How to buy my ex-husband's share of house?

Thrugelmir

Be very difficult and expensive to force a sale of the property. In such cases between warring parents. The Courts primary function is to act as guardian of the child. Therefore puts the child's interests first. A home being paramount in this regard from a perspective of well being.

With regards to the split of equity. You agreed a settlement at the point of separation. Whilst you have subsequently paid the mortgage.Your ex has had to fund his own housing costs and hasn't had access to the capital available. As the saying goes you can't have your cake and eat it.

s@sha

Thrugelmir wrote: »

With regards to the split of equity. You agreed a settlement at the point of separation. Whilst you have subsequently paid the mortgage.Your ex has had to fund his own housing costs and hasn't had access to the capital available. As the saying goes you can't have your cake and eat it.

Yup, this is true and I hadn't thought about it in terms of what he has had to pay out/will continue to have to pay towards his housing-thanks.

Sambella

If the equity in your house was as an example £100k at the time of divorce then it is divided £60k to you and £40k to him minus any expenses. His equity remains frozen from that date. This is my understanding of it.

After divorce if you are the one who pays the mortgage or pays the mortgage off in a lump sum then that portion is yours. If he was to carry on paying the mortgage then his 40% share grows as the house value /equity grows.

So. If you pay off the mortgage now he would be free from a joint mortgage and can then get another one but has to save for a deposit as he doesn't get his equity share until the house is sold when the child leaves education or turns 20.

I have to say that I really like your reasonableness. I wish more separated couples could be like this. I know your ex doesn't pay the mortgage but it can be extremely hard for an NRP to pay a mortgage on a family plus maintenance plus their own living costs.

s@sha

Sambella wrote: »

If the equity in your house was as an example £100k at the time of divorce then it is divided £60k to you and £40k to him minus any expenses. His equity remains frozen from that date. This is my understanding of it.

After divorce if you are the one who pays the mortgage or pays the mortgage off in a lump sum then that portion is yours. If he was to carry on paying the mortgage then his 40% share grows as the house value /equity grows.

Oh...now, this puts things in a different light if you are correct that his equity is frozen. Because I was unaware of that, I thought the 60/40 split was 40% of the proceeds earned whenever the house was sold. So to give a simple example- if the house was worth £200, 000 at the time we made the agreement, but increased in value by another £50, 000 when it is eventually sold, I thought he would be getting 40% of whatever's left after the sale, including that increase in vale. Not just 40% of the original £200, 000.
I will have to look again at the financial agreement, as I'm now not entirely sure if it clarifies this.

As for being reasonable, well despite the fact I didn't want to separate, it was out of the blue and it hit me very hard (believe me there were some awful arguments in the beginning and a lot of hurt and anger) we neither of us stooped to using our child as a weapon against each other- we tried to put his needs first. As soon as my ex realised he could afford to rent somewhere without needing the equity in the house, he never pushed for the house to be sold, and never tried to get out of paying maintenance or anything he is responsible for such as contributing to repairs. I've never prevented him from seeing his son whenever they both want, as I wanted them to stay close. And I chose not to try to get any maintenance for myself from him as I knew he wouldn't be able to afford it and it didn't seem fair.
We just wanted what was due for our son, which is what he gives in maintenance and has given by not forcing the sale of the house.
Maybe we are unusual, we went to a family mediation service to help sort out the financial agreement and make sure we covered everything- we sorted it all out in two sessions, the mediator said she was amazed at how reasonable we both were, as there was no arguing, shouting or unreasonable demands!

IAmWales

If the equity in your house was as an example £100k at the time of divorce then it is divided £60k to you and £40k to him minus any expenses. His equity remains frozen from that date. This is my understanding of it.

No, where a Mesher Order states a percentage, then unless otherwise stated it refers to equity at the point of sale, not at the time of the divorce. This is why the resident parent will usually receive a higher proportion.

You need to speak to a solicitor OP. Well intentioned but incorrect forum advice would be very costly to you in the long run.

s@sha

IAmWales wrote: »

No, where a Mesher Order states a percentage, then unless otherwise stated it refers to equity at the point of sale, not at the time of the divorce. This is why the resident parent will usually receive a higher proportion.

You need to speak to a solicitor OP. Well intentioned but incorrect forum advice would be very costly to you in the long run.

Thank you, that was always my understanding of how my mesher order works, though I will double-check the financial agreement.
I think it's safe to say I need to see an IFA and/or solicitor. Probably best to wait until I know more accurately how much the inheritance will be, as there is also my parents' savings in various places that will be added to the money from their house sale. And how much I finally receive may affect what I can/can't do re the mortgage etc. If indeed I am advised to do anything about it, of course.

getmore4less

The real problem is the agreement that there is a 60:40 split after the mortgage is paid was probably wrong if you took on the payment of the mortgage(even if interest only and in both names).

Did you also take on full responsibility for maintenance?

How did you come to this agreement?

If the ex does not need the money there probably a way to do this where you get the house mortgage free and owe the ex an amount and have a payment schedule for that debt..

badmemory

Would it be possible to buy out half of his share, leaving 20% to go later and paying the rest off the mortgage. I don't know if this would be possible but it would give him a lump sum towards a deposit and also increase his affordability as his mortgage indebtedness would decrease. Hopefully DWP would be moderately happy because it would reduce the amount of interest they would have to pay.

s@sha

getmore4less wrote: »

The real problem is the agreement that there is a 60:40 split after the mortgage is paid was probably wrong if you took on the payment of the mortgage(even if interest only and in both names).

Did you also take on full responsibility for maintenance?

How did you come to this agreement?.

I think it was suggested by my solicitor as 'the norm' - Now I think I should have got some proper financial advice, as it never occurred to me to question the fact that my ex wouldn't be paying towards the mortgage for years. To be honest, I was clinically depressed at the time, my ex was wanting a divorce ASAP so he could remarry and I hadn't really got over the split- so I felt rushed and wasn't coping well and just relied on the solicitor and the mediation people to guide us and make sure things were fair. I also knew that the court wouldn't rubber stamp a financial agreement that was very unfair...I thought they wouldn't, anyway.

Maintenance for the house is split 40/60 with me paying 60% and him 40% though that doesn't include general things like redecorating, refurbishing etc. It's for repairs only that affect the 'livability' of the house, if that makes sense. I can't describe it properly without looking at the wording on the agreement, but basically, if I want to redecorate, that's solely at my expense.
If the roof needs mending, he pays 40% and I pay 60% of the cost. He's also not responsible ( I discovered recently) for the garden and boundary walls/fences. I currently have a collapsing fence that technically I will have to pay to repair with no requirement for him to contribute. Though we talked about it and he is willing to pay something towards it because he feels he should- but he's not bound to by the agreement.