How to get money from ds's father

[gettingeasiernow]

During our four years together, I lent exp £21k for various projects and he always promised to repay it. When he left me with five week old ds, he promised he would still repay it. This was 11 years ago. He has never paid a penny either in maintenance for ds, or to repay the money I lent him. I've occasionally mentioned it to him suggesting he should pay whatever he can whenever he can, and I think he has no money, but also he has no intention of paying anything.
He lives in his own flat and has a mortgage on it. His income is negligible - I very much doubt he has ever paid tax.
Here's the question: can I have a claim put on his property so that if/when he sells it, the owed money comes to me? Obviously he would have to agree to it and the amount, which I think he would. Is this a simple thing to do, provided he agrees? If he is in arrears with his mortgage, would that make it impossible? He has owned the flat for about 8 years, so probably has some equity in it.

[STIDW]

I'm not a solicitor but I think you would have difficulty claiming repayment of the loan unless the loan was legally documented, particularly as now 11 years have passed and there are time limitations.

With regard to child maintenance unless a court or CSA application was made arrears can't be enforced. If there is no court order or an open case with the CSA you could apply for child maintenance through the new Child Maintenance Service. He would then be required to pay the assessed amount from the time the CMS contacted him unless his liability is calculated as nil.

[gettingeasiernow]

Thanks for the response. I spoke to him tonight and he said he would sign the documentation. There was no documentation at the time and I recognise it was a long time ago. If he agrees to it and signs now, I think it's worth a try. He did say though that there is already a second and third charge on the property so I'll have to get in line. Nothing ventured though.

[Collaborate]

If the debt was repayable "on demand", and you've not demanded it back yet, I think you may not be out of time. You can secure the debt on his property by him granting you a second charge, but will need to see a solicitor to draw one up for you.