Help needed re house and ex wife

swingaloo

We have a friend who has been separated from his wife for 5 years.

They have 2 children ( One child lives with each parent) and initially his ex moved another man into the family home and paid this friend an agreed sum when her and the new man re-mortgaged.

They have never divorced, they started and got as far as the decree nisi but never went on to get the absolute. (Don't really know why, he said he could not afford the cost to continue?)

I assume from this that they are still technically married.

The man went on to but another house 3 years ago and has since moved a new partner in with him.

Now the issue- the man is selling his house as he is struggling with debts and bills and is going to take the equity from the house (about £20.000) and pay off what he owes then rent.

However, the eldest son was visiting his mother over the weekend and was quizzed by her and his grandparents as to how much his dads house was selling for and how much equity there was. He then heard his mum talking to his grandma about if she was able to claim anything from it as they were still married and she considered it an asset of the marriage (even though it was bought 2 years after they parted).

Now our friend is really worried as he didn't think that was a possibility.

Is it possible she could have a claim?

RAS

Is the new house owned as a joint tenancy with the new partner or a tenants in common?

However, basically, in the absence of a decree absolute, they are still married and in England she could try to claim against it.

swingaloo

The new house is solely in his name, the new partner only moved in 8 months ago.

I suspected that she could try to claim and assume that she would have to pursue it through the courts. I think that's going to be his main worry as he would probably have to use most of the equity to defend.

Thank you for the reply.

RAS

Does he have a will? If not, when he dies the first £250K goes to the ex wife.

swingaloo

RAS wrote: »

Does he have a will? If not, when he dies the first £250K goes to the ex wife.

No I don't think he has a will although I must admit that he would probably prefer the ex wife to get it if he died so the children would benefit as I don't think the new partner will be around long:rotfl::rotfl:

Crabapple

It's definitely in his best interests to get a decree absolute as soon as possible. It will force the issue of dividing any assets and then give them both a clean break financially. Otherwise this is going to keep hanging over him everytime he builds up assets.

And as RAS says, he needs to make sure he has a valid Will, but even with one if they are still married she might be able to make a claim against his Estate.

FBaby

Surely it applies the other way too and in this case he still has a claim to her part in the old house unless it was fully remortgage to the new partner?

StuC75

If she did have a claim then maybe the same could be said of the house that she now owns with her current partner since its an asset of hers as well?

swingaloo

FBaby wrote: »

Surely it applies the other way too and in this case he still has a claim to her part in the old house unless it was fully remortgage to the new partner?

Don't even get me started on that! She moved her new man in and paid our friend off when they re mortgaged. He has since left and she has had to re mortgage again to pay him off.

What a mess these two have made between them.

All was ticking on nicely till the eldest son decided he wanted to live with dad (mum said she couldn't cope with them both) so since he has moved dad had claimed the tax credits and child benefit for him so its all hitting the fan now.

I suspect that's why she is showing an interest in the house he is selling.