Financially dependent and ending a relationship

FBaby

Only through court could the house be forced to be sold, and in light of your children's age and the little equity in the house, it is highly unlikely a judge would order a sale.

Saying that, your partner as owner of the property can't forced to leave either so it's a catch 22. I think your best bet would be to try to get a job asap. I know you say you would prefer term time and school hours, but unless you work for a school, you might very much struggle to find a job/employer prepared to give you these hours upon employment (it is easier to request it though once you've worked for the company successfully for some time).

Once you are working, you can claim tax credits and hopefully in between your salary, tax credits (if entitled) and maintenance, you will be able to afford the mortgage for the house. That of course would be under an agreement that your ex is only entitled to any equity up to this period of time and that any future equity will be yours solely (would need solicitor drawn agreement).

[Deleted User]

PippaGirl wrote: »

I know someone who was awarded 60% of the equity of her FMH so £46,000 on divorce (had her xh had a lawyer she'd have got a lot less as Judges often do not award money to someone who is just going to lose it all as they are on benefits). She lost everything but her DLA and one year later had nothing left! She did have a holiday and buy a new car (those things are allowed as long as that isn't 'all' the money) though.

sorry thats rubbish,e.g a brand new jag and a round the world cruise would be DOC,A 5 year old fiesta and a week in blackpool wouldnt be

[Deleted User]

ilovemylittleones wrote: »

Wow. What allot of very, very useful information here. I know that my partner would pay what he is supposed to in terms of CSA.

I went to the council today and was told that as long as I provided evidence that I was trying to force the sale of the house, I would be paid housing benefit. I could in the mean time use my credit cards to pay to secure a rented house and then repay these legitimately when the equity was released. Actually, by the time I repaid that and other credit cards, my over draft, bought a car (ours is in partners name), kitted out a house and banked the threshold savings - there would be very little equity left and I would still receive housing benefit.

So there is a get-out option there (before April at least) if things become intolerable.

I would dearly love to stay in the house though *sigh*. Does anyone know if i can be forced to sell? What I mean is, if it came to that and I did have enough income to support the mortgage - can I still be forced to sell? Also, could I be forced to accept a buy out? Petty yes - but I don't like the idea of my partner forcing me off the mortgage if I could afford it.

Working and not being dependent any more really does resonate and I am going to put all my energy into this now. It would put me into a stronger position, logistically and mentally.

Thanks again for all this info everyone

finding a LL that rents to HB tenants in a half decent neighbourhood will be difficult

BigAunty

ilovemylittleones wrote: »

...

I went to the council today and was told that as long as I provided evidence that I was trying to force the sale of the house, I would be paid housing benefit. I could in the mean time use my credit cards to pay to secure a rented house and then repay these legitimately when the equity was released. Actually, by the time I repaid that and other credit cards, my over draft, bought a car (ours is in partners name), kitted out a house and banked the threshold savings - there would be very little equity left and I would still receive housing benefit.

Many councils operate rent guarantee deposit schemes for those on low incomes/in housing need. There are DWP loans that can cover the first month's rent (forget what they are called). Sticking basic bills onto a credit card for a future unknown date of repayment is foolish.

Kitting out a house? Most rental properties come with furniture! Unfurnished ones and ones that need kitchenware, etc, can be pennies - Freecycle, freegle, gumtree freebies, Emmaus, furniture charities, etc.

For your debts, go and speak to the Debt Free wanabee board and see the Debt Management info on the Direct gov website - you could be entering years of benefit dependency or low employment income so you need to get a grip now.

ilovemylittleones wrote: »

...
I would dearly love to stay in the house though *sigh*. Does anyone know if i can be forced to sell? What I mean is, if it came to that and I did have enough income to support the mortgage - can I still be forced to sell? Also, could I be forced to accept a buy out? Petty yes - but I don't like the idea of my partner forcing me off the mortgage if I could afford it.

As per my previous advice, go and read up on the Shelter website about relationship breakdowns to understand your rights and options. Go and speak to a solicitor. A joint owner can only force the sale if they get a court order. You may be able to get an occupation order to bring up the children in the property. We can't really advise you of your chances,you need expert advice not just helpful amateurs on a forum.

delain

Most rental houses do not come with furniture, usually only those intended for students, and do you really want to be sleeping on a cheap second hand mattress previously slept on by loads of previous tenants? yuck.

You can apply for Community care grants for the furniture (I had one once about 5 years ago, got the form from the jobcentre I think, don't know if that's changed)

Also it's very possible to do things on the cheap anyway... DD1 has a brand new orthapedic (sp?) mattress that we got on ebay for £30, from a house in the posh part of town, they'd bought it for a spare room and never used it.

I can't help much re homeowner issues (never been one!) but children are adaptable.

Also contact your local council housing department, you can go on the waiting list and they will have a list of all the local letting agents to give you (ours do anyway) so that you can contact them all.

BigAunty

delain wrote: »

Most rental houses do not come with furniture, usually only those intended for students, and do you really want to be sleeping on a cheap second hand mattress previously slept on by loads of previous tenants? yuck.

...

In my city, out of 850 properties available to rent, around 450 were fully furnished, 100 are partly furnished and 300 are unfurnished.

The problem with the benefit rules around capital is that it encourages prospective claimants to burn through their money to it under the threshold.