Signing over property to an ex-partner?

Quickblood

My parents bought a home together in the late 80s before parting ways in the mid 90s.

My mother has paid the mortgage all that time by herself and my father seem to have agreed to sign over his half of the property over to her as he hasn't paid anything since their split.

My mother won't get a mortgage on her own and there's so little left that I could possibly pay it off on a money transfer card.

So I was wondering how does this work? I know nothing about this and want to make sure my mother gets the house as she's struggled to pay it off all these years.
Is it a simple process, do they both need a solicitor and is it likely to be an expensive long process and what about Stamp duty and tax?

Thanks in advance

00ec25

it appears you do not know enough facts about what happened so any advice given on here will be well intentioned but possibly dangerously misleading

1. do they own as tenants in common or joint tenants
2. are they legally divorced
3. do they have a financial settlement (that is not the same as a divorce, it is separate legal document)

just because your father stopped paying the mortgage does not mean it is a simple as you think.

davidmcn

00ec25 wrote: »

2. are they legally divorced

And were/are they married...

Quickblood

They were never married.
My mother has lived there since the split and there's no financial settlement.

G_M

Then it comes down to whether they are amicable or not, and what they agree.

Assuming your father is in agreement that he has no financial interest in the property, then

a) ask the bank for a redemption statement to find out exactly how much is needed to pay off the mortgage
b) pay that amount to the bank.
c) wait for the mortgage Charge to be removed from the property Title
d) Transfer ownership into mother's sole name by sending the completed forms below to the Land Registry, signed by mother and father

TR1
AP1
ID1

See
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/registered-titles-whole-transfer-tr1

The transfer of ownership cannot take place while the mortgage is still in place.

00ec25

OK, the fact they are / were not married has tax implications

Father and Capital Gains Tax
we assume father stopped living in the property in the 1990s. Therefore, from that date onwards it ceased to be his main home, and he becomes liable for CGT on the gain in value of the property between the date he bought it and the date he transfers his share. He can claim tax relief for the period he lived in it as his main home, but obviously there is potentially > 20 years where it is liable, as the transfer to mother is not a gift between spouses, so is not tax exempt. Father will have to pay that tax himself so this transfer to mother is going to cost him real cash. (A fact your mother should bear in mind when she considers that he has not paid towards the mortgage for x years)

Mother, the current mortgage and SDLT
as GM says, the existing mortgage is a joint one where both mother and father are liable for it. The fact mother has paid it is irrelevant. When father gives away his share of the property (ie is removed from the deeds) we will assume he will also insist that he is removed from the mortgage. That means either mother assumes sole responsibility for the entire mortgage, or the mortgage is paid off and closed

If mother were to assume sole liability for the current mortgage that assumes the current lender allows that to happen and that mother passes the lender's affordability tests herself. There would potentially be SDLT payable as "consideration" has been exchanged. Mother has "taken over" sole liability for the mortgage and father has given her his share of the property in return for her relieving him of his mortgage liability. However, it does sound as though it will in reality be unlikely any SDLT will be payable since that would only be due if 50% of the outstanding mortgage equals more than £125k (ie more than the tax free SDLT allowance)

You state that you can pay off the current mortgage and that is probably the easiest solution.

If, after father's share transfers to mother, mother then gives you a share of a mortgage free property as a "reward" there will be no SDLT due on that gift as you have not paid anything for that share. Whether mother giving you a share of the property is "wise" is a different question as I assume you do not live there yourself and so ending up as co-owner of a property you don't live in exposes you to tax further down the line.

Quickblood

Completely forgot about this thread. Doh.

Thanks very much for the help