Please help

qwerty118

Hi, recently my mother got a letter through the post saying she is falling behind with the mortgage. This was news to us as we thought my father (who is separated from my mother and I have no contact with him due to inexcusable things he has done, however my mother texts him for money reasons etc.).
It turns out he has stopped paying his half of the mortgage 2 months ago as he ran out of money, (he hasnt as he owns several properties and we recently received a cheque in the post for £10,000 in his name).
He pays the minimum child maintenance for me and my sister and my mother pays all the endowment and life insurance and simply cant afford to pay the full mortgage as well.
The fact is, if something isnt done me, my mother and sister will be left with no house and my mother cant really afford expensive solicitors to take him to court even though its the best way. Any advice is greatly appreciated as I have no idea what to do.
Thankyou in advance.

BimalP

There is a few questions first we need to understand...

1) Who is the legal owner/Mortgage holder? This person is legally obliged to meet the payments for the house. If it is in joint names then both your mother and father is legally obliged, if it is in your mothers sole name then without knowing the full in's and out's I would suggest your mother cannot do much apart from make the payments.

There is still a few options though....

Your first port of call should be the Citizens Advise Bureau to see where she stands legally.

PasturesNew

Some ages/figures would help too, as people explored various scenarios.

Are you/sister 12/14, or 18/20?
Is the mortgage £50k, or £250k?
Is the house worth £60k, or £600k?

How much is the mortgage each month that she can't afford?

qwerty118

BimalP wrote: »

There is a few questions first we need to understand...

1) Who is the legal owner/Mortgage holder? This person is legally obliged to meet the payments for the house. If it is in joint names then both your mother and father is legally obliged, if it is in your mothers sole name then without knowing the full in's and out's I would suggest your mother cannot do much apart from make the payments.

There is still a few options though....

Your first port of call should be the Citizens Advise Bureau to see where she stands legally.

The mortgage is in both my mother and fathers names as they legally own half the house each.

qwerty118

PasturesNew wrote: »

Some ages/figures would help too, as people explored various scenarios.

Are you/sister 12/14, or 18/20?
Is the mortgage £50k, or £250k?
Is the house worth £60k, or £600k?

How much is the mortgage each month that she can't afford?

Im 17 and my sister is 13, i'm not sure how much the mortgage is i'll have do double check but its at the lower end of the scale. The house is worth around £95,000-100,000 and the letter she received said that around £200 is overdue so I assume that is whats paid.
Thanks guys

Caz3121

qwerty118 wrote: »

my mother cant really afford expensive solicitors to take him to court even though its the best way.

If it is a joint mortgage there is no legal responsibility for each party to pay 50% - the mortgage company just wants the payment and don't care who it comes from.

It would be worthwhile your mother seeing a solicitor to formalise things. Have they spoken about divorce and plans for the house long term. It is not uncommon that the person in the house pays all the mortgage if they want to stay until the children are older and then the house gets sold. (mesher order) Maybe if she kicks off solicitors and he is then asked to disclose all his assets in preparation for her getting her share he may change his approach.

Can she maybe ask to change to interest only while this is sorted out - although it will need your fathers consent too

qwerty118

I think divorce proceedings have started but got too expensive so it was put on hold. My mother does wish to pay the mortgage by herself but unfortunately my father actually broke into our house a while ago and stole the deeds to the house so it cant be signed over to my mother. So I think that may answer your question of if he will agree to the interest free mortgage as thats the sort of person he is. I have and will carry on persuading my mother to involve solicitors as this is the only way to get the money from my father (although he insists on having none).
My mother also received some quite unreasonable texts from him regarding finances which may be good evidence for solicitors?
Thanks

Thrugelmir

qwerty118 wrote: »

unfortunately my father actually broke into our house a while ago and stole the deeds to the house so it cant be signed over to my mother.

Unlikely that this is the case. The deeds or at least a charge over them will be held by the mortgage lender.

To have the house signed over. Your mother would have to apply for a mortgage in her sole name.

The cost of the divorce proceedings should be fundable from your fathers assets when financial settlement is made.

Seanymph

Your mum can divorce your dad and apply as part of that for him to have to pay for it. This is nearly always granted, so she can divorce him if she wants to and he will have to pay for it.

She cannot 'take' the house off him if they put it into joint names - but he cannot 'take' it off of her either. They would have to legally agree between them. So the house will remain jointly owned until such time as they come to an agreement and file changes.

The mortgage is seperate to who owns it - the phrase is they are 'jointly and seperately liable' or something like that. So they both are responsible for 100% of every payment. How they sort out who pays what is their business and nothing to do with the mortgage company (who just want their money) or the ownership (which is registered with the land registry).

Your dad cannot have stolen the deeds. Deeds are held by the mortgage company if they have a loan against the house.

Your mum needs legal advice. I cannot comment on the dynamic between your parents, but if she isn't used to standing up to him, and she allows him to treat her badly, then he will continue to do that - and she will continue to do as he tells her. Did she report his breaking in to the police? Has she pursued him legally for support for herself and for her children?

She needs now to stand up to him, involve solicitors, and get this resolved.