struggling to stay afloat whilst awaiting divorce settlement

mr_affable

Can anyone help?

A close friend is awaiting the final hearing of the financial resolution of her divorce. In the meantime she is struggling to pay her day to day bills and service historic debt (joint). Luckily she is living in the house she inherited from her late mother. Her daughter (17) and son (24) live with her.

Her ex husband is still living in the ex matrimonial home but has been told by the judge he will have to sell and move to a smaller property and the remaining sale proceeds be split between them. The property is worth approx £300k with o/s mtge of £110k. Property and mortgage in joint names.

I have suggested that my friend could take out a small mtge (say £20k) on her inherited property in the meantime to keep her going until matters settled. However I am not sure whether this would be possible in view of her name being on the matrimonial home mortgage (ex husband is paying this at the moment).

Any advice or suggestions would be gratefully received.

Thank you

gonzo127

unfortunatly i cant help with specific advice at at the moment, how a couple of question to clarify the situation

the children, (or at least the 24 year old) do they contribute to the household costs?if not this really should be something to approach as at 24 he should be putting in some money to the expenses

if the debt is joint, then this should also be his responsibility, or has there been a deal made where he pays the old mortgage and she pays the other debts? if so is this actually fair? ie does she have to pay more each month than he does?

something else which could help is if you can post her SOA on here to see if we can spot any places to make changes to save some money in the mean time

DarkConvict

I would post up an SOA and see where she can save money.

I would be against taking on credit for the reason that if she cannot afford her current lifestyle a loan will just cause her to spiral into debt.

SOA - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

More Benifits - http://www.entitledto.co.uk/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

mr_affable

Thanks for your comments. I think the point I was trying to make is - is it possible for her to take out a mortgage on her inherited property (which she can hopefully clear once she gets her divorce settlement) while she still has her name on the matrimonial home (and on the mortgage for that property).

Maybe I should post my original question on a different forum ?

DarkConvict

If the mortgage/property is in joint names as above, i believe to add more secured debt to it you need permission from the other holder. So unless they agree this might not be possible.

Try this forum board - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=15

mr_affable

What I was thinking was that she could take out a small mortgage on her inherited property (which is presently mortgage free and in her sole name) but would the fact that she is still on the mortgage of her ex matrimonial property be a problem ?

DarkConvict

You can have more than 1 mortgage, nothing stopping that.

The only issues are going to be if her income is low, by taking a 2nd mortgage (equity release) you now have another monthly payment + interest. Sure you have a lump sum in the short term.
Getting a 2nd mortgage also depends on her credit report and income.

A 0% credit card might be an idea, so long as see will pay it all off before the 0% term expires.