what to do- relationship breakdown/selling house

lizzymouse

hi all
i fear i am in quite a bad situation. here is summary of my current position

husband and i bought house together in joint names on mortgage in november 2007, house was bought for 140K with a 126k mortgage on it. My parents were able to give us 20k last year, 12k of which went to paying off mortgage, the remaining 8k is currently in premium bonds in my husbands name only. so we now owe about 112k on the mortgage.
unfortunately, relationship has broken down and husband wants a clean break, seperate finances, house up for sale, the whole shooting match.

questions are

- what will house now be worth and can we legally sell it if its worth less than what we owe on it and how does that work?
- what will be the cost of selling it, i.e. what is base price we can sell it for to pay off mortgage, solicitor, etc etc
- can he legally put it up for sale withough my consent, as i would rather stay put until house price situation improves as i can only see we are both going to end up in debt.
- my parents want the 8K back that hasnt gone into the mortgage,since these are really are only savings, we have no other money between us.

what would people advise? think he is willing to be reasonable and go and see a solicitor with me to get facts, but if he insists on selling it, where do i stand?

awful, awful start to the new year :-(

tim_n

Good luck Lizzymouse - not a good start at all. One of my friends recently went through a messy divorce, if you've got any suspicions that he might try to stuff you it may be worth making a copy of all the documents on your computer on DVD/CD. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to give you some suggestions on the house situation. You should also post in the relationship section of this site, they're very good (if you've not already)

Jowo_2

Yes, see a solicitor but also have a look on the Shelter website that a section on relationship breakdowns that should have some advice for property owners.



Hopefully another poster will be able to advise you on this.

lizzymouse

Where is the relationship section of this site- i cant see it

[Deleted User]

Sorry to hear your news.

You definitely need to seek a solicitor here as this issues touches in different areas of law: not just matrimonial law but property (two of the messiest legal areas, I'm afraid).

The law of equity is complicated and complex but if I remember correctly from my degree (which isn't likely) there may be protections offered to you if any party tries to force a sale capriciously 'at any price', e.g. if you can demonstrate that it makes no sense to sell the property now - and that actually you should wait until prices rise - you might have some support in law, but again I have no idea about matrimonial law and that will inevitably have some counterbalancing effect. I don't think he can force a sale though as your have equitable rights as a joint tenant on the deeds.

Are you on good terms with your husband? If so, could you not sympathetically argue the case for deferring sale of the property? These things take a while to sort out anyway, so by the time any sale is pushed through you might find prices have risen slightly.

In terms of shortfall - of course you can sell it for legally less than what you owe, but you will still owe that to the mortgage company. Negative equity = you have to meet your obligations in some other way if property price is less than outstanding debt.

tim_n

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=24

Jowo_2

lizzymouse wrote: »

Where is the relationship section of this site- i cant see it

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/families_and_relationships/relationship_breakdown

Shelter has different sites for different parts of the UK. Above is link to England.

pie81

I don't know the legals at all in relation to whether he can force a sale or re the premium bonds (as others have suggested, you will need a solicitor to advise).

However it would seem the first step should probably be to get some estate agents to value the property (ask them what they would price it at "to sell" so you get realistic valuations). They won't charge for this and you don't need to go ahead with the sale just because you've had valuations. That way at least you will have a better idea whether you would have a debt or a surplus if the house was sold.

best of luck.

Jowo_2

How did the premium bonds, gifted by your parents, end up in his sole name?!!

mlz1413

lizzymouse wrote: »

.
- what will house now be worth and can we legally sell it if its worth less than what we owe on it and how does that work?
Get house valued by 2/3 local agents
- what will be the cost of selling it, i.e. what is base price we can sell it for to pay off mortgage, solicitor, etc etc
Ask agents for their costs and which conveyancer they recommend, ring conveyancers for prices. Remember removals costs although you maybe able to sell house with furniture (if you want to) depends on your buyer.
- can he legally put it up for sale withough my consent, as i would rather stay put until house price situation improves as i can only see we are both going to end up in debt.
No, but he could take you to court to force your consent.
- my parents want the 8K back that hasnt gone into the mortgage,since these are really are only savings, we have no other money between us.
Are you and OH on good terms, IMO its a reasonable request, but if he wants to argue you will need legal advise
what would people advise? think he is willing to be reasonable and go and see a solicitor with me to get facts, but if he insists on selling it, where do i stand?

awful, awful start to the new year :-(

How long do you want to stay put for?
How much more than house is currrently worth do you want?
Being on good terms your your OH will make everything easier, the more you argue and disagree the more money the solicitors will make.

I agree with the others go and get legal advise, see how you stand and then work forward.

Good luck.

RobertoMoir

lizzymouse wrote: »

hi all
i fear i am in quite a bad situation. here is summary of my current position

husband and i bought house together in joint names on mortgage in november 2007, house was bought for 140K with a 126k mortgage on it. My parents were able to give us 20k last year, 12k of which went to paying off mortgage, the remaining 8k is currently in premium bonds in my husbands name only. so we now owe about 112k on the mortgage.
unfortunately, relationship has broken down and husband wants a clean break, seperate finances, house up for sale, the whole shooting match.

questions are

- what will house now be worth and can we legally sell it if its worth less than what we owe on it and how does that work?
- what will be the cost of selling it, i.e. what is base price we can sell it for to pay off mortgage, solicitor, etc etc
- can he legally put it up for sale withough my consent, as i would rather stay put until house price situation improves as i can only see we are both going to end up in debt.
- my parents want the 8K back that hasnt gone into the mortgage,since these are really are only savings, we have no other money between us.

what would people advise? think he is willing to be reasonable and go and see a solicitor with me to get facts, but if he insists on selling it, where do i stand?

awful, awful start to the new year :-(

IIRC he can put his share of the property up for sale. You, of course, can buy that share. Is that do-able?