Just found out DP is guarantor for his ex wife's rent

[lemore]

I've just found a guarantor agreement dating back to 2011 (when they divorced) stating that he will be liable for her rent if she faces financial difficulty. I've always wondered how she managed to get a rental property since she's never worked and I think I suspected that DP might have acted as guarantor and I can see why he would if that was the only way she could get a home (especially as they have kids) but not sure about the financial position this puts US in? She's good with her finances as far as I know but it's in the back of my head now that we're liable for HER rent!! We're hoping to get married next year, our finances are already shared and we already live together.

Should I be concerned or just forget about it?

My colleague's husband is minted and is very generous to his first wife. Why not? He can afford it, they still get on well considering he left her. Paying more than he lwgally has to is probably what makws his first wife able to let go of resentment and respwct his lack of meannwss. Obviously wife2 doesnt get it at all.

I left my first and only h and dated a divorced man with chldrn so i get it. If i could afford it, i wouldnt barney over money with my x either. And no subsequent partner would make me decide to be change my view.

I think you shouldn't be "concerned" about it, your boyfriend/fiance is doing an honourable thing here. However, I do think that if you are planning to get married you need to be aware of any financial obligations you are getting jointly into (same goes for you telling him what commitments you may have).

So in short, talk to him about it, but please don't ask him to stop being her guarantor. That wouldn't be nice!

I'm a LL myself and from my experience, I think you should be concerned.

Of course he wants to make sure his children have a roof over their heads, but the problem with being a guarantor is that you may have no clue is she got into financial difficulty.

I had a case about 3.5 years ago with non-paying tenants. They didn't warn me of problems, evaded my calls etc. I finally caught them, talked about it and said I understood, worked out a payment plan and they admitted the rend due in 2 weeks would be touch and go as their first pay packet of the new job wasn't until after then. Even changed their payment date to help them out. So, 6 weeks later they defaulted again leaving 3 months in arrears and me having to give them 2 clear months notice by law equating to 5 months rent. Added in to that that both key meters were in arrears and I had to pay that off and the remedial works to the property when they did vacate weren't covered by the deposit and the guarantor was liable for over £3,700 of their debt. That's the short version!

So of course, a father will want to make sure that his children are provided for by giving the partner extra money each month for rent, but being a guarantor can leave you very exposed financially. Beware.

OP, you need to see a copy of that gaur antbirds agreement. Does it just cover rent? Is there a time limit on it? You need to be fully aware what your partner has agreed to as this may affect you too.

I suspect the OP's partner may not realise exactly what it entails to be a guarantor. Lots of people seem to think it's just a formality (especially if the tenant swears they're not ever going to default) so he may thought it was little more than witnessing a signature. But of course it's the kind of financial commitment that you should tell a partner about.

But I do agree with other posters that it's completely right that he has done this. Chances are his children wouldn't have a roof over their heads otherwise.