PLEASE HELP urgent advice required regarding property and benefits.

lindsey3uk

This is a really really long story so il be brief. Basically my ex partner and I brouht a flat together when we were younger. I have never paid any money into this flat or received any money for it but my name is on the mortgage. He has always paid for it. We split up last July and I declared all this and was awarded housing benefit and income support. Now 1 year on like a bolt out of the blue they have stopped all my money because of the flat.

He is the father if my 3 children and he currently lives in the property. I have a meeting tomorrow to discuss all of this but I don't know where I am going to get with it. I want to get my name off of the mortgage but they literally won't let me. The mortgage company says I need to appoint a solicitor and the solicitor won't act on my behalf because they say they will be giving me bad advice and I could sue them. All I want is to sign my half over to him and they won't let me.

He cannot sell because he will not be able to afford anywhere else, this is a small studio and perfect for him. He lives close by and it's a perfect set up for our children.

If he remortgaged it would be a similar situation because he would not be able to afford the repayments if he gave me some of the equity. Plus if I took the equity they would stop my benefits anyway and everyone would lose out. I'd love to sign it over to our children or at least my half but obviously they cannot take over a mortgage.

I literally don't know what option I have. I have never ever paid any money into this flat. Not a single penny. Or had any money out of it. I literally don't know what I can do.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Mclark_2

I have been in the exact same circumstances about 4 years ago and when I had a meeting with them I just had to explain that I did not pay to the house and show documents of the monthly payments which I did not pay. Maybe ask your ex to write a letter stating this?

rogerblack

Several aspects to this - I'm likely to miss some.
First, the negatives.

If you own part of a property you do not live in, the market value of this property usually counts as capital for benefits purposes.
If you sign away your rights to capital, you may be treated as still having it for benefits purposes.
If you have more than 16K of capital - you were never entitled to HB/IS, and any money paid has been overpaid. If it is held that you did this intentionally, this may also be a crime, in addition to needing to repay it.
Because you paid no money into the flat does not automatically mean you have no equity in it - this is likely more appropriate in the housing section - I do not know how to properly calculate it.
On the positive side.
The capital value of a property you part-own is not simply the market value divided by the number of owners.
It's the value that you would get if you forced a sale against the unwilling other owner less ten percent, after any mortgage is paid.
This may be _considerably_ less.
In some circumstances, it is not possible to force the sale of the property, so the value is zero.
I vaguely remember that this is the case if it is an ex partner and underage children are living in the property.
Are the children yours and his, or his alone?

lindsey3uk

Thank you for your response, when you say documents of the monthly payments you do not pay do you mean like one of my ex partners bank statements or something to that effect?

epitome

Is your name on the deeds?

I think you will be ok (benefits re-instated) once you show that you pay nothing towards that house, letter from your ex would be good, as would his bank statements showing his mortgage payments and council tax and home insurance all paid by him.

Mclark_2

Yes a bank statement or a letter from him stating that he pays for the
Mortgage and not yourself

bloolagoon

Are you still married to him? Was this discussed when you separated?

lindsey3uk

Thank you for your response, the children are both of ours. They live with me but he has them every other weekend and he takes our daughter to school every day as I cannot due to illness, him living far away is simply not an option. I don't know how much equity is in the property I would say £18,000 but that's if the market was good

lindsey3uk

My name is on the deeds, we are taking steps to get them removed but of course it is not that simple. We are still married and no it wasn't discussed when we seperated as he has always paid everything I have never had anything to do with it and have always seen it as his but because we were married he out my name on it

lindsey3uk

I am still getting my tax credits. Yes sorry my IS and housing benefit has been stopped

bloolagoon

lindsey3uk wrote: »

My name is on the deeds, we are taking steps to get them removed but of course it is not that simple. We are still married and no it wasn't discussed when we seperated as he has always paid everything I have never had anything to do with it and have always seen it as his but because we were married he out my name on it

As you are married you are entitled to at least 50% unless you had a deed of trust drawn up. You rented it out and therefore when married both got the income etc. Many mothers don't work but during a divorce they are entitled even if not on the deeds.

In your previous threads you said there was £50,000 equity, has this risen since then?