Rent and discharge joint and several liability

Questioner

I have been living with my ex for 5 years now. Since divorce is not urgent. My ex wants to continue living in our house. He definitely does not want to sell. But the house is in both our names. If I start renting, I no longer want to be responsible for the house or the mortgage. Is this possible? And what about taxes if you go from a house you own to a house you rent. What does that entail? If I start renting, can I completely deregister from the home and mortgage?

Lawyer

The joint home and mortgage can only be changed by name through a notary. This requires that your ex takes over the mortgage and buys you out for half of the equity. What is needed for this? First, you need to have the property appraised by a real estate agent, at the free market value (the market value). Based on that, the surplus value can easily be calculated. Half of that will then be yours and will be paid out if the property changes name. You will also receive a statement of discharge of joint and several liability from the bank. And if that doesn't work? If your ex cannot finance the home, the home with mortgage remains joint. Apart from that, you can always rent a home yourself. Fiscally, your share of the home will then go from Box 1 to Box 3. This means that half of the mortgage interest refund will lapse. The latter means that your ex will then have higher monthly payments if you leave.

Questioner

Is it correct that if my ex cannot finance the house I will also remain responsible for the payment of the mortgage? Because that would mean that I would have to pay rent (if I have a rental house) and mortgage, which I will not be able to do financially. Or if he defaults on the payment of the mortgage, am I then responsible?

Lawyer

Indeed, you remain partly responsible for the mortgage. But you can agree with your future ex that you do not have to pay. This can be quite reasonable considering the fact that you do not have any enjoyment of the home.