Buying ex-husband out of house, self employed over 50

BarkingandBlooming

Hi, I really hope someone can give me some really good advice on here.
Mortgage currently stands at £170k. When husband left mortgage was £206k, he is entitled to 40% of the equity in 2 years time when daughter turns 18. I am self employed. Current income is around £42k, after expenses about £32k. I have a tenant that gives me £7250 a year. current property value at £525-£550. I think buy out of about £137k plus the mortgage in 2 years time of say £156k. Can anyone tell me if I am being delusional thinking that the bank will let me buy him out in two years time when I will be 54. I have an excellent credit rating. Or if I am somehow able to pay the mortgage down to what figure do I need to be aiming for? I think its 4x the currently profitable income but might be wrong.

ACG

If the house is valued at £525k and you have a mortgage of £156k.
The equity would be £147k in 2 years time. 
With the mortgage at £156k (+£147k for the ex) that would mean you need a mortgage of £303k? 

Have I got that right? 
If that is the case, would wont get that much. You would be looking at maybe £225k top end I think. 


Would he take a lower figure now in order to get the money sooner? 

BarkingandBlooming

Its in the Financial Order, not sure how easy it is to change or ask for it to be changed. The annoying thing is that when he left he was earning £45k and he's now on £70k. Do you think I can get his percentage dropped. He's also remarried and they won't release him off the mortgage so I'm guessing its in his interests to get a lesser settlement? Any idea if that's actually allowed?

ian1246

BarkingandBlooming said:

Its in the Financial Order, not sure how easy it is to change or ask for it to be changed. The annoying thing is that when he left he was earning £45k and he's now on £70k. Do you think I can get his percentage dropped. He's also remarried and they won't release him off the mortgage so I'm guessing its in his interests to get a lesser settlement? Any idea if that's actually allowed?

With the greatest respect, what he earns now and his current circumstances have no relevance to his entitlement to his share of the equity. The financial order separated you financially as a single entity, limited only by whatever specific conditions were incorporated into the order (I.e. his getting 40% share of the marital home when your youngest(?) becomes an adult). That means you have no entitlement whatsoever to anything extra he earns, or extra wealth/ assets gained, after the financial order came into effect, unless a condition was included in the order itself to cover such circumstances- he could win the Euromillions lottery and become a £100+ millionaire and you would have no entitlement (as ex-wife) to any of that.

Why do you think you should gain extra now due to his increased income he's earnt after the divorce? Baring in mind it sounds like he's been trapped from ever getting a mortgage for his own housing needs, due to being tied into the mortgage meeting your housing needs. You've benefitted hugely from that whilst he & his wife will have been hugely disadvantaged by it.

That financial order is a legally binding court order - it cannot be changed bar by the consent of both parties, or if fraud with regards to the material facts/circumstances / financial disclosure supplied as part of the information required for the financial order, can be proven. That's the whole point of a financial order - to avoid one ex-partner, seeing what the other now has later on in life, deciding actually they want a piece of the tasty pie & tearing up a previous non-legally binding settlement.

How would you feel if his income had dropped and he was asking for his share of the equity to be increased to more than 40%? Same principle to you wondering whether his share can be reduced, due his financial circumstances changing for the better.

The financial order sets out where you both stand - basically, your stuck with it - the only question is whether you can pay him his share by remortgaging, or whether you'll have to sell the marital home to release his share - a word of warning though, if he has to go to court to force the sale, expect the judge to take a very dim view to the financial order being ignored.

Good luck.

ACG

BarkingandBlooming said:

Its in the Financial Order, not sure how easy it is to change or ask for it to be changed. The annoying thing is that when he left he was earning £45k and he's now on £70k. Do you think I can get his percentage dropped. He's also remarried and they won't release him off the mortgage so I'm guessing its in his interests to get a lesser settlement? Any idea if that's actually allowed?

Is it amicable? 
Ask the question. 

ian1246

ACG said:

BarkingandBlooming said:

Its in the Financial Order, not sure how easy it is to change or ask for it to be changed. The annoying thing is that when he left he was earning £45k and he's now on £70k. Do you think I can get his percentage dropped. He's also remarried and they won't release him off the mortgage so I'm guessing its in his interests to get a lesser settlement? Any idea if that's actually allowed?

Is it amicable? 
Ask the question. 

If he agrees to a reduced % of equity, then it would absolutely be beneficial to seek legal advice on how best to ensure the new agreement is legally binding.

Last thing OP would need would be reaching a new agreement, I.e. 30% for ex, remortgaging on that basis and then a few years down the line the Ex comes back asking for the other 10%, as per the financial order...

Hoenir

 BarkingandBlooming said:

Its in the Financial Order, not sure how easy it is to change or ask for it to be changed. The annoying thing is that when he left he was earning £45k and he's now on £70k. Do you think I can get his percentage dropped. He's also remarried and they won't release him off the mortgage so I'm guessing its in his interests to get a lesser settlement? Any idea if that's actually allowed?

Was the Financial Consent Order signed off by the Court ? It's a legally binding document for both parties. There's no second bites of the cherry. 

BarkingandBlooming

By the way Ian1246 I've been paying the mortgage since he left, his wife was awarded a flat as part of her divorce settlement so they are living mortgage free there. We also don't live in some palatial palace with a west wing for my tenant, she's in the loft conversion of our ex-Council house. I'm just trying to see if its going to be possible to stay here or if we have to move. If we do move its going to be out of the south east and far away from my 85 year old mother as I have two children a boy and a girl and its almost impossible to find a 3 bed place here with a budget of £250k (if they don't give me a mortgage).

ian1246

BarkingandBlooming said:

By the way Ian1246 I've been paying the mortgage since he left, his wife was awarded a flat as part of her divorce settlement so they are living mortgage free there. We also don't live in some palatial palace with a west wing for my tenant, she's in the loft conversion of our ex-Council house. I'm just trying to see if its going to be possible to stay here or if we have to move. If we do move its going to be out of the south east and far away from my 85 year old mother as I have two children a boy and a girl and its almost impossible to find a 3 bed place here with a budget of £250k (if they don't give me a mortgage).

It sounds like it's going to be difficult for you - however, if the financial order was issued by the court there is no way around it in terms of your ex-husband being entitled to 40% of the equity when your daughter turns 18.

I m not meaning to come across harsh; but it's important you understand that it doesn't matter about your subsequent personal circumstances or indeed that of your ex-husband, or his wife - the financial order sets out who gets what and when, drawing a permanent non-negotiable line under any other financial entitlement to whatever the other has. If your or his circumstances have changed in the years since the order was granted - it simply does not matter and is completely irrelevant when it comes to the financial order and your ex's legal right to the equity.

 The only options you will have will be remortgage or house sale, unless you have any other means of raising the capital.

The only exception will be if *he* is willing to forgo some or all of his entitlement, but that is purely voluntarily - legally, you have no way of forcing him to since ultimately, as per the court order, 40% of the equity in your house is his.

IF he is willing to agree to a different arrangement, you definitely need to speak to a solicitor on how to legally safeguard yourself due to the existence of the financial order granting him that 40%... or he could potentially renege on any informal agreement and demand whatever is outstanding at a later date.

There are a whole host of solicitor firms which deal with the question of "can a financial order be changed" if you Google- only for a few specific reasons can they be set aside or varied - none if which from the info you've so far provided, appear to apply to yourself.