Mortgage in divorce

[SecretSquirreller]

Hi all,
Need quick help please.

If I want to divorce DH and buy him out of his share of the house, but he needs to stay on the mortgage (as I'd fail the affordability test alone):

1. Would he need to retain a share of ownership in the house to remain on the mortgage?

1. If he ran up debts would that put the house at risk?

1. If I didn't buy him out of his share of the house what would the answer to question 2 be?

Thanks

You would be best off talking to a solicitor about your specific situation--even a free initial consult might give you some help.

I would suggest you talk to mortgage broker, since lenders may have slightly different rules, if you are eligible for SM or CMS some lenders will treat that as income if it's in a consent order.

If you buy him out of the house he will have no financial interest in it. He will not be on the mortgage, and I doubt he'd be allowed to be included on the mortgage if he didn't have a financial interest in the house.

Sorry, posted too soon.

If he was on the mortgage and got into financial problems then yep, it's highly likely the house would be considered one of his assets.

I don’t think what you want is possible, sorry. Can he not stay on the mortgage for a couple of years while you work on upping your income so you can buy him out properly, by taking on a new mortgage by yourself? If that’s a realistic option that is .

If I was getting a divorce there would be no way that I would stay on the mortgage of a house that I don't live in. I would suggest a clean break. Then you are both free to start a new life. If you have children you will need to speak to a solicitor to work out the financial situation. So either sell the house and split the money, downsize or sell in future. Get the facts.

Your best bet is going to be to sell up. What you’re trying to achieve isn’t doable in my mind

Your question is a tautology - if he has to remain on the mortgage because you cannot afford to take it on, you cannot by definition buy him out of his share.

He might agree to stay on the mortgage as his child lives in the house. Not sure though, I'm just looking at options as would like to keep house if possible. I will talk to mortgage advisor.
He owns a smaller % of the house than me now which could decrease further so he could stay on the mortgage. But obviously I don't want house at risk in future if he is feckless with money.
Yes we could just sell up and that may be what has to happen :(

Can you sell the house and move somewhere more affordable?

Yes if needs be, just looking at all options

To buy my Ex out I had to remortgage in my name alone with the "buy out" amount added on to the amount left. This meant an even bigger mortgage to take on. Fortunately I was able to do this (just) but if you are unlikely to be able to get the mortgage as is, then buying out won't be an option unless you have that cash elsewhere. Transfer of equity solicitors etc cost us both around 500 quid each too. So it's expensive to make a clean break on existing property. Also consider the bills as paying those on one income may be difficult. It's hard I know to contemplate selling the family home but it's often the only rational way to make things affordable.

You can get an 'agreement in principle' for a mortgage amount. Sometimes you can do these online. Good for getting an idea of what you can get.