Joint home & No life insurance - Divorce

Fairyeggs

I’m Divorce. 2 years now. No financial break order in place. Reason is Ex in IVA. So could not afford to go through it and said I will drag it out much as I can. I Live in the family home.

As a Single parent on low income and can’t force a sale, I can’t afford to go down the legal route. I am the main carer.

Now Ex stopped life insurance. So, my worry is, if Ex dies. Left a will. Am I right to think that the estate will get half the house and I be reasonable to pay the mortgage back?

So let say house has 100k left. She dies. The house sold. The estate gets her equity, but I have to pay back the 100k out of my equity? If this the case, then since ex being difficult, I will just start a repossed as ex won’t let me sell or help me out. Won’t even move in.

Or will the house be sold 1st, mortgage paid back then the equity of her share goes to her estate? This was under the impression I thought would happen.

Keep_pedalling

Did either of you split the tenancy when you divorced? If not and you own the house as joint tenants then the survivor will automatically become the sole owner. 

If on the other hand you now own as tenants in common then her share will go to whoever her will states or to ter child / children if she has not made a will.

If her estate passes to your children then there should no need for the house to be sold, the childrens share would be held in trust until they become adults.

Fairyeggs

We still Joint owners. She has another child thou not with me. Our child lives in the home with me.
Thou i'm not fuss about her shares and whos it goes to. 
I was worried that for EG. She dies. her shares go to who she choose. We sell the house but 100k left on the mortage, does this be paid off 1st and then equity given to her chosen person. Or will it get sold, she get  the 50% and i'm left to find the money to pay the Mortgage off.

Flugelhorn

Fairyeggs said:

We still Joint owners. She has another child thou not with me. Our child live in the martilal home thou with me.

if you are definitely joint owners (not tenants in common - worth checking on the Land Registry) then if she died you would become the sole owner of the property 

TBagpuss

There are two types of joint ownership:

-Joint Tenants - both of you own the whole house, if one f you dies, the whole house becomes the property of the survivor, regardless of what the deceased owner says in their will. (The same normally applies to joint bank accounts, the account automatically belongs to the survivor, the  estate of the other has no claim on the money)

- tenants in Common - you each own a fixed share of the house (usually 50/50 unless you have s formal agreement to state you own unequal shares) If one of you dies, their share of the house is part of their estate and passes to whomever they leave it to in their will. 

You will have been asked, when you bought the house, how you wanted to hold it, it's likely that you own as joint tenants if you don't recall having agreed something different. 

BUT if she did die, and if you do own as tenants in common , the estate would be entitled to her share of the equity - i.e. the house would be sold, the mortgage cleared, and the balance divided. Also, if you haven't yet divorced or got a financial order, then if she hasn't made a will you might well inherit it anyway, as the spouse gets the first chunk of the estate. d she has made a will, you might still be entitled to make a claim against the estate on the basis that she failed to make reasonable provision for you in her will.

Fairyeggs

TBagpuss said:

There are two types of joint ownership:

-Joint Tenants - both of you own the whole house, if one f you dies, the whole house becomes the property of the survivor, regardless of what the deceased owner says in their will. (The same normally applies to joint bank accounts, the account automatically belongs to the survivor, the  estate of the other has no claim on the money)

- tenants in Common - you each own a fixed share of the house (usually 50/50 unless you have s formal agreement to state you own unequal shares) If one of you dies, their share of the house is part of their estate and passes to whomever they leave it to in their will. 

You will have been asked, when you bought the house, how you wanted to hold it, it's likely that you own as joint tenants if you don't recall having agreed something different. 

BUT if she did die, and if you do own as tenants in common , the estate would be entitled to her share of the equity - i.e. the house would be sold, the mortgage cleared, and the balance divided. Also, if you haven't yet divorced or got a financial order, then if she hasn't made a will you might well inherit it anyway, as the spouse gets the first chunk of the estate. d she has made a will, you might still be entitled to make a claim against the estate on the basis that she failed to make reasonable provision for you in her will.

Thanks you answered the Question. House sold.Mortgage cleared then what left will go to whoever she left it to.. Im sure Joint tenants. I remeber this being asked thou

RAS

Please listen.

If the house is owned as a joint tenancy, she can't leave "her" non-existent share to anyone, because she hasn't got one. 

More worrying, if you die first she gets the whole house, some of the capital from which would get swallowed up the IVA. And your child might get nothing long term.

Before you do anything else spend £3 and double check the ownership.

Then, you need to go over to the IVA forum and ask about the situation there.

And have you considered that you might well be able to take out cheap term-insurance on her life???