Ex partner gone BR

skivy71

Hi, I'd like to get some clarification on a situation my friend finds herself in.

She is seperated from her ex and has a divorce decree nisi.

They owned a home together, but since the split, she's been paying the mortgage herself and her ex has been obstructive regarding agreeing to her taking over the property and re-mortgaging.

In another twist, the ex has just recently filed for BR and now the OR is looking to recoup whatever they can from the property, in the form of a 50/50 split of current equity.

Apparently, the OR has updated the land registry, assuming to lay some sort of claim?

The OR seem's to have plans on waiting some 2.5 years before attempting to liquidate the ex's 1/2 of the equity, but during that time, my friend is being forced to pay for a high rate mortgage.

Ultimately, she's looking to re-mortgage next April (part of which would be a new valuation) and the ex's share being paid to the OR and him out of the financial picture altogether.

Having spoke to a friend, who is a solicitor, I (as well as them), we've advised my friend to apply for the decree absolute asap and get a letter of intent drawn up whereby the ex is forced to permit the re-mortgage and get the OR settled up.

However, what's not clear, is if the OR has rights to suspend such activity (for the 2.5 years), which I assume with increase retrievable equity (increase in house price + 30 months of mortgage payments).

Surely that cannot be right, do the OR have that power?

She want's to get him out of the picture (as well at the OR settled with their 50% equity) asap.

Thanks

silvercar

Two separate issues.

1. Divorce. Your friend needs to reach a financial settlement with the ex, preferably before the decree absolute. No talk of agreeing intentions, everything needs to be nailed down.

2. Bankruptcy and the home. 50/ 50 would be the starting point of an equity split; negotiate based on who pays the mortgage/ children to home/ contributions to maintenance etc. He's going to lose any equity in bankruptcy anyway, so he has no financial interest in grabbing more than he's entitled to.

The mortgage lender would need to agree to her taking on the mortgage on her own, their decision will be based on her income etc Being financially separate from a bankrupt ex should help.
Remortgaging to the current lender's offers may be possible and certainly easier than moving lender while there is an OR charge on the property.

My understanding is that a court stamped divorce settlement detailing the equity split (and that could acknowledge the mortgage payments made by each party) trumps and demands by the OR, but I may be wrong.

Minkym00

The OR has 3 years to deal with a family home. Presumably though he is no longer living at the property therefore it may not be considered to be a family home - just an asset he has a beneficial interest in. This is worth exploring to see how the OR is treating it. Even if it is being treated as a family home there is no reason for the OR to delay in realising the asset i.e. having your friend pay off the beneficial interest.


The only reason to delay in dealing with the property is if there is no / very little equity in it. In those circumstance that they would wait (up to 3 years) before dealing with it, to give it time to increase. Do you know how much there is?


Also, is there is a decent amount of equity the ex's creditors could support the appointing of an IP. An IP will want to deal with it asap.


The upshot is that if your friend wants to pay off his share there should be no reason why anyone would want to delay that happening. The OR's job is to maximise the benefit to creditors but that does not mean that they will sit on it and wait for you friend to pay off more of the mortgage.


She needs to contact the OR and start negotiating.