Remove my name from mortgage help needed

me-at-work

My husband has been separated from his ex wife for almost 9 years. His ex wife has since re-married. My husbands name is still on the mortgage that that he had with his ex even though he hasn't paid anything towards the mortgage since the day they separated. He walked away with nothing and left his wife in the home as his daughter was 8 years old at the time. We are now thinking of buying a property together however, he has been asking his wife to get his name removed from their mortgage and sort it out but she is stalling. He called a solicitor this morning hoping to get things moving only to be told that he cannot take his name off the mortgage that he's on with his ex wife. Surely there must be something we can do as if she decides not to pay that mortgage then he would be classed as being liable? Anyone have any ideas of where we go from here as we are banging our heads against a wall and are in limbo?

HappyMJ

Not much he can do if the ex cannot take on the property by herself. Your husband probably won't be able to force a sale of the property until the child leaves home or full time education.

You can get another mortgage whilst already having one so speak to a mortgage broker and get some advice.

Yes he is liable for he mortgage but it is secured. If payments are no longer being made by the person getting the benefit of living it then he could try and force a sale but whilst payments are being made there is little he can do.

bouicca21

Do they have a consent order sorting out the finances?

BigAunty

She can't just 'remove' him from the mortgage, even if she wanted to.

She has to demonstrate to the lender that she has got sufficient employment income to take it over in her sole name (or jointly with her new partner) and the lender will only give consent for this if they pass the usual credit checks and usual loan to value ratio calculations.

Yes, he's liable if she defaults. A joint mortgage gives him joint and several liability whereby the lender can seek payment from either or both owners in the event of arrears.

is she resisting a request to make an application to the lender to take over the mortgage in her sole name or jointly with her new partner? Some exes refuse to proceed either because they know that they earn too little and lenders will reject their mortgage application or because they are not happy with the settlement that their ex proposes, how to deal with the equity in it and historic contributions to the payment of the mortgage or initial deposit.

me-at-work

They are both in full time employment and afford new cars, holidays etc every year. The mortgage has been paid on it for over 10 years now, there's been no re-mortgage on it (my husband has had statements from the bank confirming this)
Were at a loss as to why her new husband would be happy living in a house with her ex-husbands name on it!
My husbands daughter is 16 now and leaves school next May.

zzzLazyDaisy

me-at-work wrote: »

My husbands daughter is 16 now and leaves school next May.

She may not though... if she goes on to college she can be classed as a 'child', and her mother can be in receipt of child benefit until the daughter is 20yrs old. This will also impact on any CSA your husband pays.

Going back to the house - it is impossible for anyone here to help you, because we do not know what what agreed/imposed during the ancilliary relief proceedings (ie what financial provisions were made and how that impacted on the house). There will have been a court order about that, and that's his starting point. If he is still unsure, the best bet is to go back and see the solicitor that acted for him in the divorce, as they will have the file which will include copies of correspondence sent to him at the time, which he may have lost/forgotten about.

Often people agree to things in divorce and later forget them when their circumstances change and/or they get a new partner. I am not saying they do this deliberately, but it does happen quite a lot. So the best thing to do first is to establish the facts.

thesaint

He should be happy that he owns a house that he has paid nothing on for the last 9 years.

TBagpuss

The key issue is whether there was a financial order when he got divorced, and of so, what it says.

It may say something along the lines that she will 'use her best endevors' to get his name off the mortgage, it might allow him to apply for a sale if she is remarried / cohabiting.

If there was no order then he is in a tricky position as, having himself remarried, he cannot make an application for a financial settlement in relation to the divorce. (if you and he are not married, then that would be the way to go)

Assuming that ou are married, he could (I assume the house as well as the mortgage is in joint names) apply for an order for sale under the Trust of Land Act in order to get the mortgage cleared - this will however depend on factors such as the value of the house / equity when they separated and now, what each of them says (and what either can prove) about what was agreed when they split etc.

As he divorced 9 years ago his old solicitors may not still have the file, but if they don't, he will be able to make enquiries with the court to see whether any order was made at the time.

agrinnall

This should have been sorted out in the divorce settlement, as it wasn't and she's not prepared to take on the full mortgage herself then resolution is likely to be expensive.