Equity Release..

copey_2

Hi sorry if its the wrong place,cant find a heading for it anywhere else..........Equity release off my property.......
Has any one done it,good or bad,any pitfalls to watch out for,I`m just about to retire and thought I had everything sorted but unfortunately my son has hit a pretty bad financial / marital problem,his savings etc have been "stolen" by his wife and he is now virtually flat broke,his wife has also run up some very large debts,credit cards,catolgue stuff etc etc,so I would obviously like to assist where ever I can,especially towards the divorce costs,any info you have would be most welcome.
Once more sorry if its posted in the wrong place.
Alan

toonfish

This is a complicated area, what exactly do you need to know? There are very many issues to consider such as state benefit impacts, views on future house prices, potential repossession if you fail to meet the conditions of the loan, what if you want to move house etc etc.

The FSA produce an equity release guide, but this is one area where you simply must speak to a qualified broker/IFA.

EdInvestor

Alan

I would caution against even thinking about equity release before obtaining a lot more information about the problem.

copey wrote:

my son has hit a pretty bad financial / marital problem,his savings etc have been "stolen" by his wife and he is now virtually flat broke"

Does he have a job? Do they have a property?

his wife has also run up some very large debts,credit cards,catolgue stuff etc etc

These would he her problem, not his, surely?

If your son is not in debt and has a job, he's a lot better off than many young people today.

copey_2

EdInvestor wrote:

Alan

I would caution against even thinking about equity release before obtaining a lot more information about the problem.




Does he have a job? Do they have a property?




These would he her problem, not his, surely?

If your son is not in debt and has a job, he's a lot better off than many young people today.

Hi thanks for your replies,
They do have property ,which is apparantly is mortgaged and remortgaged up to the hilt,my son has just opened a small business (kitchen show rooms,sales and fitting etc)but has been self employed for the last 15 years and has a reasonable flow of work starting to come thro (for early next year),some of the store cards,catologue stuff was opened up in his name without him knowing anything about them.
It all sounds pretty nasty to me.

EdInvestor

A trip to the solicitor would seem to be indicated.The CAB might also be worth a visit for background info purposes on the debt etc(free).

Re equity release , it's a very bad financial deal (if it's allowed at all) before you're around aged 70.If you have some tax free cash coming from a pension, perhaps you could lend him a bit to tide him over.But IMHO it would be very unwise to jeopardise your own retirement to help him: after all he is young, he can recover from a setback.How are you going to replace lost retirement income or capital at your age?

There is an excellent debt forum on this site you could direct your son to for help, and another very good one at https://www.fool.co.uk There are many experienced people now who can help with debt issues.

copey_2

Many thanks for that Edinvestor,CAB visit is being organised asap.
with regards to the Equity thing,can`t think of any other way of raising cash,only have limited pension resources so that seemed the only way,but as you say he is reasonably young,mid thirties,to bounce back ,I can help with small amounts of cash