Girlfriend and I have a joint mortgage and are breaking up..
Discussion
So I have ended up in a very unfortunate predicament. I didn't see a group for 'legal advice' so thought I'd post here.
I purchase my first home last October with my girlfriend of 8 years.
I won’t go into details, but I am days away to breaking up with her as I’ve come to the realisation that I am not happy being romantically involved with her and I see her more as a friend.
With us now owning a house together, it is obviously very messy and I need a bit of guidance.
She has nowhere else to go, so whilst I haven’t had ‘the chat’ with her yet, I fully expect her to continue living in our house and I have no plans to try and kick her out. She is still my best friend and I want the best for her.
Ownership isn’t 50/50. It is proportionate to what we’ve put in.
The deposit was entirely funded by me, and legally that money is protected.
And the balance that has been mortgaged is split between her and I. Obviously, with us only having taken up this mortgage a few months ago, very little has been paid off and I could literally buy her out now.
But I don’t know how it works?
Though I can afford the mortgage and bills by myself, do I have to go through the whole process again?
What sort of costs am I likely to see going down the legal process of making the house 100% mine?
I am not looking to do any of this just yet, but at some point in time this will need to happen and I don’t really know who to ask.
Like I say, she doesn’t have to go anywhere if she doesn’t want to, it is still our home and will continue to be our home going forward – but she can’t/won’t live there forever and I need to know what to do when the time comes.
Cheers.
I purchase my first home last October with my girlfriend of 8 years.
I won’t go into details, but I am days away to breaking up with her as I’ve come to the realisation that I am not happy being romantically involved with her and I see her more as a friend.
With us now owning a house together, it is obviously very messy and I need a bit of guidance.
She has nowhere else to go, so whilst I haven’t had ‘the chat’ with her yet, I fully expect her to continue living in our house and I have no plans to try and kick her out. She is still my best friend and I want the best for her.
Ownership isn’t 50/50. It is proportionate to what we’ve put in.
The deposit was entirely funded by me, and legally that money is protected.
And the balance that has been mortgaged is split between her and I. Obviously, with us only having taken up this mortgage a few months ago, very little has been paid off and I could literally buy her out now.
But I don’t know how it works?
Though I can afford the mortgage and bills by myself, do I have to go through the whole process again?
What sort of costs am I likely to see going down the legal process of making the house 100% mine?
I am not looking to do any of this just yet, but at some point in time this will need to happen and I don’t really know who to ask.
Like I say, she doesn’t have to go anywhere if she doesn’t want to, it is still our home and will continue to be our home going forward – but she can’t/won’t live there forever and I need to know what to do when the time comes.
Cheers.
A few basics. (I worked in finance for a few years)
The mortgage is most likely a joint and several liability, so in theory the mortgage provider could look to both you and your partner for repayment of the full amount of the debt. Therefore in order to release your partner from any liability they would have to be happy that you could service the debt on your own.
You need to approach the lender. No doubt they encounter this situation all the time so will have a process to guide you through.
Good luck
The mortgage is most likely a joint and several liability, so in theory the mortgage provider could look to both you and your partner for repayment of the full amount of the debt. Therefore in order to release your partner from any liability they would have to be happy that you could service the debt on your own.
You need to approach the lender. No doubt they encounter this situation all the time so will have a process to guide you through.
Good luck
You'll need to speak with a solicitor and the mortgage company. The mortgage company will advise if you can afford the mortgage on your own and if there's any fee for changing it. A mortgage adviser may be able to assist.
Being pragmatic though and I appreciate with very little detail and no idea what's gone on but if she was worth buying a house with only back in October then it may be worth having a serious chat and seeking some relationship advice before going down the route above. I hope things work out.
Being pragmatic though and I appreciate with very little detail and no idea what's gone on but if she was worth buying a house with only back in October then it may be worth having a serious chat and seeking some relationship advice before going down the route above. I hope things work out.
The great news is if applicable you will have to pay stamp duty to the value of the new share of the mortgage you are taking on. I was so delighted when I found that out.
In my case it was 50 50 and the loan had been in place a while so a new mortgage was arranged which was probably more complicated than what you are proposing assuming your current lender is happy for you to take the loan on yourself.
In my case it was 50 50 and the loan had been in place a while so a new mortgage was arranged which was probably more complicated than what you are proposing assuming your current lender is happy for you to take the loan on yourself.
TREMAiNE said:
But I don’t know how it works?
Though I can afford the mortgage and bills by myself, do I have to go through the whole process again?
What sort of costs am I likely to see going down the legal process of making the house 100% mine?
I had to do this myself a number of years ago (I now realise it was probably almost 10 years now).Though I can afford the mortgage and bills by myself, do I have to go through the whole process again?
What sort of costs am I likely to see going down the legal process of making the house 100% mine?
What you're looking for is called a 'transfer of equity'. As some others have mentioned you will both need your own solicitors to handle this. From memory this was no more than £500 each. It should be a lot less work than when buying the house, you don't need all the searches repeated. You'll probably just have the land registry charge.
For the mortgage, hopefully if you pass all the criteria by yourself they will just be able to change it into your sole name to little/no charge.
And as someone else mentioned stamp duty is due on the share you are buying.
I did this a few (quite a few now I come to think of it) years ago.
First stop is your lender, they'll be able to tell you if your earnings are sufficient to take on the mortgate on your own. It's nothing new to them and so a simple call to their helpline will probably get things moving.
After that it's a fairly simple matter involving solicitors and the painful extraction of stamp duty on the 50% you're taking on (as outlined by posters above).
Main thing initially is to see if you can take on the mortgage before you do anything else though.
First stop is your lender, they'll be able to tell you if your earnings are sufficient to take on the mortgate on your own. It's nothing new to them and so a simple call to their helpline will probably get things moving.
After that it's a fairly simple matter involving solicitors and the painful extraction of stamp duty on the 50% you're taking on (as outlined by posters above).
Main thing initially is to see if you can take on the mortgage before you do anything else though.
TREMAiNE said:
Though I can afford the mortgage and bills by myself, do I have to go through the whole process again?
Can you afford the mortgage on a multiple of salary basis? Whilst I could quite easily afford mine and my wife's mortgage on a monthly basis, I don't think the banks would lend me enough to buy her out if I was in your situation.Went through the same thing last year. Same sort of time frame after moving in together too.
Contact your mortgage provider and you'll need to get re approval to have the mortgage in your sole name. Better you get your mortgage in your name with your current provider to avoid fees. State what has happened and will advise you of the steps. Your joint mortgage will then be transferred purely to you. Then either you or the bank will need to get in touch with a solicitor to handle all the deeds/land registry etc again transferred solely in your name.
I'm in Scotland and didn't have to pay stamp duty (this was last year so hopefully you'll be the same). There is a fee for porting the mortgage into your name from the joint but was a few hundred pound so nothing overly severe!
All the best OP
Contact your mortgage provider and you'll need to get re approval to have the mortgage in your sole name. Better you get your mortgage in your name with your current provider to avoid fees. State what has happened and will advise you of the steps. Your joint mortgage will then be transferred purely to you. Then either you or the bank will need to get in touch with a solicitor to handle all the deeds/land registry etc again transferred solely in your name.
I'm in Scotland and didn't have to pay stamp duty (this was last year so hopefully you'll be the same). There is a fee for porting the mortgage into your name from the joint but was a few hundred pound so nothing overly severe!
All the best OP
Hope it all goes ok for you OP. Having been through this myself before just be forewarned that unless you’re very lucky indeed she will no longer be your best friend and things may get ugly.
Not going to write war and peace but my breakup was all amicable until my OH realised it wasn’t only me that was going to need to reassess my lifestyle so I could afford to live. Joyous period of my life.
Be lucky. Be careful in terms of protecting yourself. Hope all works out.
Not going to write war and peace but my breakup was all amicable until my OH realised it wasn’t only me that was going to need to reassess my lifestyle so I could afford to live. Joyous period of my life.
Be lucky. Be careful in terms of protecting yourself. Hope all works out.
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