Conveyancing help please worried

[Oceandegree]

Ok me and h have been separated 3 years completly different addresses. Bought family home in 2012 but h only put his name on deeds and mortgage. I moved out with kids and trying to get my own place as Ive had to rent until now. He still lives in the 3 bed in London.

I thought I'd be classed as a ftb but my solicitor now thinks I won't be. Stamp duty would work out about 9000 if I don't as we are not yet divorced.

You’re a ftb if you’ve never owned a property. If you aren’t on the deeds, then you’re not the owner. Your solicitor seems ultra conservative

I'm panicking so much MeMe. I'll have to stop everything if this is the case. I am working with L and C for my mortgage and they told me I did origionally.

I’m not an expert, but common sense would say you didn’t own that house so therefore you’re a first time buyer.

I hope common sense is the way the regulations work.

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/blog/stamp-duty-for-first-time-buyers-your-questions-answered

You are a FTB, I cannot see any reason why you won't be. The rules are clear, if you have NEVER had your name on the deeds to a house, then you are a FTB.

Have you seen this guidance? There's nothing in the notes (chapter 3) to say living in a spouse's house counts as a purchase.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/stamp-duty-land-tax-relief-for-first-time-buyers-guidance-note

I think you need to ask your solicitor where they're getting their advice from. And direct them to the government notes on it.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/stamp-duty-land-tax-relief-for-first-time-buyers/stamp-duty-land-tax-relief-for-first-time-buyers

Taken from the above A first time buyer is defined as an individual or individuals who have never owned an interest in a residential property in the United Kingdom or anywhere else in the world and who intends to occupy the property as their main residence.

Thank you everyone. I was devastated to hear that from her. I'm waiting for her reply.

Maybe your solicitor is interpreting the "owned an interest" in that if your DH is paying you a share of the house value, that you owned an interest in it?

I would ask your solicitor to get a second opinion from a partner and to explain why you do not qualify.

Basically she said as we were married it would still be classed as shared (even though we've lived apart for the last 3 years. The house being only in his name means he can do whatever he wants with it surely?

From the .gov website....

Spouses and civil partners
You may be viewed as the owner of a property if it’s owned by your spouse or civil partner.

This means if one of you already owns a property and the other person purchases another property, the purchase will be charged at the higher rates.

Spouses or civil partners that are permanently separated will not be treated in this way.

I think it is worth getting another opinion by calling a couple of different solicitors for a conveyancing quote and ask their opinion (don’t mention you will receive proceeds from the sale, as that is only if a court defines it as part of alimony from your ex-H’s assets. At the moment you don’t have any ownership)

It doesn't look like the law should apply if you are separated. I think that you do need to get a couple more solicitors opinions on this.

Have you posted this in legal matters? You might get some actual solicitors to reply on there

Thank you, I'll do that. Sounds pretty complicated. Everything has gone pear shaped today. He has reduced what he originally said I could have so i now have a 20,000 shortfall before land tax if that applies.
He's on nearly £100,000 a year with £20,000 bonuses and I'm on 12,000 a year with support from tax credits. Plus he wanted to stay in the family home worth around £450K while I've been renting.
Maybe I should have got a divorce a while ago but I thought we were ok as we were. Kind of amicable.
I'm going to have to pull out now I think, it's still early days and I don't think fees have been paid yet but still feel rotten. :(

The good news is that I was accepted for the 65K mortgage that I'd applied for. (which will dent my credit score though :()

A mortgage offer is usually valid for a few months so look at your options and keep looking