My son has a problem, So I thought that I would ask for help from you all.
He broke up with his wife approx 6 years ago (his fault)
They have 2 children .
When he left he told her that he would give her the house & just walk away from it.Sign it over to her .
nothing was done legaly,they changed the morgage to a interest only one .
Now he wants to buy a property with his new partner & needs his name of of the original morgage,but his ex wife is now being difficult .
As they have had a brilliant relationship re the children so far he dosent want to upset her .
He cannot move forward until he can remove his name from this morgage.
Can the bank that have the morgage remove it for him if he sign's the house legaly to her (she will have to sell as she cannot afford a morgage as she only works part time )
I can understand both side's .He wants a home that the kids can visit ,She dosent want to uproot the kids .
So can any of you give any advice please .

I would think he can only released from the mortgage if his ex wife takes it in her own name but the mortgage won't do this unless she has enough income per year to cover the outstanding balance or can get a guarantor for the mortgage, like a family member. Even if he signs the deeds over the mortgage will still be joint names.

Best option would be to sell the property and they both start again. No doubt he will have to pay maintenance for his children which will help her with rent.

not an easy situation to be in.

He does pay maintenance , But she dosent want to sell or move .If when they split it had been a bad split they would have had to sell then but because he felt guilty he let things go .Now 6 years on she feels that she is entiteled to stay there, If when sold all money that is over once morgage is settled will be hers .My son thinks that she will not get a council house if she has any money.So will have to rent privately ,she will not be able to afford that on 4 hours work a day.
Do you know the councils view on this ?
I do not think that there will be a lot of money over if any .Also what happens when he stops paying maintaince when children are adult.?

He needs to see a solicitor, for all of the ins and outs of this, things change all of the time,

I know that you didn't use to be able to come off a mortgage unless the other person on it could financially afford it alone, not paying it, but in getting it in the first place..... in this case unless the ex has a very good wage it is unlikely she could show finances to do that, she is unlikely to wish to release him anyhow unless she could add someone to replace him and join her in the mortgage, parent, sibling etc who may be willing?

If she cannot do either of those things...... they could decide together to sell....... IMO she would be a fool to do so as who does that benefit, certainly your son, but what of the mother and their children, I wouldn't cut off my own nose, in fact she was very silly to go onto an interest only mortgage, a judge would have ordered your son to pay that mortgage.

If they did sell........she cannot afford to have a home like the one she has, she will either have to downsize and get a smaller mortgage she can afford, if she can, depending on area, or will end up in rented with all the worries of leases running out and at a much higher cost than an interest only mortgage a lot higher, or ending up in council home or such, really would your son want them to end up like that and you your grandchildren?

Your son really should just have the children as his first and only priority,  he may need to rent instead, is that so bad for him? It is worse for the mother and children to end up that way, IMO I think in things like this there is always sacrifice and the sacrifice should be your son's future plans for now, especially if the marriage ending was his fault, he should continue to pay and be on the mortgage until the children are 18 or no longer in college.........  a judge may well order that.

As they have had a brilliant relationship re the children so far he dosent want to upset her .

IMO, this is what he should keep at the forefront of his mind, no pushing from the new partner or for a new life, he still has this old one to take care of.  I know looking from his point of view and maybe from yours it probably isn't fair as he cannot start again, but that is what happens when you create a family, people often cannot afford two lives and if his ex does not want to sell, I would leave it be........ for his children's sake.

I understand what you are saying & am not just on my son's side .I love my daughter in law as well .
As has been happening he & his new partner have been renting, He has also lived rent free with his sister for over a year to try to get a deposit to buy a property ,he dosent want to rent for ever as that is dead money if you get my drift If he manages to buy another property it benifits his children in the long run .
His ex wife is in no position to ask her family to help,as most these days they struggle to make ends meet .
If this had happened when they split the children would have been a lot younger would moving been better then or now that they are older & things can be explained. I think that they have both got the childrens best interest's in mind .
If she had  found a new partner & moved on herself would she have minded moveing herself + children to another home ,town ,county,.as has happened with my other sons children ,their mother moved his children ,school,& home without informing him so he now has no contact at all.He also pay's maintaince,for children that he never see's.
If it goes to a solicitor the money spent diminishes his deposit ..So its a lose lose situation .
I wonder if citizens advice could help ?

When I split from my ex we had a joint endowment mortgage. I had to take out a mortgage in my own name to pay off the original mortgage.

> I wonder if citizens advice could help ?

It's worth trying. I think that your son needs professional advice and then he can make an informed decision.

> When I split from my ex we had a joint endowment mortgage. I had to take out a mortgage in my own name to pay off the original mortgage

Everyone's circumstances are different, so what is best for one isn't for another. It really needs professional advice to ensure the best outcome for all involved.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> When I split from my ex we had a joint endowment mortgage. I had to take out a mortgage in my own name to pay off the original mortgage<br />Everyone's circumstances are different, so what is best for one isn't for another. It really needs professional advice to ensure the best outcome for all involved.

It wasn't a matter of circumstance, in order to remove him from the mortgage I had to take out a mortgage in my sole name. The building society would not remove his name from the original mortgage so I had to settle the original mortgage with my own mortgage.

Thanks all,
Roscobabe ,it is a interest only mortgage ,Dont ask me what that means other than no money comes of of what is owed just pays the interest .Would she not be able to carry that on with only her name on mortgage ? as you all say it will have to be done legaly.to safeguard everyone . Unfortunatly she will not be able to take out a new mortgage as she dosent earn enough.

> It wasn't a matter of circumstance

No, it is :) The OP's son will have different circumstances to you and so will need different advice as to the best way to proceed - it may not be the best thing for the wife to have the mortgage in her own name nor for him to stay on the mortgage.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">No, it is :-) The OP's son will have different circumstances to you and so will need different advice as to the best way to proceed

No  it's not. You cannot remove a person from a mortgage that they are legally liable for. The original mortgage has to be paid in full. The only way to remove someones interest is to pay the original loan.

> No  it's not. You cannot remove a person from a mortgage that they are legally liable for. The original mortgage has to be paid in full. The only way to remove someones interest >is to pay the original loan

I'm bowing out - we are talking about different things.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">it is a interest only mortgage ,Dont ask me what that means other than no money comes of of what is owed just pays the interest .Would she not be able to carry that on with only her name on mortgage ? as you all say it will have to be done legaly.to safeguard everyone . Unfortunatly she will not be able to take out a new mortgage as she dosent earn enough.

Interest only simply means you have an insurance policy that runs with the loan which matures at the same time as the mortgage, which is then used to pay the loan off. A mortgage lender would not agree to removing your sons name as he is legally responsible for the repayments.

sorry roscoebabe that's not quite correct. An interest only mortgage is exactly that: you pay the interest on the total amount outstanding usually monthly and are not paying back any of the capital. When the mortgage is due to be fully paid off you need to either have money from other sources or would have to sell the house.
You do not have to have an insurance policy running alongside although many lenders will ask how you intend to pay the mortgage off when it is due and some people would have an insurance that is due to mature at the same time as the mortgage is due.

Interest only mortgages can be a problem if you have no other means of repaying at the end other than selling the house and downsizing

The bank isn't going to  allow your son off the mortgage if he has a job and she only works 4 hours a day. They don't want to be left with a house to sell when she can't afford to pay it off.
I believe he can go to court to force the sale but if they think it is in the best interest of the children to leave them there , such as no chance of anywhere else to live, they may say no. When my parents divorced me and my mum stayed in the house with the interest only being paid until I left full time education. This only changed when she remarried and her new husband took over the mortgage .
I would be booking an appointment with Citizens Advice ASAP.
Also, some solicitors do a free half hour consultation in the hope they will get work from you. It might be worth asking around.

Furriefriends is right.  Interest only can be of benefit in the short term as the payments drop - I've been on it for a few years and right now it's a godsend - but in the long term, it means the capital is just sat there not being paid.  So at the end of the mortgage, it would all become due at once; or before then, if you switch back to repayment, the monthly premiums are higher in order to get the balance paid off by the end of the mortgage.

You can have a partner removed from a mortgage without paying it off and taking out a second one BUT the person continuing with the mortgage has to b able to afford it. I did this 16+years back when split from a rotten boyfriend, on paper I couldn't afford it according to the building society, but I could pay the monthly amount with what I earnt so my dad was guarantor for me which the building society were happy with.

Interest only mortgages are fine if you know in 25yrs or so, you have the means to pay it off in full!

>When I split from my ex we had a joint endowment mortgage. I had to take out a mortgage in my own name to pay off the original mortgage

Same here.