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Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Original poster

In a panic. Stbeh has bought a house without telling me.

98 replies

dontrecycle · 16/08/2020 13:41

Just found out he has bought a house. We have not yet agreed on a financial settlement.

I live in the family home at present. Two kids.

I don't know how but am I liable for this? Does the debt for this house now come into play in our financial settlement?

OP posts:
pandafunfactory · 16/08/2020 15:10

He can't have put you in the mortgage without you knowing. That's not legal, so if he's lied about it's committed fraud and you won't be liable. Did you agree you were staying in the family home and where was he supposed to live?

EachandEveryone · 16/08/2020 15:18

Has he cashed it in before you can get any of it?

Original poster
dontrecycle · 16/08/2020 15:20

As we are not divorced everything is a marital asset. Even if my name isn't on the mortgage it's still in the 'pot'.

He was renting. I didn't ask him to move out, he chose to.

With regard to the family home we didn't know if I could afford it without all the financial information. I was prepared to have to sell so we both had smaller houses if that's what we could both afford.

He's put me in 1000s of debt without my consent.

OP posts:
Shabooma · 16/08/2020 15:21

@dontrecycle

Already exchanged form e but we had agreed to do it again pre settlement as I didn't have all my pension information and he didn't have his business valued.

I'm thinking he has cashed in his pension (can you do that)??? He won't tell me how he has bought it.

I just think he's got me into debt with an additional mortgage without my consent.

He can't have put you on a mortgage without you knowing. Think of the forms, bank statements, job contracts, signatures required!
Original poster
dontrecycle · 16/08/2020 15:24

Even if I am not on the mortgage everything we own and every bit of debt we are jointly liable for legally.

So he's not named as the owner of my car but it would be taken into account as an asset of the marriage. The same logic applies to the house.

OP posts:
IsaLain · 16/08/2020 15:28

That's not how it works. If you're not on the mortgage then you're not liable for the debt. You wont even be on the deeds.

When we say "the house is half yours anyway" to married people not named on the mortgage, it just means that in the event of a split, it is considered a marital asset and you would still be awarded some money from it.

In this case, he has bought it after the separation and been approved for a mortgage alone. When the financial settlement is worked out, you will not be handed half the debt of the new house. It will be classed as his. If he defaults on the mortgage before your divorce goes through, you will not be chased for any money.

The only issue at hand is whether or not he has used joint finances for his purchase. Has he emptied joint savings? Has he taken a loan out against a joint asset to fund it?

You may have to look into how he funded the deposit, because whatever money you both had would have been split during your settlement. If he has spent his "half" then you should get the remaining money.

Really, he should have waited till you both knew how much money you would have from selling your current home and splitting everything etc but it will all be worked out. You will not be liable for his mortgage.

IsaLain · 16/08/2020 15:32

OP, you are not liable for each others debts!!! How many times must you be told.

This new house and new mortgage is nothing to do with you. You are not liable.

The house will still be counted as an asset, right now the equity in it will really just be equal to his deposit. That is what they will take into account; he actual money he had in his hands for the deposit. That will still be split. If there is enough cash in the pot, you will be given it. If there isnt, he will have to find a way to fund the cash he owes you.

It might not matter. There could be enough other cash and assets to cover what he has spent on the deposit so you get your equal share.

thewreckofthehesperus · 16/08/2020 15:33

I smell bullshit. He would have had to have lied significantly to the bank to obtain a mortgage as no bank would lend to him solely while he was in the middle of a divorce as you would still have a claim on the house.
If he did cash in his pension to buy outright its still a marital asset and you are entitled to half the value of it.
Talk to your solicitor to get some clarity but try not to worry he cant sign you up to a mortgage without your knowledge.

ARoseInHarlem · 16/08/2020 15:34

I think you need to look up the definitions of "asset" and "liability".

Giraffey1 · 16/08/2020 15:38

IsaLain is spot on. But do let your solicitor know.

nc600 · 16/08/2020 15:42

"Even if I am not on the mortgage everything we own and every bit of debt we are jointly liable for legally."

No, you're not. It doesn't work like that. You need to speak to your solicitor and ask them to explain to you how it all works.

ithinkiveseenthisfilmbefore · 16/08/2020 15:42

It's a marital asset.

If he's spent his cash to try to 'keep' it from you, he's made a mistake. talk to your solicitor.

IsaLain · 16/08/2020 15:47

If he has to sell the house to pay back the money he has spent on the deposit, and he ends up making a loss, that debt wont be yours. He would still need to pay you back whatever would be needed to make up the financial settlement you are awarded.

It would be like selling the marital home; you'd pay off the mortgage with the sale and split the remaining money. He would have to do the same; pay off the mortgage and give you whatever was owed from the settlement or find a way to raise the cash.

TableFlowerss · 16/08/2020 15:47

What is a Stbeh? Separated husband?

Enoughnowstop · 16/08/2020 15:48

Your solicitor will need to be asking his solicitor how it was paid for. He will need to supply paperwork. He has been very stupid. You can put some kind of marital marker on it through the land registry so he can’t transfer it into someone else’s name. You might want to make that a priority or it might be difficult to get it included in the assets.

Newwayofthinking · 16/08/2020 15:54

@TableFlowerss

What is a Stbeh? Separated husband?
Took me ages to work it out

Soon to be ex husband

LemonTT · 16/08/2020 15:54

I suspect the clue to affordability lies in the comment that he has his own business.

Pobblebonk · 16/08/2020 15:55

I just think he's got me into debt with an additional mortgage without my consent.

He's put me in 1000s of debt without my consent.

Stop panicking, he hasn't. You can't conceivably be liable for a mortgage without knowing about it. If he has bought a house in his name it is his house, likewise any mortgage he has it is down to him. However, the equity will have to be taken into consideration in any financial settlement.

There seems to be a common misconception on MN that married people are automatically liable for each other's personal debts. It simply isn't true.

leafeater · 16/08/2020 15:58

He's probably taken the money out of his business (which hadn't been valued you said), presumably to try to move it from a joint asset to his asset (which I'm sure he hasn't been able to do). It does muddy the water though

category12 · 16/08/2020 15:58

Yep, you're only liable for debts in each other's names if you can be shown to have benefited from it during the marriage, added to that, you're already separated.

Original poster
dontrecycle · 16/08/2020 15:59

Sorry if I'm mixed up but I don't need horrible comments about my understanding of the situation. I'm in shock, worried and upset.

So to be clear any asset / value in the house would be seen as an asset and would be taken into account when we agree the financial split?

OP posts:
Original poster
dontrecycle · 16/08/2020 16:00

@Enoughnowstop can you tell me more about the marital marker at the land registry please.

OP posts:
2bazookas · 16/08/2020 16:10

How do you know he bought it, not just renting? If he bought it, perhaps his parents or a new GF either paid cash or share the mortgage.

If he bought it with a mortgage, the lender would require him to declare any existing mortgage , loans etc, and would then assess if he could afford repayments on new mortgage.

If he lied on a mortgage application ( about his marital status, dependent children, existing mortgage debt, income, ) that would be fraud. A mortgage lender's enquiries would probably have uncovered that. It just It would not be in his own interest to forge an application in your joint names, fake your signatures and consents etc.

 Any financial support arrangements  will take account of  both parents income and residence. Of course he  needs  a new  place to live.
IsaLain · 16/08/2020 16:12

Yes. It is an asset.

They will look at whatever equity is in it (which is basically going to be the deposit), and that will be added to the family pot, along with all your other money and equity from family home. This will then be split however you all agree. You might have to sell the family home or whatever it was you had both planned on doing to sort that out.

But you will not have to pay off his house in anyway. He will need to use his share of the financial settlement. They wont take from your share.

Shabooma · 16/08/2020 16:15

@dontrecycle

Sorry if I'm mixed up but I don't need horrible comments about my understanding of the situation. I'm in shock, worried and upset.

So to be clear any asset / value in the house would be seen as an asset and would be taken into account when we agree the financial split?

There isn't a single horrible comment on this thread. Posters are taking time out of their day to give you advice and support. You're welcome!
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