affected by any bad debt associated with that address.

Of course if his Ex gets more worried about affordability of the house and bills the good terms of their agreement might not hold true. He needs to get on it ASAP.

He doesn't sound very financially or legally sensible OP.