Separation - family home

DFWJane

Husband and I separated last summer. We have 2 children 8 and 10. We were in the same house till recently but it was unbearable, I was sleeping on the sofa and the atmosphere was awful.
Home is jointly owned. Value as is £275000. It's not in a great state of repair.
Mortgage £115000
Secured loan £65000 (£5k of this arrears)
DMP £45000 - some joint, some separate
I have left the home and am in temporary rented accommodation. I have applied for all the benefits I think I may be entitled to. I am registered with the council for housing (you never know!).
He is not paying maintenance.
Ex wants me to sign house to him. In exchange he will take on all debt apart from my individual ones.
I am depressed. I can feel it. And it's making me ill. I've arranged free counselling and reached out for help.
I am at the stage of just signing the house to him. If I do I will tell him I will be getting the CMS to deal directly with him for the children's maintenance.
I realise walking away from equity is not the brightest move but he cannot get any credit and has no access to anything to pay me out. He is adamant he does not want to sell and the house would need a lot doing to get it up together. Having a property is important to him. A simple happy life is important to me.
I'm seriously considering this because of what it is doing to my health. I have friends who would not see us homeless.

Guest101

You cant anyway. He wont get a mortgage on his own.

Proxima_Centauri

And you're unlikely to get any benefits while you've got money (on paper at least) in the property.

DFWJane

The housing department have coincidentally just called me and advised not to sign it over till I've spoken to their adviser as they will not help me if I make myself intentionally homeless. It is financially unfeasible for me to afford to live there but I need to hold off the action till then.

Ozzuk

I didn't think you could just move debt between people. Sounds like a recipe for disaster and as Guest says, no way he'd get the required mortgage with that much debt.

Sell, clear all debts, there won't be much left after all that but you'll be able to start again.

Proxima_Centauri

DFWJane wrote: »

The housing department have coincidentally just called me and advised not to sign it over till I've spoken to their adviser as they will not help me if I make myself intentionally homeless.

Yes, - be careful of this.

lika_86

Even if he took on all of the debts you listed, by my calculations he'd be £50,000 up. You could have half of this if you sell up and split it. Apart from the logistical issues about whether he'd get a mortgage on his own for the house etc, do you really want to walk away from what could be a new start for you?

LannieDuck

If he's supposed to be paying maintenance to you, it suggests you have the children living with you. They would normally remain in the family home when the parents split up. If you have care, you'd have a strong argument to remain there if you wanted to.

TBagpuss

LannieDuck wrote: »

If he's supposed to be paying maintenance to you, it suggests you have the children living with you. They would normally remain in the family home when the parents split up. If you have care, you'd have a strong argument to remain there if you wanted to.

Only if she can afford to pay the mortgage (which for these purposes would include the secured loan)

Jane, I don't think it is practical to do as he suggests. The court has no power to transfer debt from you (or joint names) to him, the creditors would have to agree. So in effect, he would need to be able to get a new mortgage or other borrowing of about £185,000. (115K + £65K +£4.5K) That might be possible as a mortgage on a £275K property but with poor credit and a DMP it seems unlikely.

Also, on the figures you've given there is net equity of £90K. Even if he can afford to buy you out £90K (or even a share of £90K) is a hell of a lot to pay for a quiet life. Especially if he is effectively proposing that he walks away with£90K and you get nothing AND still have debts to pay.

It's likely to be far better to look at either:

1. You remain in the house with the children if you can afford to cover the mortgage and secured loan payments. You have a consent order with sets out when the house is to be sold and what % of the proceeds of sale you should each receive.

2. The house is sold now, you use the money to pay of the mortgage and all the debt, and you divide the remaining funds, either equally, or in unequal shares.

If having a property is important to your husband then he could use his share of the sale proceeds as a deposit to buy somewhere - again, he may have trouble getting a mortgage immediately but if he is not on benefits then he can save the money and rent for a year or two while he rebuilds his credit rating.

Unfortunately you are likely to have to live off your share of the proceeds unless you can get a mortgage (maybe on a shared ownership property?)

Have you spoken to a solicitor yet?

jamiehelsinki

It seems a bit unfair on you if there is equity in the house that you leave with nothing, perhaps he doesn't want to sell because he knows he will struggle to raise another mortgage?