Would buying a house with my husband offer any financial protection?

[ThePeppyMentor]

Really need some advice so hoping someone can help. I am not very familiar with how mortgages work and I'm aware it's something I need to go and research a lot more.

I'm currently married with a 4yo DS and renting a property with my husband. He is the breadwinner and I work part time. He earns a good salary but is terrible with money and won't be transparent about what he's spending his money on. We have a joint account which we pay bills out of but each have our own personal accounts for discretionary spending.

Recently he's gone over his credit card limit on a number of occasions and I'm worried that we would not be able to rent out another property with his credit history being what it is. Basically, my question is would I be an idiot to buy a house with him or would this afford myself and my child some protection? Is there some way to financially protect myself if we did buy a house? I'm planning on speaking to a solicitor too but thought I would ask here as well.

For reasons I'm not going to go into here, divorce is not currently an option.

If you purchase a house and you are both named on the mortgage then you are both liable for the payments. Should he default the lender still requires payment from you. There is no protection if one named party fails to meet the conditions of payment. It might be better to avoid buying a house until your husband is able to manage his finances better.

Would he be prepared to pay his salary direct into a household account (under your control ) from which you pay the mortgage? And then transfer an amount each month for discretionary spending?

Does he recognise that he is not good with money? And would consequently co-operate with a system designed to ensure mortgage payments?

I'm afraid he would have to get his finances in order before any mortgage company would lend to you.

Yeah if you think the credit checks for renting are stringent, just wait until you apply for a mortgage. No one is going to lend a really large amount of money to someone irresponsible who keeps going over their credit limit.

Yes, sorry I should have said, he does currently pay his wages into our joint account which I have full control over.