1. In what circumstances would you need to consider transferring equity in a property?
There are many reasons why people transfer equity in their property to another person, but the main reason is divorce. Other reasons include raising capital out of the property or merely to pass the equity as a gift to a family member.


2. What do I need to do next?
When transferring equity in the property to another, if you currently have a mortgage on the property then to enable the transfer to proceed you need to consider the options below.

You can either remortgage the property to pay off the existing mortgage at which time the transfer can also be completed. If this is not possible then you can apply to your current mortgage lender for their consent to transfer the mortgaged property from joint names into a sole name. If none of these options are viable, then the only option is to obtain a Court Order to transfer the property over.

Many people do not realise that they cannot transfer their equity in the property which is subject to a mortgage without obtaining one of the above. The reason for this is due to many mortgage companies now placing restrictions on your Title Deeds to ensure that before anything is registered at the Land Registry in respect of the property their consent is obtained. The only way in which you can proceed without their consent is with a Court Order or to repay the outstanding mortgage.


3. What happens if two people own the property?
Where there are two owners of the property and a Court Order has been obtained to transfer one owners’ equity to the other owner, this does not necessarily mean that you are released from your obligations under the existing mortgage. The Court Order will merely provide that by law the party has to transfer their interest in the property to yourself.

The mortgage obligations will remain outstanding as you were a party to the original mortgage. In addition your obligations to that mortgage company will remain until the consent is received from the mortgage company to release you from those obligations or the property is remortgaged with another company in the sole name of the new owner of the property. Therefore if the party receiving the transfer of the property did not perform the obligations under the mortgage you will still be held liable for the debt.