Purchasing property w/o separaation agreement

W

Working Woman

New member
I want to purchase a house, in order to separate. I do not yet have a separation agreement. Matrimonial home is mortgage free, on the market and not selling. I have got a pre approved mortgage based on my income, but need 20% down payment from Home equity line of credit. Lender who was found through a mortgage broker is as yet unaware of marital status.

Do I need spousal consent to close the deal?

Family lawyer tells me I must have a separatoin agreement before I can buy property, because if spouse refuses consent deal would fall through and I could be on the hook for more than just a lost deposit, breach of trust etc.

I am told if I lie and say it is an investment property then I won't need spousal consent at all.

Is this correct. Is my choice lying, asking my x to lie, a hastily prepared separation agreement or renting?

Can I not buy a house on my own without having to lie or obtain spousal consent? I do have the means and really its all just bridge financing till the house sells. I feel like my personal autonomy has been violated.
 
I believe that you can buy any property you want. The problem is you MUST be able to pay for it. If you cannot pay for it without the other house selling than your purchase would need to be conditional on your house closing. Just like many real estate transactions.

As long as the new house is in your name only and your ex-spouse never lives there it cannot be considered a matrimonial home.

More important question is are there any children involved.

EDIT: I assumed you were already "officially" separated.
 
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Working Woman said:
I want to purchase a house, in order to separate. I do not yet have a separation agreement. Matrimonial home is mortgage free, on the market and not selling. I have got a pre approved mortgage based on my income, but need 20% down payment from Home equity line of credit. Lender who was found through a mortgage broker is as yet unaware of marital status.

Do I need spousal consent to close the deal?

Family lawyer tells me I must have a separatoin agreement before I can buy property, because if spouse refuses consent deal would fall through and I could be on the hook for more than just a lost deposit, breach of trust etc.

I am told if I lie and say it is an investment property then I won't need spousal consent at all.

Is this correct. Is my choice lying, asking my x to lie, a hastily prepared separation agreement or renting?

Can I not buy a house on my own without having to lie or obtain spousal consent? I do have the means and really its all just bridge financing till the house sells. I feel like my personal autonomy has been violated.
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If you are not yet seperated, it is joing monies you are spending on the new place and that will be an issue.

As well, your statement of "until the house sells" is naive. That would be *if* the house sells, your spouse may choose never to sell the house, or to drag out the process for years. Don't ever make financial decisions for your future that are based on your ex spouse's cooperation, regardless of how amicable you feel things currently are.
 
I just purchased a house this year after 18 months of separation. I left the matrimonial home and it took many expensive legal "motivators" to get the MH listed, sold, and closed.

STBX and I did not even start the process of a separation agreement and we each hit a stumbling block in the process of acquiring our respective new homes. The mortgage lenders required a partial separation agreement indicating that neither party would be liable for SS to the other spouse. I would assume if children had been involved the CS portion would also need to be hammered out as it could potentially affect your income thus your borrowing capacity.

My advice is to get the house sold, the separation agreement rolling, then look at buying a home. It is amazing how cooperative your STBX will be about helping you get your mortgage in order as he will likely be in the same position ;-)

Good luck!
 
My advice is to get the house sold, the separation agreement rolling, then look at buying a home.
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I suppose once you have the house sold and you've both gone your own separate ways, there will be no reason to be telling banks about your marital/separation status, since you will just be a joe blow with an income looking to buy a house

SS and CS is not disclosed on your credit rating
 
If she can "fly under the radar" with regards to the marital status then perhaps she can get away without the waiver of SS. Unless the old home and other joint debts are cleared I can't imagine the mortgage company not getting wise to it though. In my case when they ran my credit they saw the joint mortgage debt for the existing home and the application for a residential mortgage in my name only so put 2 and 2 together.

I agree SS and CS do not show up on the credit bureau report however the banks are very aware at how these payments can impact a borrower's income hence ability to repay. It wasn't unreasonable for them to request the SS waiver (no kids so no CS requirement) in order to ensure that the money I was taking home was not encumbered in ways not visible via a credit report.
 
It wasn't unreasonable for them to request the SS waiver (no kids so no CS requirement) in order to ensure that the money I was taking home was not encumbered in ways not visible via a credit report.
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So if you are separated / divorced and seeking mortgage......better to just say you are single with no kids (yes it's a lie)
 
I can only imagine that working if all of the financial ties have been severed and you claim you are single as, once you say divorced, they will want a copy of the separation agreement (my STBX and I purchased a home very shortly prior to our marriage... this was required from him as his legal civil status at that time was divorced).

One of the questions on the mortgage questionnaire I completed was where would I be obtaining my down payment. In my case it was proceeds of sale of matrimonial home, so my marital situation was quite evident. Then came the declaration that neither of us had children (as a result of our union or not) From there the waiver of SS was a condition that needed to be met in order for my mortgage to be funded.

In Working Woman's case, as soon as she declares that the down payment will be withdrawn from the joint home equity line of credit the red flags are there.
 
It is my experience that you should be honest and forthright while completing home financing process. If not things may come back to bite you in the arse.

I would advise that you take a step back and think things over for a while.

One thing that jumps out at me is that you shouldn't have to use a mortgage broker. Brokers do not work for free and their fees are hefty and somewhere along the line YOU will be paying for their services.

If you have a good job, decent credit then you should be able to shop around for your mortgage, starting with your own financial institution.

Maybe you are trying to do too many things at once? I'd get through the divorce first. There will always be a home to purchase. Don't let anyone pressure you into doing it now.

If you have to falsify forms then perhaps you are not ready to make this major purchase?
 
arabian said:
It is my experience that you should be honest and forthright while completing home financing process. If not things may come back to bite you in the arse.

I would advise that you take a step back and think things over for a while.

One thing that jumps out at me is that you shouldn't have to use a mortgage broker. Brokers do not work for free and their fees are hefty and somewhere along the line YOU will be paying for their services.

If you have a good job, decent credit then you should be able to shop around for your mortgage, starting with your own financial institution.

Maybe you are trying to do too many things at once? I'd get through the divorce first. There will always be a home to purchase. Don't let anyone pressure you into doing it now.

If you have to falsify forms then perhaps you are not ready to make this major purchase?
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you always get a better rate with a broker..........
 
When I bought my place, before the divorce was final, I didn't need any documentation of my marital status. (I did need to ensure my name had been taken off the mortgage for the matrimonial home before my bank would give me a mortgage on another place, but as I was using the same bank, this was all in their records). All the bank needs to know is that I would be able to make the payments. I used the buyout from my ex for the down payment, but didn't have to make any declaration to the bank about where it was coming from. My marital status was irrelevant.

That said, if you are relying on a home equity line of credit which you share with your ex in order to make the down payment, and you're relying on selling a house which has not yet sold in order to finance the purchase, you may be headed for trouble. I would really recommend renting and waiting until the dust settles and you have more control over your finances before getting yourself into another mortgage.

I deliberately did not make any major changes, especially financial ones, in the first six months after separating, because I knew I was under too much stress to be able to think everything through and make good decisions. Getting the separation agreement done took up too much mental energy. I know it can be tempting to move on and get started with a new life, but if at all possible, hang on and wait until all the financial arrangements are finalized.
 
IbFree said:
Absolutely! My broker found a 2.9% mortgage when the going rate was 3.2%. I would never buy real estate without using a mortgage broker. He has the contacts and the savvy.
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There are a lot of those rates and better out there right now
 
We sold our house when seperated ,needed a place to live with the kids ,looked for rentals and couldnt afford them ,around 1500 a month for 3 bedrooms th.
Decided to buy instead ,put my money from matrimonial house towards new one ,no seperation agreement involved.
My mortgage with old house ,they would not give me one,too many conditions as they knew we were seperating ,(through her lawyer) .
Went with a mortgage broker and got it.I pay half of what rent would be.
She almost held the funds from sale of house ,but said to her ,where are the kids going to live ,this is for the kids .. Problem solved ..
Later she said ,you should thank me for not holding the funds ,, I didnt .
Better off to buy .. my two cents..
 
Later she said ,you should thank me for not holding the funds
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Wow....you can tell that like most and some on here, best interest of kid(s) is not a priority to her :rolleyes:

Shame that someone is going to end up with that. I think we should start naming and shaming these people, to avoid others running into them and being taken for a ride
 
slughead10 said:
you always get a better rate with a broker..........
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This has been my experience as well. I worked for a major bank on their mortgage process once. They also owned a mortgage company and another brand of bank, both of which had consistently better rates.

I think you should start with your own bank and ask them for their best rate, and then go to a broker.

Brokers make money from the financial institutions, not from the customers. They have access to many more lenders.
 
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