debt and mortgage reposession

Autumn123

Hello all,

This is my first thread so please be kind

My partner went through a messy divorce back in 2015 and as a consequence through the court, it was ordered that the ex wife has the house transferred into her sole name, the endowment policy as a lump sum to act as spousal maintenance and all marital debt to be paid by my partner. She even tried to go after his pension!

He also went through a rather messy child custody battle. The court and solicitor fees for all of this as you can imagine was very hefty and has taken all his savings. My partner lost everything apart from the breath in his body!

This was a huge blow to him and his confidence as he paid the deposit on the house and paid mortgage. It was jointly owned but the ex did not contribute a penny. He has since learnt that lesson! Unfortunately, he cant remove himself from the mortgage until she can afford to take on the ownership which she has said time and time again that she can't. She is now paying the mortgage payments but the bank wont let her take ownership.

Due to my partner now having no assets, no savings and a marital debt he is struggling with money every month and lives out of his overdraft. He currently pays all his debts through Step Change every month, however, the debts have added defaults to his account and are threatening court action etc. He is a very text book man and will do everything by the book, he has helped this woman in any way he can. He tried to be amicable and ask for the house to be sold and split 70/40 in her favour but she did not want this. He is feeling extremely low and losing faith.

As he has now lost everything and although the debts are with Step Change they are still amounting and he is receiving final demands etc. As he still owns the house as it has not been fully transferred into her name until she can afford the mortgage and he is still on the mortgage is her home at risk?
Could he potentially let her know that he is quite possibly facing bankruptcy and the house will be repossessed if he cant meet payments? He is clutching at straws here and he cant afford to go back to solicitors unfortunately

Any advice is welcomed.

Thank you for listening

hazyjo

You seem to be implying it's all going to her - but surely it's more about his kid/s and them being paid for and having a roof over their heads? When you say 'the ex did not contribute a penny' - was she not bringing up the child/ren?


Stating the obvious, but he will have to find a way of reducing outgoings. Can he live with you until he's back on his feet again? Check out the boards here on ways to reduce outgoings.

G_M

Time for legal advice. This is not the place.

AdrianC

Autumn123 wrote: »

...through the court, it was ordered that the ex wife has the house transferred into her sole name
...

Unfortunately, he cant remove himself from the mortgage until she can afford to take on the ownership which she has said time and time again that she can't. She is now paying the mortgage payments but the bank wont let her take ownership.

So that court order hasn't been fulfilled yet?

He tried to be amicable and ask for the house to be sold and split 70/40 in her favour but she did not want this.

But the court order was for her to have 100% ownership, so it's no great surprise she doesn't want him to have 40% of any equity.


If she cannot afford to remortgage the property on her own, then the property can't be transferred to her name - simply because she cannot afford it. So either this impasse continues indefinitely, with the property at risk of his bankruptcy, or the property gets sold.



You make no mention of children...? I find it hard to see how there can have been that uneven a financial order in the divorce without any.

hazyjo

AdrianC wrote: »

You make no mention of children...? I find it hard to see how there can have been that uneven a financial order in the divorce without any.

Presume the bit I've quoted below was from the same break-up...

Autumn123 wrote: »

He also went through a rather messy child custody battle.

AdrianC

Ah, yes. I missed that throw-away nugget...


And that sets the whole thing into a very different context. He is not providing a home for his ex, and is not paying "spousal maintenance". He is providing a home for his children, and paying child maintenance.

Strange that they seem to have got forgotten, isn't it?

lookstraightahead

Who do the children live with and who provides for them if your partner is on a debt management plan?

steampowered

If debts are mounting up, it could be worth thinking about something like bankruptcy or an IVA.

Stepchange or an organisation like them should be able to advise on the options.

There could be a scenario where your partner files for bankruptcy, yet the bank does not repossess the house. The bank won't agree to let the ex remortgage in her own name because she won't pass affordability checks. Yet the bank won't repossess the property if the ex keeps up payments.