Getting a Name Off a Mortgage... At my wits end!!!

olsta

Hi there,

I've seen there are already a few threads that centre around this title, however as I am speaking on behalf of my partner, I wanted to be specific with the issues she is having with her ex-husband.

My partner has now been divorced for nearly 3 years, of which she was separated from her Ex for at least a year before that. We are renting at present but would very much like to get on the market and buy the house we're living in which is available if we want it, however because her name is still on her marital home from 4 years ago, as you can imagine this is throwing a huge spanner in the works, and unfortunately my earnings alone at present wont allow me to put the house just in my name. So there's the issue.

Now to paint a picture of her ex-husband: An ex-marine, he now lives/is based in Hawaii, works abroad for a private security firm in war zones, makes an absolute mint, has a new life, wife and child, and rarely comes back to country to see his other children with my partner, and when he does he showers them with expensive gifts which isn't what they really need/require, and then leaves to get on with his other life elsewhere. So he's managed to move on with his life, but refuses to allow my partner, who looks after, feeds and clothes his own children. He ignores phone calls, emails etc and when they do rarely meet to pass over/collect the children, he assures he's doing something about the above issue, but nothing ever materialises. He doesn't pay the agreed amount of maintenance for the children, and when this issue was raised back along and solicitors were involved, he threatened to just disappear off the map and not pay anything towards the children at all, so my partner backed down, as she/we don't have the funds to go into a legal war with him and cant afford to lose what maintenance he does give. For want of a better phrase, he's got my partner by her balls if she had any. So a nice bloke.

At present, the property in question is being rented by his parents who have also disowned him, but are making arrangements to move out sometime in the future once they have the finances to do so. My partner is on good talking terms with his mother, which may be of some future use.

Basically, I would like to know what options she/we have (if any) to get her name off of the mortgage herself...? Absolutely any information/advice would really be appreciated because this has been going on for far too long now, and i'm seething at the fact that he still has that little bit of control on my partner, which i'm very sure he still laps up.

I sincerely appreciate any help in advance and am happy to answer any related questions.

Thank you x

holly_hobby

Lets get to the crux to make it an easier read .....

Wife is on a mortgaged property with her ex (that lives also os of the UK), the property is rented to his parents (presume mge lender doesn't know ?)

Wife wants to be removed from the mortgage and property deeds.

Ok ...

1. This is a transfer of equity, and will require both his consent and the lenders affordability assessment that he can service the mortgage on his own - given that he also resides in the US and isn't employed there by a UK based co, he won't be considered an ex-pat which rather complicates things further.

2. If the lender isn't aware the property is let to parents, then they may well decline (even if they accept his residency and proof of income, which is doubtful) - this would leave him to require a remortgage onto a regulated buy to let arrangement (regulated as more than 40% of the property is occupied by family).

3. His ex could request between them, or force sale of the property via the courts (which given that neither of them live there as their main residence, will probably be granted), that would both relieve her of the mge liability and ownership (hopefully we're not also taking negative equity here too !)

Given what you've said, I can't see that he'll agree to a TOE or the lender assessing him (as I say doubtful he will meet criteria anyway), so if he doesn't agree to a volunatary sale (to parents or another 3rd party), she'll need to proceed via the courts for an order of sale to be granted (ie force the issue).

This will require a solicitor and there will be legal fees, which hopefully any free equity on sale will cover - but other than that no idea what else her options could be.

Hope this helps

Holly

Dave_Ham

There is only 3 ways she can come off that mortgage.

1 - They both decide to sell
2 - He arranges for her to be removed from the mortgage and ownership of the property
3 - She goes to court to force the sale of the property and incurs costs and potentially grief for doing this

Given this situation and a decent broker, there may be lenders that would consider this and preclude the existing mortgage commitment. This is dependent upon the detail of this other property so may be achievable at least.

I appreciate how frustrating this can be, although nothing can ever be done quickly in these sorts of matters without motivation for all to achieve the desired end result.

Best of luck

dimbo61

She still owns the property so move back in and change the locks !
As long as the mortgage is paid every month HE will have to take his EX to court to force a sale.
I know she gets on well with her ex mother in law but why are you providing free /cheap housing for them ?
When is your tenancy up for renewal ?
Move back in cover the mortgage payment on the house.
Go to CSA for proper maintenance arrangements

tBagpuss_2

Is your partner divorced? Does she have a court order relating to the divorce?
If not, the appropriate way forward would be for her to get some legal advice with a view to settling financial matters. He may be able to leave the country himself but he cannot take the house out of the country, nor his RM Pension, both of which she will have a claim against.

If his parents are renting the house than she should be receiving a share of the rental money.

How much is the equity in the property?

I would recommend that she speak to an experienced family solicitors (look at the Resolution website for solicitors in your area)

In the circumstances you describe a court might well decide that the house should be transferred outright to her, particularly if he has other, less accessible assets and income elsewhere.

As PPs have said, there is no reason why she should not return to the house and live there herself in the interim, to save on rent.

olsta

dimbo61 wrote: »

She still owns the property so move back in and change the locks !
As long as the mortgage is paid every month HE will have to take his EX to court to force a sale.
I know she gets on well with her ex mother in law but why are you providing free /cheap housing for them ?
When is your tenancy up for renewal ?
Move back in cover the mortgage payment on the house.
Go to CSA for proper maintenance arrangements

Thanks for the repsonse, however we don't live in the same town as the house in question, the children are settled at their new schools and moving back in is just not an option. We are happy in the house we're in now and are settling down, plus my partner is also pregnant with my first child so any upheaval would add to the stress.

To be honest, what her ex-in laws are paying him isn't of any concern either, we/she just wants her name off of the mortgage so she can move on. And as far as the CSA is concerned, he lives abroad and works for a non UK based company, so they cant touch him which he knows.

tBagpuss wrote: »

Is your partner divorced? Does she have a court order relating to the divorce?
If not, the appropriate way forward would be for her to get some legal advice with a view to settling financial matters. He may be able to leave the country himself but he cannot take the house out of the country, nor his RM Pension, both of which she will have a claim against.

If his parents are renting the house than she should be receiving a share of the rental money.

How much is the equity in the property?

I would recommend that she speak to an experienced family solicitors (look at the Resolution website for solicitors in your area)

In the circumstances you describe a court might well decide that the house should be transferred outright to her, particularly if he has other, less accessible assets and income elsewhere.

As PPs have said, there is no reason why she should not return to the house and live there herself in the interim, to save on rent.

Yes she is divorced. And there was a consent order drawn up and signed, which as far as the house is concerned states that if he were to sell the property then 50% of the equity (which we estimate there to be roughly around 40K's worth) would go to the children. However, the consent order also stated the amount of maintenance he would have to pay when the divorce was finalised, of which he has not kept to and is paying less. But when this has been put in front of a solicitor however, and he has been made aware, he'll personally threaten to either disappear and/or not pay any maintenance at all, which with my partner's financial situation, would be a huge financial burden at this present moment.

Saying that, and I know it is more of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, but would you have an idea on estimated total costs for such court action?

From what you are saying though, it sounds as if he wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on if push came to shove. He's had my partner essentially by the throat for too long now (and another one of his passed trait's which he was charged for) and I'm fed up with it. We just want to move on with our lives and if it wasn't for finances, passed experiences with incompetent solicitors, and her being threatened with his disappearing trick and non payment of maintenance, we would definitely have gone down this route a lot sooner, hence we'll definitely be in contact with a solicitor using the Resolution website. Any extra bits advice would also be greatly appreciated, and I will certainly reporting back with how we get on.

Many thanks.