Judgement mortgage

L

Ledbetter

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My husband deserted the family home in 2010 (4 kids also). Having no choice, I took over paying the joint mortgage. Two years later i received a letter in the post informing me of a judgement mortgage. I had no idea why this had happened only to assume my ex husband owed money to a bank . As part of the judicial separation he signed over the deeds of the house to me and I am now the sole owner. But what I didn't understand was the judgement mortgage is still attached to my home.
As I had no part in the company that owes the debt , why am I left with this massive bill. Im not actually sure how much is owed (>50k ). I would like to sell the house as it is too expensive to run. But I fear I will not have enough to buy another home after paying back the debt. Please advice. Im aware now of the statute of limitations of 12 years. But I dont want to stay in the house that long. Can this debt be invalidated as I was not aware of the money being owed in the first place. I still have 4 young children to rear.
 
To provide you with proper advice I would need to know the following:
  1. What was the precise date of the Judicial Separation Order (i.e. from what date did he cease to have an interest in the house)
  2. What is the precise date the judgment mortgage was actually registered on your house. (This will be shown on the notification from the Property Registration Authority.)
If your legal team have done their work, they should have identified all of your husband's assets and liabilities at the time. Whilst the notification from the PRA may not quantify the quantum of the judgment mortgage, a review of the Statement of Means that your husband should have submitted at the time would show the debt.

Jim Stafford
 
Jim Stafford said:
To provide you with proper advice I would need to know the following:
  1. What was the precise date of the Judicial Separation Order (i.e. from what date did he cease to have an interest in the house)
  2. What is the precise date the judgment mortgage was actually registered on your house. (This will be shown on the notification from the Property Registration Authority.)
If your legal team have done their work, they should have identified all of your husband's assets and liabilities at the time. Whilst the notification from the PRA may not quantify the quantum of the judgment mortgage, a review of the Statement of Means that your husband should have submitted at the time would show the debt.

Jim Stafford
Click to expand...
Hello and thank you for replying to my query
The date in which the JM was registered was 21/8/12. The letter was dated 23/10/12. I received it shortly after that date. I immediately informed my solicitor.
The Judicial separation was drawn up on 13/2/13
In this my ex husband transfer his interest in the family home and JM.
I signed the documents for the sole mortgage in January 2015. It was never mentioned to me that I was taking over the JM. I was told by my legal team on the day of the judicial separation that it would be sorted out. I actually never thought more about it until my solicitor informed me after I signed the documents relating to the transfer of the sole mortgage . I realise now that I never asked enough questions at the time and I shouldn't have put so much trust in my solicitor.
As regards to my husbands assets and liabilities, he appeared to have only one asset and that was the family home. The company was dissolved in late 2010. He is now a PAYE worker and appears to be doingvery well.
 
As the judgment mortgage was registered on your husband's interest in the property by the bank before he transferred the property to you, the judgment mortgage is "binding". The judgment mortgage is only binding on his share of the "equity", and not on your share.

You really need to go back to your legal team (who have the full facts) and ask them to clarify what they meant when they said "it would be sorted out." It is possible that they meant that in practical terms a judgment mortgage on just one spouse's interest in the family home has no real practical value to a judgment creditor, as I can see no judge ordering a sale of the house, particularly if there are children living in the house. However, your difficulty is that if you sell the house you would have to discharge the judgment mortgage.

If your husband is doing well financially, then the bank should be approaching him directly to obtain payment, which would lead to the Judgment mortgage being lifted. It would seem to me that under the separation agreement that your husband should pay off the debt.

If your husband refuses/is unable to pay off the debt, then you could consider approaching the bank and negotiate a reduction on the judgment mortgage in the event that you do sell.

Jim Stafford
 
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