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Legal matters

Form A. Need advice to fill in.

5 replies

PoloPrincess · 07/02/2018 14:30

I had a free 20 minute appointment with a solicitor to find out which forms I need to send off to the court to enable me to force the sale of my house.

I am nearly divorced (absolute due at the end of this month). STBXH, DS and me are all living under the same roof and it's driving me and DS crazy. STBXH refuses to move out or sell the house as he is claiming marital rights. he also makes absolutely no contribution to the mortagage, car or any utility bills, lazy sod.
The house and mortgage are in my name and I want to force the sale, divide the equity and move on.
I don't qualify for legal aid and there is no way I can afford a solicitor to help me through this as I'm on my arse financially.

The solicitor told me that I need to fill in and send off Form A, followed by Form E. There is plenty of advice on here and on the internet about Form E but I am really struggling with how to fill in Form A and I really don't want to mess it up.

I am struggling with which boxes to tick on the first two pages. Also on page 2 it asks "Please tick the relevant box below to indicate whether this application for a financial order includes an application relating to land" yes or no. Does land mean my house? Or does it actually mean land, as in a field because it then asks for details of any mortgages?

I am confused by it, struggling to make sense of it and I really need to crack on and send it off. I've done the MIAM bit and I am awaiting the return of that bit shortly.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I really don't want to mess this up and look a fool in court.

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Collaborate · 07/02/2018 15:38

Land = house.

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HelloBrass · 07/02/2018 15:56

If the house is in your sole name, once the decree absolute is pronounced your husband will lose his automatic right to reside as he will no longer be your spouse. You can also put the house on the market, as he doesn't need to sign any of the paperwork.

He still may have a claim to the equity (to be determined) but would be up to him to engage in meaningful negotiations or apply to the Court himself.

You also need to bear in mind other assets may need to be dealt with, such as pensions.

You'll need the MIAM before you can submit the Form A to Court.

For the Form A;
Nature of application - To apply to the Court for..
then all the financial claim boxes

Page 2 re land
Yes, and details of the mortgage.

TBH, I don't think the Court takes too much notice of that and will just issue your application and set down the timetable. Details of all the assets will come out in your Form Es. Make sure you attach the MIAM because they won't issue without it.

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PoloPrincess · 07/02/2018 16:32

Thanks for the clarification re 'land'.

HelloBrass That's really very helpful, thank you.
So... If i am sole owner of the house then I can sell it without going to court? And if STBXH has any issues then he can take me to court?
If that's the case why did my solicitor tell me that I need Form A?
When he is no longer my spouse can i evict him? How?

Sorry for all the questions, but the whole thing is a minefield.

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HelloBrass · 07/02/2018 18:04

Technically yes, you can sell up as long as he hasn't registered a Matrimonial Home Rights Restriction. If you put it on the market, it might force him to actually deal with what's going on.

The pair of you have financial claims against each other by virtue of your marriage, and ideally all the assets will be considered and an agreement reached about division - pensions, savings, debts, the house etc. That agreement can be recorded in a Court Order and you'll know it's been sorted out - that's probably why you were advised to make the Form A application. Gets it all done properly.

If he has pensions you might not want to apply for the DA until there is an order in place on the finances.

20 minutes with a solicitor really isn't long enough for them to have the chance to give you proper advice. It might be worth paying for an initial meeting, just to go through all your options in more detail.

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PoloPrincess · 07/02/2018 18:20

HelloBrass
Thank you so much. That clears a lot of things up for me. You're quite right, I do need to take this to court so everything is done properly and legally and then he can't walk all over us, even though he and the whole process scares me to death.*

No pensions involved. Just house and car.

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