Mesher Order Advice

geordielass1892

Hi,

I'm after some advice/facts please, without judgement

My husband and I were together since 2001, married in 2009 and a daughter born in 2010. In December 2019 he left me, he was having an affair and his girlfriend became pregnant. We have a joint mortgage, that I have been paying independently since August 2020.

Since the marriage broke up I have realised that he was emotionally and psychologically abusive towards me and our daughter. I have pretty bad mental health and as a result I am unable to work. I previously worked FT in a really well paid job, earning £43,500 a year. In April 2019 I was made redundant and the split caused me to have a mental health break down, I'm currently in receipt of PIP. Our daughter also suffers with her mental health as a result of her Dads behaviour, she missed 2 years of school due to horrific anxiety, thankfully shes back now. Although her anxiety has improved it is still a major part of her life, she also has a learning difficulty called Dyspraxia.

I am seeking a mesher order, as I'm unable to get a mortgage in my own name. There is currently little equity in the property. I'd like to understand if what I'm requesting/proposing is reasonable and realistic.

I take over full responsibility for the home and pay all the mortgage. That the mesher order is in place until our daughter is at least 18, potentially longer, depending upon is she staying in education, her mental health and learning difficulty. My soon to be ex husband has no claim to the equity in the property once the mesher order is finalised. He has none now and will be paying no mortgage going forward. I'd like there to be no other triggers such as if my partner moves in....the house is for me and most importantly my daughter. She needs a stable and secure home, she struggles significantly with changes and anything out of her routine, if my partner did move in he would have no stake in the property, like I say its for my daughter.

Many thanks

TBagpuss

roughly how much is the equity at the moment, and are there any other assets such as pensions? 
How much is the mortgage?

are you proposing that he should stay on the mortgage but not have anything from the equity, or when you say "My soon to be ex husband has no claim to the equity in the property once the mesher order is finalised" are you thinking about what proportion of the equity he would get when one of the triggers is reached? 

How big is the house? (for instance, would it be feasible for you to move to a smaller property now and reduce the mortgage, even if it needed him to remain on the mortgage?)

Do you anticipate that you will be able to return to work in the future?   If no, then you are likely to need to be able to provide the court with medical evidence about that and about your daughter's additional needs.

An order that means he has to remain on the mortgage is not the court's first choice, not least as it likely mean that he will be unable to get a mortgage himself.

While a court has to consider the needs of any children this wouldn't automatically mean that they would make an order for you to remain in the house until she is 18, especially if you can't get your ex released from the mortgage. However, it might be a valid reason for allowing you longer than would otherwise be proposed, to make alternative arrangements. 

geordielass1892

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. 

The house is worth approx. £120,000. There's about £103,500 left to pay on the mortgage. With an early repayment charge, payments he has not contributed to, legal costs, estate agent fees he would have approx £1500 equity. He has a pension and assets (expensive musical instruments).

Yes, that is what I am proposing in terms of the equity, I will happily pay him the £1,500 that he currently has accrued but, nothing from when he has stopped paying towards the mortgage until the mesher order has ended. 

Its a 3 bedroom house, I couldn't move because I would be unable to re-mortgage, I would not be accepted, the mortgage company has confirmed this.

I am currently working with a business coach to become self employed, I have worked all my life until recently and plan on returning to work. I have the medical evidence required, she has a diagnosis for Dyspraxia and due to her anxiety we are working with CYPS (children and young people services).

The mesher order is my last choice too, ideally I would like to have no ties with him other than what is only necessary. I don't know what his plans are for getting a mortgage. He is currently living in rented property, and his girlfriend lives in a different rented property. 

I've explored every avenue to be able to keep the house independently however, because of my financial circumstances the mesher order is my only option. I would happily leave his pension and the other assets. For mine and my daughters mental health we really need to stay in our home, the most important being my daughter.

If he was to agree to the mesher order I would walk away from his pension, his assets, I'd over pay the mortgage and even consider giving him an additional lump sum.

bouicca21

Could you afford the mortgage if it went to interest only - allowing you to pay of bits of capital as and when you could?  The problem with Mesher orders for you is what happens when your child is 18.  I know people who failed to plan and suddenly had an awful awakening.

geordielass1892

Hi, thanks for your message, its a repayment mortgage and I'm paying that fine now and, if the mesher order was granted I'd like to overpay the mortgage on a monthly basis. The plan is that the amount left to pay on the mortgage would have reduced significantly, my circumstances will also be better so my credit score would have improved and I'll have a regular income.

TBagpuss

OK, normally, you would look at the value of the assets now, not when you split up. 
So on those figures, the current net equity (taking into account the costs there would be if the house were to be sold) is around £14,000.

The fact that he has not been contributing to the mortgage doesn't make much difference as you have had the benefit of living in the property, so it would be reasonable for you to pay.

So the starting point would be that he would be entitled to around £7,000 from the house. IF his pensions are worth more than £14,000 then a split which gives you the house and him the pension might be fair (although if the pension are of significant value, you should think very carefully before giving up your entitlement)

You definitely need to know the transfer values for the pensions, and his income, before you make a decision. 

The sticking point is likely to be getting him off the mortgage. I think it is very unlikely that you will be able to do that when you are not working at all (unless of course you have parents or other family who could help / act as guarantors) but if you are able to work even part time, then you may be able to get a mortgage as some lenders will take into account income from child maintenance and universal credit - so if you are able to give s realistic timescale for that to happen (e.g. 2-5 years) then that may make it much easier to get an order greed than if you are looking for that to continue for another 10 years