Giving other half the power to sell our house?

dellboy102

Hi Guys

Me and the wife have our own house in both our names, I will be going abroad for a while (its complicated, I wont go into it!) and I want to give her the power to sell the house and buy another one in my absence.

I was hoping to get some advice on how I would go about getting this done and how much I should expect to pay a professional to do the necessary paperwork.

Many Thanks!

Hippychick

You will probably need to grant her power of attorney.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family_parent/family/managing_affairs_for_someone_else.htm#ordinary_power_of_attorney

Could be worthwhile checking with your mortgage co that they will accept it (if you're having a mortgage)

Failing that if needs be can't your solicitor e-mail/fax you anything you need to sign then you can post it back via DHL or something similar? I've acted for clients in the past who were in Aus/NZ etc and this always worked OK.

Fire_Fox

I don't think you can, you would need to sign mortgage paperwork at the very least to be able to buy another property. You could set up a lasting power of attorney, but I'm not sure you would then be able to take responsibility for paying a mortgage.

dellboy102

Thanks for the replies, the current house has no mortgage, the new houses mortgage would not be in my name at all so a power of attorney may work I think.

Hippychick

If a mortgage is just in your wifes name then only she can be named on the deeds.

Fire_Fox

Hippychick wrote: »

If a mortgage is just in your wifes name then only she can be named on the deeds.

Not necessarily, they may be able to purchase at tenants in common and so the ownership is split. The bank would have to agree to this - they'd obviously want access to at least some of the deposit, not effectively lend 100% on the wife's share.

dellboy102

Thanks for the info, I'll have to talk to a solicitor, just so I dont get ripped off how much do you think it should cost me roughly

SouthCoast

Depending on where you are in the world, it may be cheaper to get any documents sent by express courier.

Hippychick

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Not necessarily, they may be able to purchase at tenants in common and so the ownership is split. The bank would have to agree to this - they'd obviously want access to at least some of the deposit, not effectively lend 100% on the wife's share.

What bank will realistically agree to that though?

A scenario the bank won't entertain is:

Wife has mortgage in her name, house registered in both names. Wife defaults on mortgage so bank tries to repossess, bank can't then repossess because husband has a legal interest, bank loses lots of money.

I have never heard of a mortgage lender that will agree to this tbh, the OP should really get legal advice in order to protect his interests.

getmore4less

Seems to me the easiest thing to do is decide who you you will use for the conyayancing, transfer the mortgage free house to the wife then she can sell it without any problems.

If you need a mortgage to buy then just buying in the wifes name will probably be the only way if she will have the mortgage.


Should not cost a lot do the extra transfer as part of te convayancing deal with a solicitor.


Asumption is you trust the wife.

dellboy102

I think when the wife gets the new house it'll be easier to buy it solely in her name.