Separated - Can I buy a house?

gospete

Hi,
I am just wondering where to get advice.

In a nutshell, we have been separated for just over a year. We agreed that my wife and children remain in the rented house. This (and the monthly maintenance I pay) was all part of the separation agreement. Fortunately it is an amicable split.

However, because I need a permanent place to live, I would really like to buy my own house (rather than rent). But the following questions arise:
1. Can I do this before getting a divorce ?
2. Is there such a thing as an agreement we can both sign ?

Or to speed things up, could I go for a 'Quickie Divorce' frequently advertised. I'm not sure a high street solicitor would offer impartial advice on such a process.

Any tips or advice would be most welcome. Thanks.

CP26

I can't really comment on the house buying aspect. However 'quickie divorces' don't really exist and the exact length of time it wil take will depend on the current caseload of your chosen county court and the overall complexity of your case.

I have just applied for my decree absolute...the final step. I started the process in August and have completed each stage at the earliest possible opportunity. We don't have children and we've been amicable so it has been about as straightforward as it can get.

Wikivorce is a great resource and their free helpline has been very useful to me.

gospete

Thanks for your advice.
I was just wondering about the Quickie Divorces advertised on the internet.
Do they somehow circumvent the 2 year separation rule?

I didn't really want to wait 2 years before I can buy a house.

I_try

You can buy a house anytime you want. What you need to consider is that everything you have is part of 'the marital pot'. If you buy something now, divorce in a couple of years and your property has doubled in value than ex potentially has a claim on the full value despite you purchasing and paying the mortgage on it, if you are then unable to buy them out then you may be forced to sell.


Discuss this with a solicitor, it takes time for the divorce to get sorted and you have said it is already over a year since you split so you can get some things lined up beforehand. The financial agreement you are thinking of is a consent order and should be something you can get prepared now although it won't come into effect until decree absolute.


It sounds like you need to get things negotiated and drawn up before adding other things into the marital pot but it is up to you, some people divorce without making legally binding agreements on the finances but IMO that is just waiting for problems later on.


Solicitor advice needed but have a look on wikivorce as lots of information there!

RAS

gospete wrote: »

Thanks for your advice.
I was just wondering about the Quickie Divorces advertised on the internet.
Do they somehow circumvent the 2 year separation rule?

I didn't really want to wait 2 years before I can buy a house.

This sounds dodgy.

You can divorce anytime with ex partner's consent on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown and if you have moved out that seems to have happened already.

If you do not think you marriage has broken down irretrievably, you can divorce on the grounds of 2 years separation with ex-paretner's consent or wait 5 years if they refuse consent.

i try has pointed out the issues with buying property during separation. You need a financial settlement as well as a divorce, clean break.

Rottensocks

Don't buy anything of value 'til you're divorced.

Once a certain type of solicitor gets involved and eggs them on, you'll be surprised at how normally reasonable people can become quite fixated on getting their 'dues'.

If your wife is agreeable to the idea, you can get divorced right away, as others have said above.

gospete

Thanks for all the inputs.
We've been married for 5 years, separated for 1 year.
If we are both agreeable, is it fairly easy to get a divorce before the 2 years has elapsed? (the breakdown wasn't over any one thing - we just drifted apart and agree it's the best course).

RAS

You fill in the forms, both sign, take to court, pay fees.

https://www.gov.uk/divorce/file-for-divorce

If one of you is on a low income that person may be able to get a discount on the fees.

Go to the wikidivorce web-site for information as well.

You need a consent order; without that if you win the lottery, inherit or whatever in 10 years time, your ex can come back and claim part of it.

Alan_T_2

Depends on where in the UK you are too. IIRC in Scotland you can get divorced after 1 year of separation where you have children, whereas it's 2 years in the rest of the UK. Also in Scotland it's 2 years of separation to divorce without consent, whereas it's 5 in the rest of the UK.

One thing that you might want to consider, since you are both on reasonable terms, is a separation agreement. In this you can cover off child custody/access/maintenance, any financial arrangements, what happens to assets etc. The can be drawn up pretty easily with a solictor(s) if both in agreement and can help at the actual divorce as it can make provision for that. Other big point is that you can draw a line under the relationship and both acknowledge that post a certain date that you weren't together. The courts aren't likely to set aside these agreements if they are reasonable.

harrys_dad

Are you "financially separate"? Do you have any joint debts? Any joint loans? Or even any joint bank accounts? if not I am sure you can be treated as a separate person for mortgage purposes and house buying. Follow the advice above though and sort out a proper separation agreement and then move the divorce forward quickly.

If there are issues you do not both agree on try mediation before a solicitor, it will be cheaper.

gospete

Thanks for advice.
Even with an amicable separation agreement in place, what about a mortgage lender? Is it possible to get a mortgage during a separation period - even though I've got a good job and the required deposit?