Removing name from joint mortgage

Hi All,

New to this site so apologies if this question has been asked elsewhere - I am hoping the answer is quite simple...

I have a joint mortgage with my girlfriend (1 year into a 5 year fixed mortgage). She wants to pay off her half of the mortgage after coming into some money which is great (understand their are penalty fees for this).

My question(s) are;

- Can we remove her name from the mortgage after making this payment as her financial responsibilities are complete?

- If so could I keep the existing mortgage deal and maintain payments at the current rate or would the monthly payments decrease?

Thanks in advance for all advice,