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How to remove ex husband from house deeds-not sure we are getting the right advice

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  • How to remove ex husband from house deeds-not sure we are getting the right advice

    Putting to one side my previous post (as they are far out of date now), I need some straight forward guidance to assist my sister who is having a nightmare with the solicitor she has engaged.
    situation as follows:-
    Sister buys her house (sole ownership) in 2000.
    She marries and her and husband remortgage in both names in 2007
    In January 2009 Husband walks out leaving all sort of debts etc, all but one of these has been dealt with or resolved.
    My sister did nothing but get on with her life until early 2016 when Amigo loans, via the local county court had a charge for about £4,500 lodge against the house for a loan that her estranged husband had defaulted on. We tried to fight this but were overruled because a TR1 said they were joint tenants.
    This, with my pushing, saw sister seek a divorce and she now has a decree Nisi.
    So far so good, before seeking an absolute she wanted to remove him from the house deeds (A)because he never contributed to the house & (B) she didn't want another Amigo situation.
    After months of trying to get her ex husband, who had agreed by text message, that "it was her house not his" to co operate with this he is now very eager to get his name of the deeds and we are desperately try to oblige him. He must have an alternative reason but we dont care what it is.
    The mortgage company have been very obstructive but we did get a comment from a line manager that she could see no reason why they would object to the deed change but they would be unlikely to remove his name from the mortgage. That is not a problem to either party.
    That the background, now the bit that we need some better advice or guidance on.
    Her solicitor is now saying that it is unlikely that the Land Registry will remove his name from the deeds with or without agreement from the mortgage company, we cannot understand why.
    They have suggested, as a starting point, to change the ownership to tenants in common on a 50/50 basis. All that does is, as far as we can see is protect both of them should one of them pass away, as they are both in good health and in mid to late 50's we fail to see what good that will do except line the solicitors pocket further.
    The Amigo charge is not an issue as sister is happy to take the hit just to get this resolved and her sole name on the deeds as again the mortgage is irrelevant as she has been paying this since they first took it out in December 2007 and continued to do so since he left in 2009.
    I thought there was something like a property order that would normally be looked at/granted prior to a decree Absolute being applied for, hence we have not applied for this.
    There are no children pensions or maintenance issues involved.
    Can anyone advise on this in, dare I say, in simple terms that we lay people will understand. We have come so far in four years of trying to get this situation sorted and so far paid out almost £2,500 and still not got the property situation resolved.
    Tags: None

  • #2
    I really don't see how you can sort the property out without sorting out the divorce settlement beforehand. You need a bit more in writing than a text or two from the husband. I take it that he is not legally represented?

    Have both parties set out their financial positions? I think you need to know a bit more about why hubby is quite so keen suddenly to get this sorted out. Perhaps he won the lottery?

    But, apart from that, it should be pretty easy to produce a consent order, and normally the court will be happy to rubber stamp that. In this case, given they are joint owners, it would be a bit one-sided for the husband to get nothing at all. On the other hand he has had the £4500. I guess the court would wave a consent order through. What does the solicitor say about this?

    I can't help with the conveyancing issue of why the husband cannot renounce his interest in the property. Sorry. They would end up with a joint loan, secured on a house 100% owned by the wife, with both parties being liable for 100% of the loan. That's unusual. Are you sure the lender won't release the husband from the loan?

    Is the house worth a lot more than the outstanding loan? They remortgaged in 2007, and in some parts of the country prices have risen steeply since then, but in other parts they have hardly risen at all. If there's a lot of equity, it might be possible to remortgage just in the wife's name, which would tidy everything up nicely.

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks for the reply, answers to your questions marked with **

      [QUOTE=2222;n1433289]I really don't see how you can sort the property out without sorting out the divorce settlement beforehand. You need a bit more in writing than a text or two from the husband. I take it that he is not legally represented?

      **There is no settlement to be made, sisters Solicitor has it in writing from him, he says "I relinquish any responsibility or rights financial or otherwise to our former matrimonial home". We dont know about representation or advice but was advised by sisters Solicitor to do so.

      Have both parties set out their financial positions? I think you need to know a bit more about why hubby is quite so keen suddenly to get this sorted out. Perhaps he won the lottery?

      ** Both parties have been asked to complete a Financial Agreement Questionnaire, TBH Lottery or not we just need rid of this man from my sisters life-long long story.

      But, apart from that, it should be pretty easy to produce a consent order, and normally the court will be happy to rubber stamp that. In this case, given they are joint owners, it would be a bit one-sided for the husband to get nothing at all. On the other hand he has had the £4500. I guess the court would wave a consent order through. What does the solicitor say about this?

      **Thats what I thought, property order submitted to court before applying for the Absolute, Solicitor doesn't think so. With regard to being one sided justified by sister being on the deeds for 18 years and him being resident and in a marriage for 18 months and he paid no mortgage payments. £4,500 is more than enough IMO.

      I can't help with the conveyancing issue of why the husband cannot renounce his interest in the property. Sorry. They would end up with a joint loan, secured on a house 100% owned by the wife, with both parties being liable for 100% of the loan. That's unusual. Are you sure the lender won't release the husband from the loan?

      **Not sure about the lender they have been very obstructive but, not un common for both names to remain on the mortgage and in this case my sister, agreeing to indemnify him for any losses he incurred, should she fail to make any payments.

      Is the house worth a lot more than the outstanding loan? They remortgaged in 2007, and in some parts of the country prices have risen steeply since then, but in other parts they have hardly risen at all. If there's a lot of equity, it might be possible to remortgage just in the wife's name, which would tidy everything up nicely.

      **House worth about £191K, mortgage £170K. We are exploring this possibility but due to sisters earnings (and possibly age) another suitable property that she would be granted a mortgage on would be almost impossible.

      Comment


      • #4
        Can anyone answer this one question with regard to the above.

        The house is held as "Joint Tenants" at the moment.

        Sister is being told that this needs to be changed to "tenants in common" with a 50/50 split before they can then remove his name from the deeds. At an additional cost.

        I could be wrong but I dont see the point or reasoning of doing this, why not just go straight for removing his name.

        We would appreciate any guidance comment on this, thank you.

        Comment

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