Divorce and mortgage in the UK

Your options with the lender

• Transfer of equity, removing one borrower if the other can afford the loan alone
• Remortgage in one name, possibly with a guarantor or a smaller loan
• Sell and redeem the mortgage from the proceeds
• Keep the mortgage as it is for an agreed period, with a clear agreement on who pays

Protect your credit file

Missed payments affect both of you, however the property is eventually divided. Agree in writing who pays what while things are being sorted out, and tell the lender early if payments will be difficult.

Two separate processes

It helps to keep two things apart. Ending your marriage is a court process that follows a fixed timetable and does not look at your finances. Sorting your finances is about who keeps what: the home, savings, pensions and debts. You can run them side by side, but one does not automatically decide the other.

• Ending your marriage: the divorce application, conditional order and final order
• Sorting your finances: an agreement between you, and usually a financial court order to make it binding
• CalmSplit's £159 fee covers the divorce itself, not a financial settlement

When to get advice

Consider independent legal or financial advice where there are pensions of real value, a business, complex property, significant debts, or where you are unsure whether what you have agreed is reasonable. CalmSplit can refer you to an independent solicitor. That does not change your £159 CalmSplit fee, and we do not take a fee for the referral.