Not on mortgage, but married. What am I entitled to?

[Halloumifriesforbreakfast]

Hi,

So my solicitor says nothing, which shocked me, to say the least.

So DW and I are buying our next home together. We were FTB with our last house and I was named on that mortgage. We assumed I would be named on the next house, but unfortunately we couldn't get the approval, unless my DW was solely on the mortgage. This obviously bothered me a lot. Money aside, it just didn't feel right, as I wanted to feel like it was our house and that I wasn't some kind of lodger.

Anyway, we need to move and our mortgage advisor said that because we were married, I would be entitled to half the house anyway and actually, I was under that impression myself.

Now, I understand the mortgage advisor isn't a divorce lawyer or a lawyer of any kind, but as I say, this was my understanding anyway. I had seen a lot of posts about it on MN actually.

We met with our solicitor recently and they said I need protection, as because I'm not named on the mortgage, I would be entitled to nothing. She said something about a declaration of trust, but made out as if that wasn't perfect or a guarantee either. My head was spinning a bit tbh, so I didn't take it all in.

So quite simply, is this true?

TIA

In divorce, it does depend on length of marriage and any dependents but most starting points is 50:50.

You could have had your share in the house registered on the deeds, if not on the mortgage but some mortgage lenders no longer allow this. Make sure you have a paper trail showing what money you put into original property and mortgage payments, also register an interest with the land registry. Registering an interest is different to being on the deeds.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3806935-to-think-the-house-should-be-in-my-name-too

I’m not in the legal profession however, what they said feels right.

Luckily you haven't bought yet, so look into which lenders allow a person that is not on the mortgage to also be on the deeds. (HSBC come up as allowing this.)

Read up on land registry, research declaration of trust. Decide whether you and you wife will be tenants in common or joint tenants.

You've got a lot to look into Op but good luck.

You need a Declaration of Trust or a lender who will allow you to be on the title