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I have been separated from my wife for almost a year and she asked me to leave the property we jointly own. I did so and stayed with family, but continued to pay the mortgage in full as a way of maintaining my 14 week old and 3 year old sons. I now rent a property in which i have my sons to stay a minimum of 5 nights out of 14. The CSA will begin to take payments the end of this month and I cannot afford CSA, my rent and bills AND the mortgage, i am already struggling financially. I am happy to sign the property over to my ex and not ask for any of the equity in it. Where do i stand with stopping the mortgage payments? If i continue to pay, i will lose the property i rent as i will be unable to afford it.
Hi There and welcome,
You would need your ex to take the mortgage over fully in her name, that would mean she would have to have a good enough credit rating and be able to prove to the mortgage company that she will be able to cover the monthly payments.
whilst you are named on the mortgage you are liable to pay it.
Have you spoken to your ex about this? was there any reason the current arrangement couldn't have remained in place meaning you wouldn't loose the equity in your house?
Darren
Thank you for your response. I cannot afford to keep this up. I was living in a room back at my parents home when she told me to leave. I couldn't have my children overnight and continued paying the mortgage. Now i rent somewhere of my own so that i can have access to my children and i pay maintainance through the CSA. I cannot afford to also pay the mortgage. If she refuses to take the property on in her name, can i force sale? Would I still be liable to pay the mortgage even though she told me to leave (becoming the sole occupant) and I have to pay costs for another property so that i have a roof over my head?? I have been more than reasonable. My ex decided to call time on the marriage in order to' move on'. I have paid everything since, house insurance, loans, mortgage, kids etc. But now i have my own rent and bills to pay as well as maintainance, i physically cannot afford the mortgage too. I already work two jobs and struggle. Thank you again.
Unfortunately, whilst your name is on the mortgage you remain liable, the mortgage company won't release your liability unless it is cleared or moved into someone elses name.
It's a nightmare and I was in the same situation when I left my ex, I lived with my folks for 18 months until I could get released from the mortgage I was tied into, I was only paying half of it, but still couldn't stop the payments.
I would talk to your ex about it and either get her to take out her own mortgage, or to cover the payments on the one in place that remains with your name on it, just bare in mind that if she opts for the later then you remain liadle still if she defaults on the payments.
With regards to forcing a sale I'm not sure how you stand on that one, you would need to seak legal advice, I only talk from my own experience when I was in a similar situation.
Darren
Thanks again. I have tried, but she won't be reasonable and wishes to keep me on the mortgage for as long as possible. She knows she will have to take it on herself otherwise and wants as much money as possible from me. I've been more than reasonable the past 12 months paying almost all of her living costs as well as my own. I cannot force her to take on the mortgage but surely there has to be something in place if i no longer wish to be financially tied to her as we are divorcing? It just seems as though nomatter how you have been treated, as a man, you draw the short straw in these circumstances. I will have to go back to living in one room with no access to the children if i have to continue to pay this as well as the CSA.
It is really bad and you end up trapped by the system that's in place.
I'd suggest you consult with a solicitor to see what action you can take as you seem to be trapped at the moment and as you have said you have managed to move on and really don't want to go backwards at this stage.
Is the mortgage in your sole name or joint names?
How are the divorce proceedings going so far apart from the mortgage?
Darren
You need to get the divorce sorted as soon as possible. Are you using a solicitor?
Hi Chris, A lot of us have been in this boat. The harsh reality is if you go through family court, then she will probably get about 75% of the assets if you dont have custody of the children. My solution at the time was to stop paying the housing loan. I allowed the debt to blow out and consume the equity in the house. Her ratio of loss was 3 times greater than mine , so she agreed to sell. The market was suppressed and the price was low, so she lost most of her equity. She was the architect of her loss because I was allready paying child support, and 3/4 of the housing loan repayments were effectively going into her pocket as well. She had a little trouble coming to grips with the economics
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