Lost my marriage and job and really don’t want to lose my house too....

cg90

As we have all experienced quite possibly the worst year of our lives this year, I hate to say that mine really takes the biscuit. A former dancer on a cruise ship in America, I have found myself unemployed and so far out of the loop now looking for a new job amidst the Pandemic. I only recently got married to my American husband, and now due to Covid and lots of mental health issues, have now find myself single again and facing starting from scratch. We combined our life savings from the cruise ship and brought a house about a year ago, mortgage free. Now I have to deal with that house, to give him his share back. I know the best thing to do is to sell, as we have made a tiny profit and then I would have a fair chunk of money in my account to get me through this period of unemployment due to covid. However. The house is my dream home. I don’t think I’ll ever be in a situation again to buy a house like this. If I rent it out, he won’t get his share back, but if I sell, I’ll never find the house of my dreams again, not to mention I won’t qualify for a mortgage due to the uncertainty of my industry. Does anyone have ANY suggestions? I know I am trying to have my cake and eat it, but losing this house is more painful than anything else and I’m quite desperate for any possible way I could keep it. What do you think? Am I crazy to even think of finding another way? Or do I just need to face the music and sell? 

Thank you for reading my thoughts x

Angela_D_3

You need to sit down together come up with a civilised plan then take it to a solicitor to draw up a binding agreement.  Can you afford the whole mortgage and offer to pay the other party their share within a reasonable time frame ?  

FinallyStoppedLurking

Sorry to hear that. A horrible situation to be in. Your only option really would be to buy out your ex. Whether you could afford to do this (or whether he'd be willing to wait whilst you sort funds/ repay him) is a different matter. You may also struggle with the mortgage in the future. 

I imagine the likelihood is that you won;t be able to keep the house. From experience people over value their 'dream house' and actually they do come round again. You'd be better off dealing with the situation and building towards it again in the future. 

Good luck. 

AdrianC

Presumably you are joint owners and joint borrowers on the mortgage?
Is he remaining as a UK resident, or will he be living in the US again?

How much equity do you owe him?

theoretica

Something to add into consideration is whether you could afford the mortgage you would need (though it would not be easy to get) if you rented a room or rooms out to lodgers.

cg90

AdrianC said:

Presumably you are joint owners and joint borrowers on the mortgage?
Is he remaining as a UK resident, or will he be living in the US again?

How much equity do you owe him?

We don’t have a mortgage as we put all our cruise ship savings in to buying the house outright. We put in 50/50 and I currently don’t have any money left to pay him. I wondered if there was a way to have his half brought out by a bank or something. He won’t be residing in the UK, he will remain in US. 

Thank you.

FinallyStoppedLurking

I don;t have the necessary knowledge to say whether it would actually be an option but... 

Is there anyway you could get a mortgage on it as a BTL and move in with relatives and rent it out. You'd then have the house available in the future if your situation changed. Probably too many issues with this to be viable but just a suggestion that could be explored. 

Black_Cat2

Hi cg, you have really been through the wringer, sorry to hear that. Lovely peeps here will be able to help with the house stuff but I wanted to add that life does have a way of surprising you when you least expect it.  It seems dire now but who knows, you may meet your Mr Right in the future (when you're ready), who, crossed fingers, comes complete with a dream home of his own! 😸. Good luck 

Wanderingpomm

The best option may be to ask him to wait, get a lodger to help with the bills and then get a mortgage to pay him when you have a new job. He can’t force a sale without going to court. How desperate is he for the money. 

rik111

Unfortunately without an income even if you could get a mortgage how do you imagine you would make the payments on the mortgage ? If your Ex has to drag you through the courts to get his half of the house all this is going to do is delay the inevitable and cost you both a bucket load of money. Look on the bright side it sounds like you are going to come out of this with plenty of money in your pocket and no debts so will be in a lot better position than a lot of people....

[Deleted User]

The normal course of events would be that you would get a mortgage for 50% of the value ( or whatever his share was ) and the house would be transferred to you. However without a job that is not possible. 

His option would be to force a sale via an application to a Lands tribunal - but that is very expensive in legal fees. If there are no minor children involved and living at the property, I would imagine that he would be successful in the end. The court could award costs against you. 

The least stressful option would be to sell and split the proceeds.