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Equity in property, can i ask for all of it?

11 replies

Crumblysausage · 08/11/2021 17:54

Exp and I purchased a property 14 years ago and we split 8 years ago. Neither of us wanted to live in it at the time and couldnt sell it due to negative equity so rented it out for zero profit. I paid for all maintenance whilst it was rented. He then declared that he wanted to live in it in 2019 so tenants moved out and he took over paying for everything.
In june this year he declared that he didnt want to live there so i decided to sell as finally it wasnt in negative equity and it looks like there will be around £18k after fees. I have done all the admin around selling.

Exp has paid a very nominal amount towards the children over the last 8 years, based on his income (or what he tells me he earns) the child maintenance calculator tells me he should pay £360 per month if he has them eow. He didnt pay anything for the first 4 years after we split and now pays around £120 a month.

I have just discovered that the ground rent, service charges on the house, council tax and utilities are in arrears to the tune of around £1000. He has point blank refused to pay this, says i cant make him but acknowledges that this was his responsibility whilst he lived in the house. I now need to pay these arrears up front or the sale will fall through. Thankfully i have some savings and can do this but i am beyond livid.
This man thinks he is getting half of the £18k profit when hes left me with this debt and hasnt paid for his children. The profit will be paid into an account in both of our names but he has no access to...can i just keep it or do i legally need to give him half?? We were never married.

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Crumblysausage · 08/11/2021 17:55

And i will absolutely be going to the CMS and doing an application as soon as ive got this off my plate so they can take what the children deserve from his salary.

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Summerhillsquare · 08/11/2021 17:57

Depends, if you are 'joint tenants', no, you can't unfortunately. Did you have a deed of trust or anything like that?

Crumblysausage · 08/11/2021 18:18

No deed of trust. Probably are joint tenants. Could i transfer him £5k and keep the rest?

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DaisyandSimeon · 08/11/2021 18:49

I believe the CM is a separate issue and you need to pursue this.
If you are joint tenants to the property you will get 50/50 when it is sold. you can't just withold his share. The solicitor dealing with the sale will see its signed by both of you and will put each share in a named bank account. I would speak to your ex and ask him if the £1000 debt can be taken off that equity at sale? Maybe try to get ex to also pay his CM debt from his share as you will chase him for it anyway?

Crumblysausage · 08/11/2021 18:51

Thank you for your response.
So, will the solicitor release the funds to the joint account? Its the account linked to the mortgage. Thats the account on all of the paperwork.

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Crumblysausage · 08/11/2021 18:55

And yes, the CM is a separate issue. Its just made me so upset and low now ive found this out about the debt. To get the house sellable after he moved out i had to spend £900 painting it and fixing a leak in the roof, he said he would pay me back....but hasnt.
I have a really stressful job, 100% responsibility for the children and this is frankly the last straw.

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SonicStars · 08/11/2021 19:32

£9k minus £1 arrears, minus £450 for preparing to sell equals £7550.

How much did you pay in maintainance when you were renting it out for no profit? You should have the records as you would have filled in tax returns. You need to take half of that off first to work out what equal share would be. The you can start thinking about child maintenance and explain it clearly with all the calculations. You can't just say "ha! My bank account,you can't have it." (But I would have a quick chat with the solicitor to ensure that it will go into there)

SonicStars · 08/11/2021 19:35

Actually when he was living there was he paying mortgage or was it just maintainance?

If he contributed more into that than you then it gets even more complicated.

Crumblysausage · 08/11/2021 19:40

Oh my gosh it is complicated isnt it, i had no idea!!!
Maintenance on the property wasnt much, but i had to pay out for gas engineers, safety certificates etc etc. I need to dig all that stuff out.
I think i will definitely ring solicitors tomorrow as i will need to pay those arrears and see where they are sending tje funds to. I also think i need to speak to ex and see exactly what he is expecting from this situation. Im just so angry and hurt, but that means nothing does it.

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Morechocmorechoc · 08/11/2021 19:44

Use al the paperwork detailing what you paid. You can def keep the arrears he owes you. Personally I'd do the maths frl the lot relating to the house...not cms...and give him the difference. Not likely he will do anything about it anyway. Don't discuss it with him

Crumblysausage · 09/11/2021 12:55

I did just speak to solicitors and they said they would transfer the money to the joint account as thats what has been instructed on the forms that we both signed so....i guess what happens after that is up to us then!

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