Separation and mortgage

M

mihaela

Registered User
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Hi guys,

My husband and I are currently going trough separation, and so far seems to be going OK.
I bough a house in 2012 on my sole name, married in 2016, sold the house in 2017 and repurchased together the family home. We had a baby in 2019.
We have agreed that he will get his name off the house without being paid out ( mortgage payments have been done by me only) so we are not sharing anything else financially.
My solicitor advised me to go through mediation. After 3 sessions I was told to go ahead and remove his name from the mortgage and then go back to the mediator. I have applied with the bank to remove a borrower and I have been approved in principle. They are now looking for separation agreement and proof that he is not looking to be bought out.
Can anyone share their opinions on this?
 
It all seems to be going quite well and a lot smoother than most! Then bank would always want a separation agreement for something like this as they want to be sure he has no future claim on the property, same as if you were applying for a new mortgage while separated.
 
Well, the issue is that I have nothing in writing. The mediator asked us to schedule the next appointment after we have the bank issue sorted. But the bank is looking for a separation agreement which I don't have yet as separation is not finalised.
 
There are two issues here which you seem to be conflating.

1) His joint ownership of the house
2) His joint liability for the mortgage

Your solicitor will need to convey his share of the house to you so that his name comes off the deeds and he no longer has any legal ownership.

The lender will have to agree that you can afford the mortgage on your own to give you a new mortgage in your name only.

Getting his name off the deeds is the first priority.

Don't worry too much about your bank. You can get a mortgage elsewhere if they refuse.

However, I understand that a lender won't give a loan to a married person on their own.

So it does seem that you need to be formally separated.

But the first priority is to get his legally binding agreement to convey ownership of his share of the house to you.

If it takes time to close this sale or change the mortgage, so be it.

mihaela said:
so far seems to be going OK.
Click to expand...

I don't know how often I have seen this and I have always given the same advice. Reach agreement while you are still getting on with each other.

All it takes is for one person to see or hear that the other has a new boyfriend or girlfriend for things to suddenly change.

Brendan
 
Thank you Brendan, your reply is much appreciated.
I have already been in touch with the solicitor, and they have advised me to go to the bank first which doesn't make much sense.
From an affordability point of view I should be OK, I have always paid the mortgage by myself. He had never had contributions towards any of the house bills.
 
Hi

Let me clarify. It's a bit messy and a few procedures run simultaneously and not consequentially.

First you must agree with him.

Then you must check that a lender will finance what you agree.

If you can't afford to take over the mortgage on your own, your solicitor won't allow you to sign a binding agreement to do so.

I don't think you should rely on your current lender in case they say no. You should also apply to a couple of other lenders as back up.

But you will also need a separation agreement.

You should proceed with all at the same time assuming that they will go ahead.

Brendan
 
Thank you again.

He has agreed to take his name off without being bought out. I know a verbal agreement is not much, which is why I'm trying to speed things up.

I'm on 55k plus 10k bonus and I have been approved in principle. House worth aprox 390k with 199k left on the mortgage. The reason I've applied with the same bank is because I'm on a fixed term for another 3 years. Last time I checked what the penalty for breaking the fixed term was, I think they told me around 5k....
It's a bit like the chicken and the egg really....it's 13 months since my 1st solicitor appointment.
 
mihaela said:
He has agreed to take his name off without being bought out.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but that makes no sense.

Why would you want his name off the mortgage without having his name off the deeds.

Or do you mean "he has agreed to take his name off the mortgage and the title deeds, but does not want any settlement" ?

Brendan
 
I think what the OP means is that her former husband is not looking for a financial settlement in exchange.
 
You need to get the separation agreement in place.

Since the other partner is not looking for a settlement figure, if the OP is unable to raise a mortgage in her own name then the property can be sold to redeem the mortgage & the entire balance is hers.

€200k is c.4 times yr base income. Are you able to save your bonus / other savings towards redeeming the joint mortgage? The more you can save the better.
 
I think my bad English is confusing everyone here, apologies. Yes, partner is not looking for settlement or share out of the equity.

I have spoken to a solicitor whom had advised me that the mediation might be the easier way to proceed. We attended 3 sessions with the mediator and on the last session she asked us to go back to her when we had the house issue sorted.
I have rang the solicitor and asked to start the process of removing husband from the deeds and I was told to get on to the bank. Bank sent me the "remove a borrower forms", I got an approval in principle and now I am in an " egg and chicken " situation ( mediator sending me to the bank and bank looking for a final separation document which I dont have yet).
I obiously done it all wrong..

@Thirsty only 18k in savings, had to repurchase car etc after separation, but I do have a constant montly saving of 1k, mortgage of c.1k and overpaying buy €100/ month for the last couple of years.
 
Hi Mihaela

You are making good progress. It's not a simple procedure, which is why you might be finding it difficult and frustrating.

1) You have approval in principle from the bank - that is great.
2) Your solicitor is right to tell you to try to agree everything with mediation first. It's a lot cheaper. You have a good solicitor.
3) You and your husband (you also say "partner", but I presume he is your husband) need a separation agreement next.

Have you and your husband agreed the outline terms of the separation agreement?
  • custody of the child
  • ownership of the house
  • maintenance
If that is all agreed, your solicitors should be able to draw up an agreement and then the transfer of the house will follow.

If that is not agreed, what are you still discussing in mediation?

Brendan
 
Hi Brendan,

You and your husband (you also say "partner", but I presume he is your husband)
[/QUOTE]
Yes, i am referring to the same person.

- I will have the custody of the child. We are discussing who has the child when, logistics etc
- we are discussing the maintenance. I couldn't put a figure on it the last time as I genuinely never added up how much I spend on the child.

That should be it. We don't have private pension, joint savings and I handed his car back.
 
It sounds as if you are close to an agreement.

It's not my area of expertise, but once you have it agreed, then the bank will be happy.

Brendan
 
All other things being equal, the usual arrangement is joint custody & the OP being recognised as the primary carer & baby will live with her.

Child maintenance is based on both parties income & expenditure. Not how much you spend on baby.
 
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