Charge on property - options?

[gingerbiskit]

Hi there,
I have been divorced for about 6 years now and I have one of these charges on my property. When my youngest reaches 18 or finishes full-time education, or a partner moves in with me, or I sell the house for whatever reason, my ex is due to get 50% of the equity in the house (which is quite a lot, since we bought the house for a very low price - it belonged to my father and he did a good deal for us). Does anybody know of any other options I may have other than offering him a large sum of money instead? I feel that I should never have trusted my solicitor when he talked me into making this decision...I've never had anything to do with solicitors before and no one in our close family had been divorced before, so I feel that I did not have a lot of help with making the right decisions - I was very naiive really. My ex was a bully and is even more so now we are divorced. My son even refuses to visit him now as he does not like the way he is treated by him. Does anyone know of any way out of this situation? I really do not want to have this hanging over my head for the next 10 years (and I couldn't afford to pay him any large sums of money anyway..!) Sorry to ramble on, only I just found out that I can't borrow any extra money on the mortgage (to buy a replacement car - mine just died) until he's signed a letter asking for his permission first !! I hope all that makes sense !

[belledechocolatefluffybunny]

You need to see a property lawyer to be honest. Who's name is on the deeds and who pays the mortgage? How ling were you married for? You could argue that the charge is unfair, you are allowed a home and family life so it's unfair to say you can not have a partner living with you.

[gingerbiskit]

Thanks belle, I might look into seeing a property lawyer.

The mortgage is in my name only now. I changed to a different building society after we divorced. The house used to belong to my grandparents and it was left to my father, who rented it out to me before selling it to my ex and me around the time we got married.

We were married for just under 7 years. We got divorced (after going to Relate, which was a complete waste of time) as he was emotionally abusive and was making my life a misery..!

Can it actually be possible to get these kind of charges altered/lifted then?

[gingerbiskit]

Thanks babybarrister,

I think I would maybe have had a better chance of appealing if I'd done it soon after the order was signed. I've probably left it too late to do anything now, but I appreciate your comments anyway..!

I don't have a partner atm but I do think it's unfair to expect me to pay up just because someone else moves in. I don't understand the justification in that.

[belledechocolatefluffybunny]

As baby barrister has said, it's very difficult. As his name has been on the deeds and he's probably paid parts of the mortgage, this is a real problem to be honest. I do think that you need professional advice on this though.

[belledechocolatefluffybunny]

Thankyou for correcting me babybarrister, sorry ginger.

[belledechocolatefluffybunny]

It's OK, it's been a while since I did my law degree.

[gingerbiskit]

Thanks all, I'll keep trying xx

[mumoverseas]

Agree with babybarrister (as usual)
Seems very odd that as the property belonged to your grandparents and then your father and presumably therefore was an inheritance that your ex would get 50%. Although the starting point is always 50/50 I would have thought that as the house was a 'family' asset prior to the marriage you should have got credit for this.

How long ago was the order sealed?

[mumblechum]

I also agree with BabyBarrister that, as you were guided by your solicitors at the time, and, on the face of it, you possibly shouldn't have agreed to the order, that your claim may be against your former solicitors. There is unlikely to be any mileage in applying to set aside the order now, assuming that this all happened six years ago.

I think you should take a copy of the order and, if possible, your old file, to a new solicitor for an opinion, in the first instance.