Taking on the mortgage when splitting from your partner

jemmalouise_2 · 29 February 2012 at 6:25PM

After being a long time troll (I think that's what I would be called) I wanted to write a post based on my own experiences on what to do with a joint mortgage if you want to stay in your home.

I will start with listing the basics.

Property value - 160k
Outstanding mortgage - 143k
My salary - 37k
Additional salary - 10k
Credit card debts - 7k
No other outstanding loans, hp etc etc

So me and the ex broke up and I didn't want to have to sell/move given that we bought it for 153k back in 2006 and did a bit of work, namely new windows and bathroom. I also extended the lease from 77 years to 125 years at the end of last year at a cost of nearly 11k including fees. So I am sure you can see that to sell would mean loosing several thousand pounds.

It all helped that me and the ex were totally amicable and came to an arrangement that I would give him a few thousand pounds based on half what equity there was left after the cost of the lease.

To start with I approached our mortgage lenders, Bank of Scotland. They went through a new mortgage application with me and this was approved in principle, I also had to give them details of my solictors which were thankfully on their approved list. I was then sent a form called a transfer of equity which both me and my ex had to sign and return with a copy of my most recent payslips. About a week later I could see from my experian account that they had credit checked me and I was asked for copies of my bank statements - last three months which I sent them last Tuesday. I called this morning (one week later) to check on the progess and I was asked too clarify a few entries on my statements, like what the payments were to my managing agents for flat maintenance charges, the large amount I paid out to renew my lease and a bonus recently paid to me by my employer. So basically anything that is seen as a regular payment that you haven't declared and any large amounts going in/out. I was told to call back in the afternoon when they should of made a decision so I did and happily this has now been accepted.

They will now write to my solicitor who will have to get me and my ex to sign a few more forms and register me as the sole owner with the land registry, send the form back to the BOS who will rubber stamp this (their words not mine) and then it will be all done and dusted. All in all a pretty quick and painless procedure.

Oh one thing that I was concerned about is that I have one late payment on my credit card from August 2011 which was just an oversite and also I went over my OD slightly in December 2011 which is the first time this has ever happened but still I was very concerned this may impact on my application. They didn't even mention either.

I hope this helps anyone in a similar situation and although I must stress I am not giving out advice but merely passing on the details of my own experience which I am sure will be very similar to many other people.