Financial consent order - he's refusing to agree a max time to sell house, no kids

[Niman]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of getting divorced. Things are just about amiciable for negioating. I'm trying to get the finanical consent order sorted and he won't agree a max timeframe to sell the house. We don't have children or dependants and he can't afford to buy me out.

I have an appointment with my solicitor soon but I feel lost and don't know what to ask. They just said before if we can't agree we need to go to mediation before court.

What are my options here? I believe we have the typical joint tenancy as we both signed stuff when buying.

facts:

• we have a mortgage
• the price has gone up alot since we bought so we will be making a profit
• equity of the property is the only thing we are splitting, we are ring fencing everything else in the financial consent order
• I have continued to pay half the mortgage but no longer live in the property, he does at the moment
• he agreed a clean break but he basically now saying he won't sell until the divorce goes through, he agreed to a clean break in an email
• his focus is money
• I agreed 60/40 split in his favour as I knew he would never agree 50/50 with the conditions that he agreed/accepted reasons for divorce (he has), was the one to oversee and arrange everything relating to selling the house because he is living there and does it in a timely manner (I think he's now saying he won't do this)
• the area and road are highly sought after and estate agents have put letter through our door in the past asking us to sell so I cannot foresee an issue with offers

His reasons for having an issue with agreeing a timeframe for sale are:
"depends on lots of factors, including the market, interest rates and me finding somewhere to buy" yet he claims to want to get the place sold asap. Yet two different family members live nearby and have a spare room if he hadn't found somewhere. I think he is being unrealistic and doesn't actually realise if it went to court they would force the sale.

Any advice or help, especially about what to ask the solicitor and if you have any similar experiences. Everything I find when searching online is about cases with children and mesher agreements which doesn't apply here as we don't have kids and I want to sell.

Thanks!

Not an expert but 60/40 split seems crazy!

I'd go to mediation and force this. I'd also say that if he makes it go to court there is a risk the judge will offer you more in a split of the equity.

Is there a way to edit a post? I'm new haha

I worked out using conservative estimates to was only two months wages for me with the 10% difference and for me I didn't want to endless back and forth so said fine with the above conditions. He would never agree to 50/50, he's all about getting a bit of an extra discount etc

We were equal earners until a few months after I left so I don't think I would get more via court to be honest. I just the timeline agreed so the divorce stuff can continue and then want the house sold so I have a deposit and can find somewhere myself.

I would tell him that if he won't agree a reasonable time frame then you will go for 50:50 in court tbh

@RandomMess

I would tell him that if he won't agree a reasonable time frame then you will go for 50:50 in court tbh

Some colleagues have suggested the same actually!

At the end of the day he cannot control the sale, things do go wrong. I would come to terms with that all round. Even if he got an offer it could fall through at the last minute. Max time frames won’t be enforceable if this happens.

Things that he can agree to are a minimum sale price. That’s the price that must be accepted if offered. Get quotes including a surveyors and a surveyor report to negotiate the sale price. Then agree a date by which it must be marketed.

Show yourself willing to move back in to get it sold. Atm you are being too eager to sell and to concede. He knows you want quick and he can lever negotiations to his advantage.

His relatives are not responsible for the split and shouldn’t be asked to pitch in to help him or you. It’s not their circus.

You know he's greedy.

So that is his weakness.

Starting point is 50:50 so he stands to lose if he doesn't start conceding on something.