Wife handed me the keys back

dangerpowers

Hi all,

I'm in the early stages of a divorce and my wife has left the home with my son and moved straight in with her new lover. We jointly own a house and are both still paying the mortgage 50/50.

Things have all been amicable until her first meeting with a solicitor which has completely stirred things up.

My question is that she has "out of the blue" handed me her keys back. Is there anything I should be worried about this with regards to her payment of the mortgage or anything else? She doesn't do anything unless it benefits her in some way.

Thank you and hope you can help.

foxy-stoat

You just need to make sure you pay the mortgage - you are both jointly liable for the debt.

Are all the bills in your name? You will be able to get 25% discount on the council tax assuming you are the only person living there now.

dangerpowers

Thanks for the reply foxy-stoat. All the bills are now in my name, and i've had the 25% discount.

If she refuses to pay then that would put me in a better position I hope?

Thrugelmir

Hopefully you too have employed a solicitor. Be guided by them. No reason for matters not to remain amicable. Financial assets need to be divided up. Legal formalities need to be addressed also.

foxy-stoat

dangerpowers wrote: »

Thanks for the reply foxy-stoat. All the bills are now in my name, and i've had the 25% discount.

If she refuses to pay then that would put me in a better position I hope?

Better position for what?

AnotherJoe

Can you afford the mortgage by yourself according to your lenders criteria? If so look at getting a completely clean split where you alone are on the mortgage. She cant "divorce" herself from responsibility for the mortgage and that shoudl be a priority of yours, to get a clean split.

dangerpowers

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Better position for what?

Better position than her with regards to the mortgage.

I appointing a solicitor today and just waiting for next meeting but this question was bugging me a bit.

dangerpowers

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Can you afford the mortgage by yourself according to your lenders criteria? If so look at getting a completely clean split where you alone are on the mortgage. She cant "divorce" herself from responsibility for the mortgage and that shoudl be a priority of yours, to get a clean split.

I could afford to buy her out until she decided she is keeping her half of the gifted deposit by my parents. I know by law she is entitled to it but we did say upon selling the house we would give them the money back and keep the equity we had built for ourselves, and go our separate ways.

foxy-stoat

dangerpowers wrote: »

I could afford to buy her out until she decided she is keeping her half of the gifted deposit by my parents. I know by law she is entitled to it but we did say upon selling the house we would give them the money back and keep the equity we had built for ourselves, and go our separate ways.

If your quoting law then she is entitled to keep 50% of the equity in the property to house herself and your son or if she has moved in with someone else, keep it in case it all goes wrong and she will be able to afford to buy somewhere else.

Morally you should sell the house and she should instruct her solicitors to pay your parents her half of the gifted deposit and keep the equity built up, you can do the same.......but she probably has taken advice from your solicitor and I can guess what they have said to her.

If you can afford to buy her out then that will be the quickest and cleanest way to move forward, speak to your lender and keep quiet about arrangements about paying back deposits.

foxy-stoat

dangerpowers wrote: »

Better position than her with regards to the mortgage.

I appointing a solicitor today and just waiting for next meeting but this question was bugging me a bit.

Your position wont change if she pays or not, unfortunately.

dangerpowers

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Your position wont change if she pays or not, unfortunately.

So if she doesn't pay her half of the mortgage then I have to pay her half and she is still entitled to 50% of the house?