Taking an ex off a mortgage

Terini_2

Hi... I need some help... my new partner has a mortgage in his property... he took out the mortgage in his sole name... he then married and although his new wife was never included on the original mortgage... when they were going through a bad time he added her name on to the mortgage to show her a kind of stability and commitment... she has never worked and has never made one payment to the mortgage.. it has always come out of his bank account.... move forward a few years and she ups and does a runner... he's left with their children and is still paying the mortgage...

Now we are together and are planning to sell our houses and buy one together....

My question is.... does she have any right to this property if it is paid off soon... or how can he take her name off the mortgage... she doesn't even know she's still on it...

If he pays off the mortgage does her name then get registered with land registry as joint owner even though she has nothing to do with it?

He can obviously afford the current mortgage and has done since it was taken out... should he just remortgage? Would this remove her name?

Please help

Thrugelmir

Sounds as if needs to formalise the separation from his ex by divorcing her and agreeing on a financial settlement. While she never worked. She brought up the children. Suggest your partner seeks proper legal advice.

Sambella

Actually she appears to have left the children with him....

Sambella

You won’t be able to remortgage without her signature but paying the balnace off would end the mortgage. If she isn’t on the house deeds then he can sell without her signature then.

If there was no financial order she is still open to coming for money later but he could argue abandonment etc and if she hasn’t paid child maintenance that could go against her too.

phillw

Terini wrote: »

My question is.... does she have any right to this property if it is paid off soon... or how can he take her name off the mortgage... she doesn't even know she's still on it...

She has the right to apply for a settlement when they divorce, it doesn't matter what her name is on. She can ask for whatever she wants, of course what she's awarded is another matter. Quite often it comes down to how good your solicitor is.

You can try remortgaging to get her removed, will he qualify for a mortgage on his own with the current lending criteria?

Land_Registry

Being on a mortgage and being a registered owner are two separate things. I suspect you mean that he transferred the ownership into their joint names and added her to the mortgage but can you confirm?

If unsure then worth checking the registered details for £3 to see if the property is in their joint names

If she's a joint owner then she's involved and has rights so if he wants to sell he needs her to be involved in executing the transfer
If she's not but they are still married then she may have rights but as a spouse rather than a legal owner. Leaving the marital home may impact of course but needs checking.

As others post unravelling the marriage/divorce seems to be a priority here and understanding the legal position is crucial