is equity release only for retired people? a friend who is forty recons she has done it with her home when she needed a large sum of money?
is it correct that she has done equity release or would it have been called something else?

umm re-mortgage?????

Usually referred to as MEWing – mortgage equity withdrawal. If your friend did it in her 40s on a normal 25 year mortgage then she may well still be paying it off after she retires – not a good idea.

As above.

You don’t get something for nothing.

However, a secured loan is one of the cheapest forms of borrowing.

ok so the bigger picture.ive split with my wife.she currently doesnt work, i do.i need somewhere to live and she owes me some money from our marriage.approx 45k.if i had this now it would be a good deposit for a mortgage and thus a secure home for my two young kids when they visit.the only asset is the house. if she had a good salary she could remorgage and get some more cash to buy me out, but she doesnt and i think she would need to earn a lot to do that which wont be for years.we could sell the house but she again cannot raise a morgage at all and will loose a lot in fees etc.once the fees are gone and im paid there wont be a lot left and certainly not enough to get a big enough house. the house is worth 400k with a 100k morgage, bed you cant get a 4 bed house round here for 200k plain and simple.(she has two older kids as well as our two little ones)
Help! any possible ideas…?

TBH sounds like you don’t have enough equity to release if the house is ‘worth’ £400k and after selling there wouldn’t be much left?

Go and visit a decent IFA.

I am sure that you are and your ex-wife are not the first to be in that situation and they will be able to advise what the best products for you (and your wife/ex-wife) are.

sell the house and she can rent. Easy.

so she ‘owns’ the house, but owes you 45k of it, or you both ‘own’ the house, so she owes you a total of £195k?

either way, looks like she needs to get a job unless your child support payments are going to cover the mortgauge on her behalf.. or sell up, put her in a smaller flat (or make her rent) and spent whats left on a deposit for you

well its marrital home.both names on mortgage and the deeds.
she had the house when i met her but she was on benefits.in the 10 yrs together she has worked but not much.been raising kids for lots of it.i worked throughout. i paid the mortgage outright for 6 years that i do know as we had joint accounts then. but i was sharing money with her from the start (unofficially)
the 45k comes from the increase in value of the asset during the time i paid to maintain the asset split 50/50.
it sounds kinda dissjointed but thats another grey area

she can rent. What’s the problem?

It’s just a sleazy way of disguising a loan.

I maybe a bit behind the times with these things but IIRC she can simply sit tight until the youngest nipper reaches 16 before being forced to sell up

as I say though, I could be way off as it was 15 years or so ago that it happened to my brother & they’ve only just sold the house

no uplink your not wrong, and its 18,14 years time!
she does have a bit of a concience as she wants the kids to see me in a decent enviroment but frankly its almost impoosible to find a solution.

Equity Release is very very dangerous.
In my opinion it should be seen as a last resort, and it is one of your worst current options.

what provision has been made in the financial settlement – would normaly be an order for sale here i think

I have no knowledge of this but would strongly suggest you get some decent legal advice from a solicitor. Have also seen your other thread.

You have a very difficult situation to deal with and unfortunately when it comes to money, people can act quite nastily (as I found out following marriage breakdown).

Do see a solicitor without further ado. I wish you well.

Danny, send me an e-mail and I’ll give you some details on a company that we used in a similar situation. I’ll say it isn’t likely to be the best solution but at least if you are getting professional advice you can make an informed decision.