After a separation, a parent of two wants to keep the Haberfield house the children have grown up in.
Sometimes, if one income plus child support covers the whole loan at the lender’s test rate. Some lenders count child support received under a formal agreement, and a transfer between former partners under a settlement is generally exempt from NSW duty.
The financial agreement or court orders come first.
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As a first home buyer, I was pretty overwhelmed at the start, but Charles made everything much easier. He explained the process step by step and helped me understand my borrowing options. His professionalism and responsiveness were excellent.
Charles looked after us really well and his knowledge gave us the confidence to purchase our property. He wasn’t pushy and always ensured we felt comfortable with the repayments.
Highly recommend Charles! Professional, knowledgeable and very easy to work with. He helped us navigate the home loan process and found a great solution that suited our needs. Excellent service from start to finish.
Charles Touma, Mortgage Broker.
Three pressure points. Serviceability: even with child support counted, the numbers are tight, and practical levers, term length, expense discipline, a small contribution from the settlement's other assets, all matter.
Sequencing: lenders want the settlement documented before approving the buyout refinance, but the numbers must be tested before the agreement is signed, or the parent may agree to a buyout no lender will fund.
And the emotional weight: this decision needs numbers precisely because everything else about it is not numerical.
Full single-income serviceability at buffered rates, with and without the child support counted, across the lenders that accept it. The equity position, deep equity is what makes the file possible at all.
The duty exemption, confirmed through the solicitor, which saves genuine five-figure money on the transfer. And the real alternative, costed: what selling, splitting and rebuying elsewhere looks like, so the decision to keep the house is a choice rather than a reflex.
Files like this succeed on deep equity, formalised child support at a lender that counts it, and a settlement negotiated around fundable numbers. They fail when the buyout figure was agreed emotionally first and tested financially second.
A broker's most valuable contribution often happens before mediation, not after, and where the straight answer is "the house cannot be kept", hearing it early protects everyone, children included.
Test the lending before you agree to the buyout, not after. Formalise child support if it needs to count. Use the duty exemption, it is real money, routinely missed.
And let the alternative be priced properly: keeping the house is sometimes the right answer and sometimes a financial anchor; only the numbers know which.
The loan is refinanced into your name for the existing debt plus the settlement amount, assessed on your income alone. Whether it services on one income is the first question, before any paperwork. Loans after separation has the sequence.
Often not: transfers between separating partners under a formal agreement or court order are commonly exempt from transfer duty in NSW. The legal documents drive the treatment, which is one reason to formalise the settlement properly.
Options include lenders with sharper assessment of your income type, restructuring other debts first, or in some cases a family guarantee. Timing the application after the settlement terms are documented also strengthens the file.
Thirty minutes with Charles, ideally before mediation: what one income can truly carry, which lenders count the support, and a buyout figure that can be funded.
Prefer a callback?Charles calls back within one business day. No documents needed yet.
This is an illustrative example scenario, not a description of a specific client and not a testimonial. The figures are realistic but rounded, no lender is named, and no outcome is promised, every application is assessed on its own facts. General information only, not credit or financial advice.
Official sources for the figures on this page: Revenue NSW, transfer duty exemptions. Scheme rules change; the official pages are the final word. Checked against these sources on 12 October 2026.
