Re-mortgage after a death

sketchmasterx

Hello,

I'm new to these forums but could do with a second opinion on some advice we have received.

My father in-law passed away recently, him and his wife had a joint interest only mortgage for about 50% of the value of there property, the mortgage was always paid and maintained (along with all other finances) by him but unfortunately in this case he was an optimistic chap and didn't foresee a death in the near future and along with being burned in the past by an insurance company meant that he didn't believe in life insurance and due to unemployment in recent years didn't leave any large savings behind (or a will).

The problem now is that he also left behind this "ticking time bomb" of an 50% LTV interest only mortgage that is coming to the end of its term soon and has no repayment vehicle.

Obviously we don't want to loose the family house but his widow is in her late 50's and although earning a fair above average salary she also has a large debt from the past that is consolidated and being paid off monthly, we have been told that with her debt, age and salary she wouldn't qualify for a new mortgage to cover the outstanding balance when the current interest only ends.

The mortgage company weren't to helpful (C&G) and our financial adviser said we will have to sell up but my question is, without going into figures on a public forum is there any other avenue we can explore such as guarantors, joint mortgage with a another family member etc. (they all have there own mortgages) that might be worth investigating more?

I now what the answer is but I figured its worth asking.

Thanks,

Dave_Ham

It will depend upon the details, I would say given the equity and it sounds like family may help where they can then I would not give up hope just yet.

You will need to have an exit route as I would imagine this 50% is never going to get full repaid and therefore downsizing at some point in the future will need to be factored in.

Get an experienced broker and you may need to pay a fee and ensure all options are considered before selling up is decided as the only outcome.

I wish you well.

sketchmasterx

Thank you, it's nice to know someone doesn't think it's a lost cause, I used a good broker a few years back so I will probably get in contact with them once we have a handle on the exact figures. We understand downsizing will be a must but we just want to put it off for a couple of years so it's not all happening at the same time.

Dave_Ham

Good call, it will be tricky and potentially full of obstacles but done properly there may well be a solution..

Best of luck