Ex refuses to sign so I can remortgage

Helpplease2024

Hi can anyone give advice please if an ex of 21 years who didn’t contribute to the mortgage for the last 21 years whom we have a mesher order (court order) stating that he is not due his % of equity money until a few more years is refusing to sign for me to remortgage. He is trying to force the sale but a court order is a court order surely so he will only get % when it is due.  I can get a mortgage in principle to remortgage but not enough to buy him out just yet. The bank (current mortgage provider) say its not their problem. They have messed me around for months now. And he says he will only sign remortgage if I give him a very large sum of money. (He lived in the property for 4 years only) Very stressful as trying to keep a roof over me and my boys heads. Any legal advice would be wonderful. Thanks 

Mark_d

So you bought the property with your ex.  You lived together for four years.  He then moved out and stopped paying the mortgage (21 years ago).  Does the mesher order make you solely responsible for the property and the mortgage, until the specified time/event?  If everything is in you sole name, then there shouldn't be any need for your ex to get  involved.

Why are you looking to remortgage?  Are you looking to release some equity from the property?  As long as my bank can offer reasonable mortgage rates, I book a new rate for my existing mortgage rather than remortgage.

Voyager2002

Legal advice comes with liability if it is not correct, and so the only way to get it is to pay a solicitor. 

In this situation I suggest that you write a very clear and factual letter to the ex setting out the difference in monthly payments with and without the remortgage. His failure to consent to the remortgage increases the cost of providing for the children and therefore means that an increased sum in child maintenance is necessary. Ask him whether he is willing to cover the shortfall, and indicate that you might be forced to revisit arrangements for maintenance in view of the unreasonably high cost of housing his children.

And you could well remind him that when the property is eventually sold, the amount that he receives will of course be reduced in line with the mortgage payments that you have made, so for him to force you to pay more than is necessary will of course mean that he ends up with less capital than would be the case if he chose to cooperate.

MWT

Helpplease2024 said:

...He is trying to force the sale but a court order is a court order surely so he will only get % when it is due.

The order will have stated the trigger events, typically something like when the youngest child completes full-time education (A-Levels at 18 for example), or if you remarry or co-habit, or if you sell the property etc.

If all this was 21 years ago it sounds like you had something longer than the youngest child reaching 18 in there but yes, until you hit a trigger point he is not due his share of the property yet.

... but as asked above, why are you looking to remortgage rather than just taking a new product from your current lender?

If you are trying to increase the mortgage or extend the term then he may have a valid objection as it potentially further encumbers the asset in which he has a legal interest, and presumably, due to the mesher order he is still named on the deeds and the mortgage...

Hoenir

Helpplease2024 said:

 I can get a mortgage in principle to remortgage but not enough to buy him out just yet. The bank (current mortgage provider) say its not their problem. They have messed me around for months now. And he says he will only sign remortgage if I give him a very large sum of money.

If you are unable to remortgage to buy him out. Why are you attemoting to remortgage? It's understandable that your ex wants the money he is entitled too if you wish to put the property into your own name. 

kingstreet

Are you remortgaging or asking existing lender for a retention product?

MWT

Voyager2002 said:

His failure to consent to the remortgage increases the cost of providing for the children and therefore means that an increased sum in child maintenance is necessary. Ask him whether he is willing to cover the shortfall, and indicate that you might be forced to revisit arrangements for maintenance in view of the unreasonably high cost of housing his children.

... we are 21 years beyond the original separation, not sure child support is even an issue at this point...

There are exceptions of course.

Voyager2002 said:

And you could well remind him that when the property is eventually sold, the amount that he receives will of course be reduced in line with the mortgage payments that you have made, so for him to force you to pay more than is necessary will of course mean that he ends up with less capital than would be the case if he chose to cooperate.

That would depend on what is in the the original court order...

BarelySentientAI

Voyager2002 said:

Legal advice comes with liability if it is not correct, and so the only way to get it is to pay a solicitor. 

In this situation I suggest that you write a very clear and factual letter to the ex setting out the difference in monthly payments with and without the remortgage. His failure to consent to the remortgage increases the cost of providing for the children and therefore means that an increased sum in child maintenance is necessary. Ask him whether he is willing to cover the shortfall, and indicate that you might be forced to revisit arrangements for maintenance in view of the unreasonably high cost of housing his children.

And you could well remind him that when the property is eventually sold, the amount that he receives will of course be reduced in line with the mortgage payments that you have made, so for him to force you to pay more than is necessary will of course mean that he ends up with less capital than would be the case if he chose to cooperate.

The OP can no more decide to increase child maintenance payments or reduce the ex's capital in the property than the ex can decide they are entitled to money for signing paperwork.

Helpplease2024

Hi thanks all. Just to clarify. Yes I want a new mortgage as the 25 years has run out on my current mortgage and currently have an extension for a few months from the bank to sort things out. His name us on current mortgage. The youngest is at uni still and will be for a few more years. The court order states tertiary education with no limit to the amount of years he will be at uni. I was represented badly by solicitors at the time with my youngest 5 months old when he left. Nothing in the order to state he is liable for mortgage or maintenance of the property. The deeds are in my sole name. The order states I remove him from mortgage when possible which I am trying to do now by getting a fresh mortgage in just my name but he is refusing to sign anything at all. The order states I can move his equity to a new flat anyway so by forcing a sale doesn’t mean he gets his money anyway. He is not listening to what he has been told and is ignoring the fact there is a court order. He just wants money and wants its now. He has told the bank he will sign nithing ntil he is guaranteed his 30%! The mesher order is so unfair but it is a court order so what can I do. He has got away without paying anything towards the property but yet walks away with potentially £60,000 I wouldn’t mind so much had he made effort with the boys and been a part of their lives but nothing. I did encourage contact by the way. I just want to get a  mortgage to pay off the current mortgage and will have to remortgage in few years to pay him the equity which will be of the current value and not the value of when we split. So can I actually take off mortgage payments for the last 21 years as a %? 

MWT

Helpplease2024 said:

So can I actually take off mortgage payments for the last 21 years as a %? 

Based on what you have said, no.

Is your current mortgage interest only? .. you say despite reaching the end of the term there is still a need to pay it off so that suggest it wasn't a repayment mortgage?

If it is interest only, was there ever a planned repayment vehicle?

What are the actual triggers for having to give him his equity?

It sounds like one will be when you youngest finishes tertiary education, is paying off the current mortgage another trigger because it would release him from the mortgage?

If the property is only in your name then what is your ex being asked to sign in relation to the new mortgage?

Does he perhaps have a charge on the deeds which you are asking him to subordinate to the new mortgage?

Hoenir

From your ex's perspective being on the mortgage has resulted in having to rent for the past 21 years. With your youngest still at University for a few more years. You can can emphasise with the frustration now being expressed. The order drafted has ended up being totally in your favour.