Transferring ownership of house to ex or forcing sale

DaisyBrown1234

Hi,

Am hoping for a bit of advice.

My husband split from his ex-partner (they were never married) almost 10 years ago. They have a now 11 year old together. At the time, my husband moved out of the house that they own together as she wanted to stay there.

As the house has been in negative equity until the last few years they made an informal agreement that he would pay her a maintenance amount which is the same as half the mortgage to allow her to stay in the house.

During this time, my husband’s ex has moved out of this house for a period of around a year to rent with her new partner and their kids and they rented the house out. My husband’s ex's new (last 9 years) relationship seems to be very turbulent and she made the decision to move back into the house that my ex owns with my ex's son and her other child.

My husband is desperate to sell the house or let her buy him out or even sign it over to her so that he is free of that connection with his ex after all this time. We suspect that on her own she would not be able to convince the mortgage company that she could afford the house, although we aren't certain.

Could anyone advise on:
- How much it might cost for him to sign the house over to her? (presuming she can afford the mortgage). I'm aware there would be both solicitor fees and mortgage fees. Presumably the mortgage fees would be on her side only?
- What we would need to do if she can't take on the house on her own or refuses to sell? Would we need to go to court? How much would going to court cost to force a sale and is there a possibility that the court would make my husband stay on the mortgage?

Thanks very much.
Daisy

Pixie5740

He can't just sign the house over to his ex. Their mortgage account would have to be closed otherwise the lender won't allow the transfer of ownership. The ex would need to be able to get a mortgage in her own name and also supply at least a 5% deposit coming from equity in the property and/or savings.

If her buying your husband out isn't an option and she refuses to sell then he will need to go to court to force the sale which is going to be expensive and time consuming. The sooner he gets the ball rolling to sooner it will all be over.

FBaby

You need to seek legal advice, because all you'll get from us is a very general consensus from the information you've shared.

If she can't get the mortgage in her name, then the only option is indeed to take to court to force a sale (assuming she refuses). Whether this will be granted will depend on a number of factors, but it will mainly be about the welfare of the child, ie, what would likely happen if the sale is forced, hence why judges often grant the resident parent to be able to stay in the home until the youngest child reach the age of 18.

In this case, your husband could make a case that she has not resided there for many years, but again, the question would be why he didn't force the sale then, when she indeed had alternative adequate accommodation? Was he getting half of the rental income when the house was rented?

My husband’s ex's new (last 9 years) relationship seems to be very turbulent and she made the decision to move back into the house that my ex owns with my ex's son and her other child.

Not sure I understand the latter part of this statement, confusing!

booksurr

you also mention that

DaisyBrown1234 wrote: »

As the house has been in negative equity until the last few years

which implies its value has now increased?

as he has not lived in it as his own main home for a considerable time he will be exposed to Capital Gains tax if the property is now worth more than what he paid for it originally. As he was not married to her then any "transfer" could result in a CGT bill for him if his share (i assume they owned it 50/50???) is more than his personal CGT allowance of £11,100

go talk to a solicitor, there are a lot of issues to cover ...

booksurr

DaisyBrown1234 wrote: »

My husband’s ex's new (last 9 years) relationship seems to be very turbulent and she made the decision to move back into the house that my ex owns with my ex's son and her other child.

FBaby wrote: »

Not sure I understand the latter part of this statement, confusing!

OP's husband = Person A

Op's husband's previous woman = "the ex" aka Person B

Person A and B had a child (D) before they split so A is a biological father even though not married

Person B found a new man in her life (Person C) and either had a further kid (child E) with C - or C came with his own baggage which B has decided to continue to look after?

Person B split from C and moved back into the house she jointly owns with A bringing with her child D and child E

The above is mildly relevant given Person A will have a legal responsibility towards Child D if he tries to force the sale and therefore Child D loses their current accommodation :rotfl:

marliepanda

Your husband has an 11 year old child with this lady. It's unlikely a court will allow him to force a sale of his child's home.

D_M_E

Did she get consent to let from the mortgage providers?

Did she pay any of the rent received to your partner?

Did she declare the rental income to HMRC and pay tax on it?

trevormax

D_M_E wrote: »

Did she get consent to let from the mortgage providers?

Did she pay any of the rent received to your partner?

Did she declare the rental income to HMRC and pay tax on it?

I'm not a betting man but I'd put good money on "No, no and no".

Sambella

You won't really know until you approach her with the offer of her owning the house outright , she might jump at the chance to do this if she can afford the mortgage payments.

Presumably child maintenance is being paid for the second child now. You haven't mentioned if she works or not.

[Deleted User]

I am sorry but I am going to be a bit hard balled here. You became involved with your partner knowing he had a child that he was responsible for. You knew this house situation existed. I wonder if you thought how caring and responsible he was? Encourage him to not be.., and you might find it revisited on yourself. The situation has existed for ten years.., there's a reason for that.