Separation/mortgage help!

elletee71

Hi
My sister and her husband have split up, and she has left the family home and moved in with our parents.   Her ex said they would sell their flat, split everything 50/50, which she agreed to, and told him she'd continue to pay 50% of mortgage until then      But it turns out the flat is in negative equity.   He announced today that he's now going to rent out the property to friends from work instead, and she has to remove the rest of her property by the end of the month.  He intends to keep all the rental money as its his decision. 

Firstly... can he rent out their flat without her approval?   I'm guessing he hasn't (and maybe isn't planning to?) Ask/tell his mortgage lender.
My sister has been advised by Cab that she will need to sell the property before she can claim any benefits  (for info, she works part time and they have a 2 year old child),  can she force a sell?   He said he'll buy her out, but has offered a very low amount (20% of what she thinks she's due, although I haven't seen the figures to check)

He is being very forcefull (not physically) with her and trying to bully her into what he wants  (not that it makes a difference,  but he instigated the separation and was seeing someone else within a week).  He's a policeman and acts as if he knows everything, and twists everything she says.   He looked after 100% of the finances when they were together  now they've split, he won't give her any Information on what is left on mortgage,  bills etc just tells her to 'find out herself'   she just wants to be civil for the sake of their son but its getting harder.

Does she have any rights legally as she has moved out ( BTW she told mortgage company they have separated when she spoke to them in  her search for figures).
Thanks in advance

E

sassyblue

Your post doesn’t make sense because you say the flat is in negative equity but then go on to say your sisters husband will buy her out albeit at 20% less than what she thinks she’s entitled to.  Why would he offer to buy her out if the flat is in negative equity?

The first thing to find out is is your sister named on the deeds and mortgage, although I’m guessing she is because she’s spoken to the mortgage company.

The next thing is to work out what the flat is worth by looking at similar flats on rightmove  or by getting an estate agent round, and if she’s named on the deeds she is entitled to get an estate agent round.

Any difference in the flat less the mortgage is the equity to split although other debts they may have will also be taken into consideration.

The starting point in any divorce settlement is 50/50 but she should receive more as she is (I assume) to primary carer of their child, and who will live with her.  If she works part time she may not be able to raise enough money to purchase another property but that’s all in the future..... she could buy him out of the property too if she could raise enough funds as could her husband and I guess this is to do with the offer he made her.

He cannot decide unilaterally to rent the property out and keep the proceeds unless the flat is in negative equity and then I can see it would make sense to do so until the market is better. Your sister could force a sale but she would need to involve a lawyer really to act for her in the divorce and she can’t sort the financial side out until they have reached Decree Nisi stage, the financial side of things will involve forcing a sale of the property.

Of course he’s going to try and bully her into what he wants doing, this is why it’s probably a really good idea to find a good lawyer now to put your sister’s husband in his place and once she has a lawyer she does not need to engage with her husband about any finances, it is best if they can come to an agreement together but if he’s being forceful it might be good to calm him down by refusing to engage with him and make him go through her lawyer.  This may hopefully prompt him to get a lawyer himself who should also tell him to let him deal with the finances.  It will cost more to have lawyers than attempt to resolve things themselves but sometimes it’s necessary, especially when you have someone like your sister's husband as a spouse who thinks they will get their own way constantly.

Yes she still has rights even though she’s moved out, assuming she’s named on the deeds.  Hope that helps.

elletee71

Hi

Thank so much for replying     yes you are completely right, that doesn't make sense at all!   Hmm I will call her tomorrow and find out what's what.

He had an online estate agent (purple bricks) value the flat, but he told her the 2k estate agent fee will need to be deducted  ..... PB only charge £999, so I've told her to get her own valuation.

Thank you again, your reply has helped.

elletee71

And yes, I agree.  I told her today that I think its time to get a lawyer!

Retireinten

Yes, think you need to do a bit more digging. If the property is in negative equity then there is no 'buying' out as such as there is no equity to split.  As sassyblue says your sister needs to make her own sensible assessment of the equity or negative equity in the property by deducting the mortgage from a sensible (achievable) estimated sale value.

In addition don't forget pensions.  What does your sister have? Her husband should have a healthy company defined benefit pension being in the police force.  Do not ignore this as I expect this is the biggest financial asset of the marriage.

elletee71

Hi, thanks for your post.  So they have been using  'negative equity completely wrong... he meant its worse less than they paid, but (before any costs) could reasonably get £12k ish ... he has offered to buy her out for 3k  then 5k ... but I bet if she accepts the 5k, he'll go back to 3.    

Looking at other properties in the area, it sounds a fair price for a quicker sale. 

They're young and he's only been in police for less than 2 years, so she'll probably not worry about pension.   At this stage she just wants to settle things, she has been very distressed by the whole thing.

He is offering £150 month child allowance,  although no mention of paying it yet and its been 3 weeks .... I've told her to ask, but it's like she's scared of rocking the boat.    

Anyway, I'm rambling.    Thanks again

pinkshoes

Tell her to accept the £5k to have her name taken off deeds and mortgage, and state that she then won't go after half his pension. 

The £5k is fair as to sell would require an estate agent fee plus solicitors fees. 

Make it clear that any funny business and she will go for half the pension too. 

TBagpuss

OK, she needs to contact CMS to claim child support, immediately, as it is not backdated .

In terms of the property, I would suggest that she checks out www.entitledto.org.uk to see what she might be able to claim. 
Suggest that she looks at what she could claim if she were to move back into the property - that might be a better option than selling in the short term. Also, if he is still living in the property, it would usually be reasonable for him to pay all, not 50% of, the mortgage. If he is talking about renting it out then she is likely to be better off moving back in and living there herself, rather than it being rented out. 

If the property is rented out then any rent would need to be split, after payment of the mortgage and other costs. It's unlikely to be a sensible way forward as it will be much harder to sell the property if it is rented out. 

Assuming that the mortgage is in joint names, she should be able to get information from the lender (and if she is not sure who that is, she can get a copy of the title deeds from the land registry for £3 and the section under 'Charges' will tell her which lender has charge (mortgage) registered against the property

I suggest that she speaks to a solicitor ASAP,, and gets things started on a divorce.