my friends wife is having affair but wants mortage put in both names ???

sadie22

hi, i am typing this for a friend, john, his wife is having an affair, (wife doesnt know john knows about the affair)
the house they both live in was brought from the council in wifes name
(before they were marrid)
and the mortage is in the wifes name only
what we cant work out is, the wife keeps asking john to have his name put on to the mortage .
well we are thinking, there is alot of equity in the property, why does the wife want johns name on the mortage, if she knows there is a 99% chance she will go off with this new boyfriend.......we are baffled !!

ANY IDEAS PLEASE

wannabe_sybil

If your friend and his wife divorce then your friend will have a right to a starting point of half of the value of the house (depending on children) anyway so putting his name on or not is irrelevant to how much of the house he would be entitled.

However if your friend is on the mortgage and his wife 'does a runner' then the mortgage company will chase your friend, where I do not believe (correct me if I am wrong please) that the mortgage company can currently chase your friend for any arrears, although if the house was repossessed I believe they could apply to evict him.

To me this would be imply that your friend's wife is considering 'doing a runner' with her boyfriend and leaving her husband to pay all the bills. But I have as much logic as a cat, so please do not take my word for it.

I hope this helps.

Bettyboop

Really odd. I mean most people would be happy not to be in this situation. Perhaps she feels guilty? Or is it possible she has raked up debts against the property or the mortgage loan as such? In which case she can run off with her new squeeze and her poor hubby will be chased for payments.

I hope you get an answer soon... but why doesn't John just ask her why she wants his name on the mortgage. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Just say "Oh about the mortgage... so you really want to go through the hassle of adding me too it"? and see what she says. Good luck.

sadie22

I know its really an odd situation, i forgot to mention, john pays for the mortage payments by direct debit out of His own bank account. and has all the bank statements and its paid up-to-date.

he has asked her 'why' and she just bluffs him with silly answers.

She is a money grabber - big time money grabber!
she has never wanted for nothing in her life.
they dont have children between them, but she has children from previous 3 marriages.........

celyn90

wannabe_sybil wrote: »

If your friend and his wife divorce then your friend will have a right to a starting point of half of the value of the house (depending on children) anyway so putting his name on or not is irrelevant to how much of the house he would be entitled.

However if your friend is on the mortgage and his wife 'does a runner' then the mortgage company will chase your friend, where I do not believe (correct me if I am wrong please) that the mortgage company can currently chase your friend for any arrears, although if the house was repossessed I believe they could apply to evict him.

To me this would be imply that your friend's wife is considering 'doing a runner' with her boyfriend and leaving her husband to pay all the bills. But I have as much logic as a cat, so please do not take my word for it.

I hope this helps.

:wave: sybil

This was my first thought too. If he's on the mortgage, he will be liable for the debt if she scarpers, he'll end up making repayments on his own for a while, the equity will then be split.

Either that or the mortgage is bigger than he thinks it is, more so than the equity left in the property. Now that would make for a nice little running away fund if she'd remortgaged without him knowing and had the excess tucked away somewhere - leaving him to pick up the mess whilst she would be entitled to probably more than half because of the kids later down the line (doesn't matter who they belong to).

I might be being paranoid, but I'd want to know exactly what was left on the mortgage and I'd want proof (and I would still say no and run like the wind ) I think an appointment with CAB or a solicitor would a good plan to be honest. It must be hard for him, but at least he knows so he can avoid being blind-sided. best of luck, cel x

whitewing

Why is John sticking around to ask the question?

Lorian

John should be seeking professional legal advice.

sadie22

the only thing i can think of is, if divorce proceedings went on,
if the mortage was kept in her name. and he has a very successful company in his name, before he met her.
would the court think its 'evan stevens' she's got that and his got that.

where if the mortage (house with colatral) was put in both names, she would get more out of the divorce ?

sorry im not very good at explaining things

celyn90

In my limited knowledge (I am not a legal professional, I just spend too long in the law faculty library!) All assets are regarded as assets of the marraige regardless of who brought them in. Her house, his business, any assests, pensions also. There may be some degree of ring-fencing available for things each party bought in, but you would have to get legal advice there.

The children, regardless of the fact they are not his, will be taken into account as dependents of the marriage and any asset division will involve them too.

He needs to be very very careful and I really would suggest he gets legal advice ASAP just so he's prepared.

sadie22

his going to a solicitor thursday, but its just baffling him, the last 2 nights she has asked the mortage question , she is still to this day, dangling him on a piece of string, saying i love you .

he wont do anything, like move out till he speaks to the solicitor.

i will ring him to check she hasnt got a remortage or anything.

thankyou very much for your answers, when i find out the mystery, will let u know x

Pee

However they change the ownership of property between them will not affect who gets what from a divorce. I don't think he should put his name on the mortgage, though.

I would suggest he takes legal advice quite urgently as the shorter the marriage the less claim she is likely to have on his business.

Might also be very helpful if she is not working to encourage her to do so before he applies for a divorce. (This may not be possible with the children.)