Joint mortgage after Divorce

daveefc

Hi


Me and my Fiancee are due to get married in September. I have recently realised that despite her being divorced she is still on the mortgage for her previous home. The divorce was done with no settlement as she chose to just get it done, so he has the house and everything.


My worry is that officially with her on the mortgage then she will be liable should he either die or not be able to pay the mortgage. She works part time but realistically if anything was to go wrong would it end up coming in my direction after we are married and I cant afford to take on that burden.


What steps do we need to take? I am guessing that it is not going to be straightforward just to take her off the mortgage. I am sure he wont be keen to spend any money or have to find a new mortgage. I cant afford to pay for anything as we have a wedding to pay for.

kingstreet

She's equally responsible for the existing mortgage as he is.

This will be taken into account by your lender when you apply for a joint mortgage and you will be able to borrow less as a result.

he would need to remortgage to a new lender on a sole basis, or go back to current lender to have her removed, if he can afford it alone, then it will be passed to a solicitor for a transfer of equity to be completed, cost £450 to £600.

ChopperST

Her ex partner will need to remortgage in his own name and buy her out of her share of the equity or whatever agreement they come to.

Her current mortgage will be factored into any affordability calculations when you apply together and will affect the amount you can borrow.

You are also correct in that if her ex doesn't pay the mortgage the mortgage company will come looking for her as they are jointly liable at present.

I'd get it sorted ASAP - preferably with the help of a solicitor. Strange this wasn't sorted as part of the divorce?

andyfromotley

She needs a solicitor. pronto.

daveefc

The divorce was an online one done just to get it over with. She left him with everything as she didn't want it to get messy and needless to say if she wanted anything it would have gotten messy and ended up impacting on the kids.


I own 2 properties myself, both mortgaged but with a reasonable amount of equity on each. When we get married would this then make my properties "available" should anything fail with his mortgage? I have no reason to believe he would stop paying his mortgage but I need to ensure my property is safe.


Thanks for your help by the way everybody.

kingstreet

She is responsible for the mortgage.

If the lender repossessed the property at some point and a shortfall was left behind, it could sue for bankruptcy to recover the shortfall from any of her other assets; so embarking on joint ownership of any assets may not be a sensible move in the near future.

daveefc

kingstreet wrote: »

She is responsible for the mortgage.

If the lender repossessed the property at some point and a shortfall was left behind, it could sue for bankruptcy to recover the shortfall from any of her other assets; so embarking on joint ownership of any assets may not be a sensible move in the near future.

Thank you.


I understand this bit, but would the assets which are solely in my name then make them liable to be targeted should that happen after we have married.

kingstreet

I don't know.

That's beyond a simple mortgage broker's ken, as they say.

andyfromotley

This is one of the perils of doing things on the cheap. Your OH has left herself in a terrible position that needs unpicking and unpicking soon.

You both need to go and see a solicitor. I do get the attraction of trying to keep things hassle free honestly but this situation is imo to big a price to pay for that. Imagine if he becomes redundant/permanantly disabled/ has MH problems etc etc. and is unable or just unwilling to pay the mortgage. She will be expected to pay up!

Alternatively she could do what one of my exes did in this situation, not pay the mortgage for 18 months and then do a bunk abroad, leaving me with the debt, and a flat with negative equity!!