Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Divorce/separation

Here you'll find divorce help and support from other Mners. For legal advice, you may find Advice Now guides useful.

What can be done if ex refuses house sale despite the Court Order?

9 replies

juldan · 28/07/2020 11:14

My divorce was finalised in March and the house was put on the market after the lockdown ended. We initially put it on the market for a price a bit higher than ordered by the Court, but as there was virtually no interest, I asked EAs advice and pushed to drop the price in line with the court order.
Ex husband dug his hills in, but eventually agreed.

We have now received the first offer, which is £20000 below the asking price. I am not saying that we should accept this offer, as the house has been on the market for less than two months, and only two weeks at the current price.

However, ex’s reaction scared me. He was absolutely fuming, screaming at me that I should tell the EAs to fuck off with this offer.

I worry that unless we get the offer which is exactly what he thinks we should get, he won’t agree to sell.

He is a deluded man, who spent almost £50,000 and got himself into huge debt, pursuing a financial settlement that no court in this country would grant him. Due to his idiocy the divorce dragged for two years, and in the end we got the settlement, which is identical to what I offered him at the beginning.

There is no reasoning with him.

It is quite possible that the house will not sell for what we are asking.
It is in a great location and is an ok size, but is quite run down because ex never agreed to any significant renovations, as according to him, they do not increase the value of the property.
Since I was a SAHM/worked in a low paid job, I had no say in things so all the spare money we had, went on his cigarettes/booze/gadgets.

Again, he is totally deluded with regards to the state of the property. The bathroom, has not been updated in 28 years ( bar painting the walls). It was already in horrible state when I moved in 18 years ago.It has a cracked bath which caused huge leak and damage to the living room ceiling. The kitchen is ok, but is 28 years old and looks dated.
Despite that, ex went ballistic when one of the viewers’ feedback was that the house is a bit of a project.
He was fuming when another viewer wanted to bring somebody along to give him a rough idea how much the improvements would cost.
According to ex, there is nothing wrong with the house and those people are scammers.

I am prepared to wait longer to see if we get a better offer, but what happens if we don’t?

I will be the one who will lose out financially the most, but I am desperate to sell and move on. We still live together and it is unbearable. I have no means to move until we sell. He could move as plans to rent anyway, as he doesn’t fancy paying proper mortgage, but he won’t move.

The court order states that the house should be sold for £360, 000 or the price agreed by the parties/advised by EA or in default of agreement, determined by the court.

My question is: How do I go back to the Court to determine the sale price if ex does not agree to a lower offer/EA advice? What is the procedure? Can it really be enforced?
Has anybody been in this situation? I haven’t been able to find any information on the internet, probably because normal divorces usually end with the final hearing.

OP posts:
millymollymoomoo · 28/07/2020 15:38

I think you’d go back to court to get an enforcement order and they can actually give you full control of the sale if it’s proved one party is being deliberately obstructive
Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along
An offer below asking is usual. I’m this market he does need to be realistic !

Merryterry · 30/07/2021 14:32

@juldan hi! Sorry to post on here after so long but I’m in almost exactly the same circumstances and was hoping you could tell me how you got on?
My ex is refusing to accept the only offer we have got, it is higher than the court appointed offer and higher than the estate agent valuation. I am so scared to lose these buyers but he is being greedy and refusing to accept the offer.
We have the same court order terms as you did.
Did it go back to court? Did the court force the sale? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Our divorce dragged on for years while he dragged me through court to get the exact same settlement we had agreed when we separated. Now he is deliberately sabotaging this sale and breaching the terms in the order! Thanks for any advice you can offer!

juldan · 30/07/2021 18:33

@Merryterry
Hi, I am sorry to hear that you are going through exactly the same thing I did a year ago.
I did get a happy ending though- the sale completed last December.😊
Your ex sounds the same as mine, my divorce also dragged for ages all the way to the final hearing and I received a settlement identical to my first proposal. I think it is all about power and control for these men.
You need to be really determined and ruthless to achieve a fair outcome.
I threatened to take my ex to Court to enforce the order if he did not accept the offer on the house. He knew that I would do it and he did not want to end up there, as none of the previous hearings had gone in his favour.
It was not a plain sailing as he threatened to pull out of the sale multiple of times. He also tried to exclude me from the process of the sale as my name was not on the deeds, despite the court order stating that the sale should be carried out jointly. But as I would not give in, we got there in the end.

I do not know your financial situation, but if you can afford it, maybe ask your divorce solicitor (if you had one) to write him a letter threatening to take him back to court if he does not follow the court order and accept the offer on the house by X date.
If not, write the letter yourself and send it to his solicitor/him by recorded delivery.
Stay strong. I know it is incredibly stressful but you are almost at the end of this horrible process.

OP posts:
Merryterry · 31/07/2021 09:12

The estate agent is going to tell him today that I’ll be filing D11 with the court on Monday first thing if he doesn’t agree to this sale. I’m going to ask the judge to remove him from having any say so long as an offer is more than the court agreed value. I really don’t want to lose this buyer and am so worried the judge won’t see us for a while and we shall definately lose them. He doesn’t care, he’s living mortgage free in the house I bought and paid for while I pay a mortgage. He just wants to keep control and this is his final way of doing so. I hope the judge agrees to remove him from having any say😟 Thankyou for replying to me and I’m pleased you’re sale went through.

wewereliars · 31/07/2021 14:06

Make sure to ask the court that he pays all the costs associated with enforecement of the order OP.

Viviennemary · 31/07/2021 14:12

Zombie thread. Merryterry you need to start a new thread or else everybody will get in a muddle.

Merryterry · 31/07/2021 15:06

@Viviennemary

Zombie thread. Merryterry you need to start a new thread or else everybody will get in a muddle.
I tagged the person who’s advice I was looking to get, and she kindly gave me some. I think I would have struggled to get her attention making another thread and my comment was directly relating to her original comment.. Thankyou for your time
Viviennemary · 31/07/2021 15:08

Ok sorry.

Slempski · 21/01/2022 10:09

How do I do this? Does anyone know what form i need to fill in?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page