Selling joint home

teadrinker24

I live in the family home with one adult child. The home is joint owned with my husband. We also have a joint mortgage which is interest only and expires in early 2027. 
My husband moved abroad in 2020. I have tried to get a divorce but he replies that he cannot deal with it. I have been advised to serve a court order but the cost means this is not viable for me.
I would like to move somewhere smaller but when I suggest this to my husband I get no response. I obviously need his approval as it is a jointly owned property. 
I therefore seem stuck and am asking for any ways I can proceed. I am paying the mortgage and for upkeep of the home but will not be able to pay the outstanding mortgage in 2027. It is about a fifth of total value of the house. I have asked mortgage company if I can remortgage at this time but they feel I do not earn enough. Is my only option to wait til mortgage runs out and then the mortgage company will sell the house for me? 

user1977

If you really wanted to default on your mortgage then you could just stop paying it now, not sure what the advantage would be of waiting until 2027?

But I think you need to consider the relative costs of doing that (and wrecking your credit record) and pursuing a divorce - can you really not get assistance with the costs of the latter? Why can your husband "not deal with it"?

Voyager2002

It would be far better if your husband cooperated to make sensible arrangements. Does he not have relatives who could persuade him to deal with the situation, even if he is unable to communicate with you?

Divorce is possible when one spouse has abandoned the family, as seems to be the case here. A no-fault divorce is possible after a five-year separation, even when the other spouse does not agree. The process of divorce may include the court making financial arrangements, and this could include transferring the ownership of the property into your sole name, particularly if the value of the mortgage payments that you have made for your husband amounts to as much as he originally contributed to the purchase. The legal costs would be substantial, but probably less than those involved in allowing the mortgage lender to repossess the house and then sell it.

teadrinker24

Thanks for your replies 
My husband is not communicating with anyone. He suffers with his mental health.
I put the money in to buy the property and have paid the majority of the mortgage, but I understand this does not matter in a divorce.
I see that defaulting on the mortgage might not be the best solution but the only way I can pay the substantial fees to divorce or transfer property is to take money out of the property which I cannot do without my husband's consent. Is there anyway with proceeding without the huge financial costs?

teadrinker24

The other option I was looking at was equity release. Is this a sensible choice?

Albermarle

The legal costs would be substantial,

Probably only if the husband put up a fight?
AFAIK most of these no fault divorces and financial arrangements can be sorted out with some form of mediation, without necessarily going into an expensive legal battle.
However I am not an expert, so maybe my view is not accurate.

user1977

teadrinker24 said:

The other option I was looking at was equity release. Is this a sensible choice?

Again, you couldn't do that without his consent.

Have you confirmed that you don't qualify for Legal Aid?

Hoenir

Speak to Citizens Advice about voluntary reposssesion of the property. There's no easy exit route. Ultimately you may well lose the property in any event.