Right this may be a tricky 1

My partner is jointly named on a mortgage with her ex partner.
They moved in on the 20th July 2007.
She lived in the flat for roughly a month then they split up, she moved to a rented property with her their daughter. Her ex partner remained in the flat ever since and was responsible for the mortgage payments as he was living there.

A few weeks ago he came over to pick his daughter up and told my partner that he was handing the flat back to the mortgage company and she had to sign to say that was ok. She just signed it and never really thought much of it.

I got her to check her credit rating, it turns out he has not been paying the mortgage properly for 2 years and they basically want the flat back. Her perfect credit is a goner

They owe £105k on the flat and its only worth £80k at the most.

Now obviously there is going to be a shortfall, my partner does not work, she is a full time carer for her daughter who has cancer. The only money she gets is benefits.

His parents are paying his half of the shortfall but my partner is very worried as to what the lender can do to get the cash back.

Is there anything she can do to avoid paying as she had no idea he was defaulting. Or can the lender force her to pay money from her benefits.

Sorry its so long winded but just trying to give all the info I can. We live in Scotland in case that is relevant.