Buying husbands equity anyone done/how long?

upavon1

Hi. It's been a while since I've been on here and my husband went bankrupt December 2012 but is not being discharged until 3 years from November 2013 (apparently owing huge amounts to HMRC and on VAT affects your discharge date). I have recently been left a inheritance which will enable me to put in an offer to buy out his half of the house. We have made an appointment to see an advisor about this but I was hoping someone here might be able to shed some light on how it works and how long the OR takes to accept the offer you put in. We have had a valuation on the house from a chain of estate agents and they said that there is £75-£100k equity. A house of similar size on our street sold two weeks ago sold for the £75k equity price so do the OR just look at average prices for the postcode or send their own estate agent round or do we have to get several quotes? Is it usually a quick process? Does our mortgage provider have to be informed as we haven't let them know of our change in circumstances and don't want to in case they withdraw the mortgage as it was originally given to my husband with his previous wife when he was self employed and she earned a lot when they divorced she was taken off it and it became interest only he then was no longer self employed but didn't notify the mortgage provider so we are worried they would withdraw it if they knew if the change in circumstance. Sorry for such a long post it's just I don't want to put all my inheritance in only to find that the mortgage provider could cancel the mortgage and we would be back to square one and homeless. Any help would be gratefully received thank you all.

tigerfeet2006

Not going to comment about your mortgage as others are more qualified but just to clarify the discharge date. Your husband will have been discharged 12 months from the date of BR. That is a given unless he has been uncooperative with the OR. What you describe could either be a BRO or U which extends the restrictions of his BR ie: no credit over £500 with out informing his creditors which can be given for periods of 2-15 years.This is given if the OR feels there was some culpability on the run up to BR.

Or it's an IPA, where he pays his surplus income to the OR for 36 months.

upavon1

Tigerfeet2006 thanks for replying - awful as it sounds I don't know the full ins and outs (please don't judge me my husband gets too upset and defensive so I don't push too hard). He was self employed and stopped paying HMRC and the Vat which I presume will come under the culpability you mentioned in the run up to the bankruptcy hence such a long date. It's so frustrating as they issued it originally on the 3rd DEcember but then said it was from 3 years from 11th November last year and they don't have to act on the house until 2 years and 3 months since the issue of the bankruptcy - which I am assuming is the new November date so I just want to sort ASAP as we have a llittle boy it's not just us and the house prices are hoping up and up. Thanks again

egrescrimp

Are you sure your husband wasn't discharged after 12 months and you are confusing the fact the OR can stake a claim on the house up to that date due to your husband being on the mortgage? More information can be found here http://www.piggybankrupt.co.uk/bankruptcy-home.html

upavon1

It was a BRU that was issued in the November sorry I was unsure of the correct term for it until now. Anyone who has gone through the same process I would be very grateful to hear from you. Thank you

silvercar

On the mortgage front, if you haven't got arrears the lender can't repossess. They can refuse you a further advance. They can refuse you a new deal if you are on a fixed rate and that finishes (so you would revert to their standard variable rate). They can refuse to extend the mortgage beyond the current end date (often 25 years). But to repossess they would have to go to court and provided you have kept up with repayments, no judge would give possession - and they know it.

My only question would be whether you originally had a repayment mortgage and they allowed a temporary only move to interest only? If this was the case, they could force you back on repayment.

upavon1

Thank you silvercar that has put my mind at rest in relation to the mortgage providers. We have never missed a payment thankfully. I have sought legal advice regarding buying out my husbands equity in the property and they said that the trustees usually respond very quickly and then haggle for a better figure so hopefully we should have this sorted soon and at least I know they can't touch our home. Thank you again for replying