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Hi all. It seems I come back in here every few years for some much needed advice!
Unfortunately my wife and I are getting divorced, no funny business, we just don’t get along anymore and it’s been a long drawn out death.
I have a 17 year old daughter from a previous relationship, she lives with her mum but stops here 2-3 times a week. My wife has a 15 year old daughter, I see her as my own as we got together when she was 5.
The house is in my name only, as are all of the ‘family debts’ because my wife’s credit rating is very poor. She has applied for an order to be placed on the property so that I can’t sell it without her permission (not sure what it’s called and I haven’t seen any record of it). I would never expect to take any more or less than 50% anyway, but understand that she needs to protect her interests and daughter.
She can’t get the house put into her name and buy me out because of her poor credit rating. I can’t afford to move out and not only pay rent on a place of my own as well as paying the mortgage on the house. She’s insisting that I move out and that she remains here until my stepdaughter is 18, and that I pay 50% of the mortgage until then, at which point we would sell.
So my questions are (if anyone could be kind enough to help)
1 - if I moved out, is it unreasonable of me to expect her to pay 100% of the mortgage payments so that I can afford rent on my own place? And if she did pay 100%, would that result in me losing my 50% share in the house?
2 - can I insist that the house is sold now so that we split the equity and can afford to go out separate ways?
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Hi there
Divorce finances aren’t my strong point I’m afraid, but I would have thought that because the child that lives at the property isn’t yours, that might change the situation somewhat... I understand that you see her as yours, but it’s how the court may view it. It might be that this could provide you with some leverage to get agreement on selling the property.
Before moving out, I strongly advise that you get some proper legal advice about where you stand, some solicitors offer a free initial consultation which might be helpful to you.
Best of luck
Some information
You should be receiving a notice from the land registry telling you about the matrimonial home rights notice that your wife has placed on the property.
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