Can he force me to sell the house?

[needmysleep75]

Hi I had an informal agreement with my husband ( we're separated but nothing legal in place ) to not sell the house until DD15 left school in 2020. She's mine not his but been together since she was very small. He is now going back on that and saying he wants it selling now, I've said I won't think about it until DDs GCSE exams are over in June. Can he force me to sell? Mortgage is in his name only but we are married, he is currently paying half of mortgage and I'm paying all other bills. I am going to make a solicitors appointment next week, but can anyone help me not stress too much over the weekend?

If mediation fails the finances can be taken to court and he can ask for a clean break that could ultimately mean he uses the courts to force sake of the property.

However that is making all sort of assumptions that sake of the property is the only way to achieve a clean and "fair" split of marital assets.

He cant force you to sell like that. He can force you to go through a formal divorce process that will determine what happens to the house. But no way that could happen before June and if you want to be award you could easily drag it out to 2020. Of course you could end up having the right to keep the house, could you afford to get a mortgage and buy out his share if it was half?

awkward not award

He can force it yes, but not simply. He will have to go through a formal divorce process basically.

However I would simply not cause this stress on myself and put it on thr market and get my own place to live. Is this a war you really want to fight?

Sure he can put it on the market, he owns it, he can even come in to enable viewings but you could make it very difficult if you chose to do so. You'd also have to go through the divorce process to stop him and the likely hood of winning that may be very low indeed.

You have got plenty time. Tell him no. If he goes legal it will cost him a small fortune

Thanks everyone. I am happy to look into selling it after June or maybe buying it myself but I don't want to unsettle DD before her exams. It's only 3 months!

Even if you put on the market next week it would be unlikely to sell that quickly!

I do think trying to agree a timescale to resolve ASAP would be good. For example you could get estate agent evaluations, explore mortgage options etc

I think waiting till June is fine and he should be reasonable about that. But personally I'd tell him that, if you're happy to sell then tell him the timeline or he could either try to start to sell it from under you or divorce, he might even stop paying his share of the mortgage.

To be fair though, even if you sold now, you likely just be completing in June.

If you are happy to sell after June then relax, in reality there is nothing he can do before then. Remember its not his house, its marital property.

Sorry if also say if you're possibly able to buy him out, then there is no reason for you to wait to June unless you want him to keep paying half the mortgage for as long as poss.

its marital property

That's not a given from what's posted, further info is required, ie how long has he owned it, did it predate the marriage, how long have they been married, how long has she lived there etc.

its marital property
It is a given, as they were married. It might be he has a right to 100% of the house (very unlikely) but until that is agreed or a court orders it, then its marital property.

We bought the house 4 years ago after years together but due to an arrear of flipping £44 on my credit file it was better to put it in just his name at the time. I wasn't expecting to split at any time.

Sounds like its likely to be 50:50 split of the house. Don't know if living in it with your DD in it would allow you slightly more but definitely ask solicitor.