Mortgage vs CSA

Hi

My partners wife lives in their marital home (together for 10yrs, married last 3) but the house and mortgage are in his name. They had a verbal agreement on separation that he would pay the mortage (£600) instead of CSA (of £280). As you can see he was being more than reasonable. Now she is claiming for CSA too - thats fine he can pay this, but not the mortage too. He can afford one or the other, she wants both. He must pay the CSA, and she has taken out a home rights notice that she says stops him from selling the house. He now can't afford the mortgage on the home he no longer lives in and she lives in free of charge - can she force him to default on his mortage, if she carries on insisting on both, he will have to default, then the house will be repossessed and they both lose. We have invited her to take on the mortgage and she refuses.

What can we do? We really really need to sell the house?

Your problem stems from there being no formal agreement on the finances.

You call her his wife which i assume means they are not yet divorced.

You cannot force her to do anything and are stuck in this limbo until the divorce is finalised and the ancillary relief is agreed.

You say he is being reasonable but without knowing what they each earn / nbr kids etc I cannot comment - other than to say with a high earing husband and low earning wife he could have to pay a third or even more of his salary as child maintenance and spousal maintenance.

This leaves us with one choice - as he can't afford the mortgage as well, he will default on it and the house will become repossessed. Then they both lose out. Can she force him to default like this? It leaves them both "homeless" with no collateral!!

Sorry, I didn't answer your previous points...

2 children, 8 and 10. They both earn about the same amount (she probably clears more with her benefits)

I say being reasonable as he has paid £600 a month for her to live in that house for free (whilst having to find his own rent) when the CSA have calculated he actually only owes her £250 a month.

Hope this helps

Sorry I forgot to ask... does the homes right notice actaully stop him from selling the house? Of course he'd split the proceeds accordingly.

I think the best answer is to do the following:

- push on with the divorce proceedings, and with getting agreement on the financial aspect (this could take up to a year or more)

- in the meantime pay what you can afford to i.e. pay 600 total , 250 to CSA and 350 to mortgage company

- contact mortgage company and explain the situation, try to arrange a revised payment plan. You may save a lot by switching mortgage to interest only (stay with same buildining society - just ask to change to interest only) This could reduce monthly payment to 450. Then tell them that because of divorce etc you can only pay 350 for next 6 months. Keep in touch with them as things progress.

- if building society will accept 450 but not 350 then negotiate with wife to pay the 100 out of her CSA money.

Thanks for your help.

Negotiation wil the wife is out of the question. She wont answer his calls, he hasnt seen his kids for months, she sends abusive text messages...to say she is unhappy that he has a new girlfriend would be somewhat of an understatement!

We have already reduced the mortage down to interest only, this is £600 a month. He simply can't afford his own rent and the CSA payments whilst paying for her to live in his house too. We have no choice but to default on the mortgage. In three months therefore the house will be repossessed.

His credit will be destroyed and we will never be able to get a mortgage together - can she really do this?

What stops us from selling the house?