Marrying someone with previous matrimonial debt

brava5

Hi I am 2 months away from marrying someone that has been divorced for 2 years, however their matrimonial debt has yet to be sorted as she wont budge. His name is still on the morgage as the mortgage company will not allow him to take his name off as she does not earn enough money. They have 2 children together of which he pays his maintenance for and he has no problems with this. However they also have a approx £20000 loan together although it is in his sole name as she didn't have a job at the time. The money was used to improve the home and buy a family car and consolidate debt she had created on store cards. She contibutes nothing to the repayments and he is now paying for a house she lives in with another man and paying off a loan that paid for things for the family e.g the fridge freezer within the house. My concern is that when I marry him i am liable for his debt and also his mortgageetc if she decieds to stop paying. I own my own home which he now lives with me but does not contribute to anything within the home apart from the odd bit of shopping. I am concerned that as i have a half decent job my salary may be considered when its all from his previous wife. Who do I need to go to for help and how can he sort out his previous financial situation.

Tixy

You can not be responsible or liable to pay any debt in his own name.

If you were to put him as named owner of your house then that could be an asset that his creditors could try to claim (but obviously you won't do that).

Being married and/or living together will not affect your credit file. However it would be advisable not to have any joint accounts/joint loans/mortgage etc as this would make you financial associates and anything on his credit file would affect your abililty to get credit in the future.

Were their finances not properly seperated as part of the divorce? Why is his name on the mortgage? he should insist that either a mortgage is taken on in her name (or her and her new partners name) or that the property is sold.

There will be little he can do about the £20k debt if it was not discussed as part of the divorce settlement, he is legally responsible to pay as it is in his name.