Divorce and changing house ownership

cxgcxg

My wife and I are in the final stages of divorcing - it should all be finalised in approx three more weeks.

We have made no written or contractual agreements on finances but have agreed verbally that I will stay in the house and care for our son (eight) and she will move abroad with her new partner (who is amply able to support her financially) to her country of birth. She is currently paying half of the costs of our child, but, if this were to be withdrawn I am able to afford that in full myself.

She has asked me to remove her name from the house and all bills but wants me to put half of the house in my son's name. I suspect that this won't be possible given his age, but I assume there will be a solution that satisfies her wishes and allows for me to transfer the property into my name, which provides me with security that she may not later change her mind and upheave me.

I recognise that I should speak to a solicitor and I will, but I'm not sure what type of solicitor I should contact and also I loathe the idea of running up huge bills for certain aspects that I could do/research myself. I'm also a bit worried about my mortgage - whilst it has always been based upon only my salary (as she has never worked), we have remortgaged a couple of times with the same lender and I think that makes the criteria for lending easier. I could be wrong; I also think the lending criteria are now more strict in terms of looking at disposable income and 'what if' scenarios should rates rise. My outstanding borrowing is about 3.5 times my salary.

Any advice on any of the above would be gratefully appreciated; this is very new territory for me.

Thanks!

gingercordial

Since you have a child and a property you really should get something drafted by a solicitor. It's usually best to do this along with the decree absolute so everything can be closed off and no loose ends. This will stop her from coming back later and wanting half the house, or money from you, and equally you will not be able to go after her for more.

If you're nearly at the end of the divorce then haven't you already got a solicitor? Or have you been using one of the online services? (No problem with them, that's what I did for mine but it was easy as we had few assets and no children.)

In any case if you need to find the right kind of lawyer, just google your home town plus "family law" and some will come up.

The good news is that it shouldn't cost too much if you are agreed on what is going to happen. The easiest way is for you to write down together what you've agreed (what's happening with the house, savings, pensions, maintenance etc) and then pass that piece of paper to a lawyer to put it into correct legal wording and have it filed with the court. They can also point out any important things you've forgotten to include.

I am not sure if you will need a separate custody agreement. That's definitely one to ask about but I am sure again if you already know what you want to say without any disputes it will not cost too much to draft properly.

You will need to remove her from the house deeds and the mortgage at the same time because if she stays on the mortgage but not the deeds she will remain liable for it, and a mortgage lender won't let her be on the deeds but not the mortgage. Yes, this means you will need to remortgage in your sole name and if you can't do that there may be an issue. Have you spoken to an independent mortgage broker to see if they think you will be given a mortgage on your own? That should be your next step. Your financial consent order can then say something along the lines of that you have six months in which to remortgage and remove her from the deeds.

An under-18 can't own property in England and Wales (16 in Scotland). It could be held in trust for him but this is complicated and may get very messy if you find yourself needing to move later on. It would be easier if you could persuade her to drop this requirement as simply too difficult.

Good luck.

Floxxie

Get your agreement drawn up into a Consent Order and get it stamped by a judge to make it legally binding.

One solution if you cannot afford to have the mortgage in your name only is for the equity to be transferred to you (and your ex's name removed from the deeds) but for her to remain as a named party on the mortgage (you will have to indemnify her from any default). This can only be done under a Consent Order as it is a rule under Matrimonial and not Land law.

Finances should be sorted before the absolute. Your son is not part of the divorce, so any asset division is between you and your ex.