Marital House

Hi,Im in the final stages of reasonable divorce,my ex is in the proces of having the Consent Order drawm up. we have agreed a Clean Break with no financial tiesapart from child maintance, but we fail to agree on one thing. we have 2 mortgaged properties, it is agreed that i stay in the marital home and he resides in the other property, no exchange of equity involved. However his solicitor has advised him that after 3 years we should attempt to release eachother from the mortages, i am arguing that this period of time is not long enough for me. I do not belive i will be able to obtain a mortgage in my sole name as i will have only just become debt free(debt plan ends in 3 years). I would love to be able to have a sole mortgage but i just cant see this happening within that time period. I would like my ex to extend this for until our youngest is 16.(ten years). Is this unreasonable? I pay the mortgage and upkeep on the marital home and would not expect him to contribute in any way as i would not expect to contribute to his home. And there is no guarentee he will be able to release me in 3 yrs time either. Our names would be on eachothers motgages solely to ensure that our children had a home until adult age, but his solicitor is making me feel like im asking for this so i can tie the ex in for 10 yesrs! I have offered to have documented and apply for a mortgage every 6 mnts to prove that i want to be released. but this is not good enough for the solicitor and he suggest that if i became homeless and had to sell then the boys would have a home with their father. which is true, but why would anyone want to remove the children from a settled environment...Im losing the will with this situation and wondering if i should just sell and become homeless because at lease when i am rehoused by the council the boys will be guarenteed a home for as long as i live and not just 3 years.

Surely the answer is in the question ''attempt to release each other from the mortgages''. If you make best endeavours to get a mortgage and release him but are still unable to do so, then you have not gone against the Consent Order agreement?

Sorry, I made a mistake, his solicitor has worded the consent order as we have to sell both properties if we are unable to get a mortgage.

In that case I don''t think it is a reasonable clause if it would make you homeless. The idea with a fair financial settlement is that neither is left disadvantaged. You would be disadvantaged as your mortgage raising potential is restricted.

The main reason to want to be released from a mortgage is so that you can get another and buy a home to live in.

Since you both already have homes with mortgages to live in what is the issue? Just get your ex to instruct the solicitor to change it to "best endeavors" then you''re both sorted.

Thank you, I believe ex just wants to be released as the agreement may prohibit him from purchasing another property, but that is not my problem. I just want to protect the roof over the children''s head. It would be highly unlikely that I would not be able to raise a mortgage after they left school as there would be very little to repay. His solicitor has now advised him that it would be highly unlikely that any judge would even agree to a 3 year time frame as this would not be considered a clean break, my ex has now said he will keep his name on the mortgage for 6 years. I just want this over, I will seek advice and may agree to 6 years and if I can''t secure a mortgage in that time then I guess I will see in in court then. I feel the law will protect me as long as the children reside with me. Does anyone know if a consent order can be changed in the future? Thank you x

The ideas of a consent order is that it is final. It gives people certainty and they can move on.

It is also highly unlikely that a court will agree a consent order with the six year clause you mention. It could potentially make you and a 12 year old child homeless if you couldn''t raise a mortgage.