Whether you’re separating earlier or later in life, the most valuable asset in a divorce is often your family home. But when you’re in the autumn of your life, there are things to consider in divorce such as your mortgage capacity and matrimonial home rights.
When dealing with the division of your assets collected during marriage, the starting point for the Courts is usually a 50/50 split. But dividing your assets equally doesn’t always mean a fair division of assets or that it will sufficiently meet your needs.
So if an equal division doesn’t meet your needs, you should get advice from a Divorce Solicitor.
We can look at all of your assets by way of financial disclosure and how they can be divided so that you can be sure your financial settlement is fair and will meet your needs.
We're rated‘Excellent’Deciding who stays in your family home or if you both move out and sell the property can be difficult, especially if you’ve shared your home for many years.
First of all, it is important to understand how you own your property, either as joint tenants or tenants in common, and how this will affect what you’re legally entitled to:
If you don’t want your former partner to inherit your share of the family home if you die before your divorce or separation is finalised, you could sever the joint tenancy.
You can sever the joint tenancy with or without the agreement of the other joint owner.
If you choose to do this then you’ll both still be joint owners of the home, but rather than owning the property as joint tenants you will own the property as tenants in common in equal shares (50/50).
Once the joint tenancy is severed, if one of you dies, the other won’t automatically inherit your share but instead it will pass in accordance with your Will or the intestacy rules, if you don’t have a Will.
It is important to understand that no matter who owns the property or how it is owned, the family home will be treated as a marital asset and ultimately it will be divided either as agreed, as advised or as directed by the Court.
This is also an important consideration for unmarried couples who may separate and decide to stay living in the same home or if you’re thinking about moving out before deciding what should happen with the property.
If you decide to sever the joint tenancy in separation or divorce, you should make a Will to deal with your share of the property and make sure it passes on to the person you choose.
When you enter a marriage or civil partnership, you will automatically get Matrimonial Home Rights, which gives you a right to occupy the matrimonial home regardless of whose name the property is in.
These rights prevents you from being “evicted” from your own home and will only apply to a property that you use as the family home. So if your partner owns other properties, your matrimonial home rights only give you the right to stay in the one you normally live in.
If you’re getting a divorce and your former partner who legally owns the family home wants to sell and you don’t, you can enter a Matrimonial Home Rights notice.
A Matrimonial Home Rights notice will be applied to the Title Deeds making it clear to any potential buyers that you are exercising your rights to occupy the property.
This doesn’t stop your partner from selling the home but the notice makes it unattractive to buyers and they will want the notice removed before buying the property.
The notice can only be removed if:
When divorcing in later life you need to think about how your age might affect your income and mortgage capacity.
Each mortgage lender will set its own age limit for applicants, but whatever age you are, the most important thing is that you can show that you can afford the mortgage repayments.
We know this might be difficult if your relationship has broken down later in life, as many people in your situation won’t have a mortgage raising capacity.
If both you and your former partner are retired and the only asset is your family home, it may be sensible to sell the property and divide the proceeds so you can both rehouse yourselves. If you’ve lived there for decades, the property might be mortgage free anyway.
If you’ve been living in the same property for many years and your children have flown the nest, you may even consider downsizing so that you have a property that is more manageable in the later years of your life and so you can buy the smaller property without a mortgage.
Everyone’s situation is different and there’s not one size that fits all, which is why we recommend getting legal advice from a Divorce Solicitor who can advise you based on your situation.
Whatever your situation is we can help you to find the best way of amicably bringing your relationship to an end while protecting your finances and assets for the rest of your life. Our expert legal advice will always be personal and tailored to you and your family.
It’s never too late to enter into a new relationship but it is important to plan for the future and think about your finances. And at this point in your life, there’s a lot to think about when entering a new relationship.
There’s a lot of paperwork involved in divorce, which is often referred to as ‘the divorce papers’. If you’re thinking of applying for divorce without a Solicitor, it’s very important that you don’t make any mistakes on the divorce application or the response form, as this can make the divorce process take a lot longer.
You don’t have to go to Court to resolve your finances in divorce if you and your ex can come to an agreement about who gets what. If you can’t agree then you may need the intervention of a Divorce Solicitor but even then, going to Court will be a very last resort. Most cases settle and agree without Proceedings ever needing to be issued.
Fill in the form below to get in touch with one of our dedicated team members, or call our team today on: 0808 239 3465
