Divorce question

[girlmum6]

i wondered if anybody could help me answer a question…I am separating from my husband as there is a lot of bad behaviour and aggressiveness in our relationship (if you can call it that). Anyway I am taking legal advice later this week but am hoping to get the house on the market asap as I have a really tough time and just want to be set free and move on. He is refusing to agree to it as he says the market isn’t that great and he would rather hold out until it improves, or we rent the house out. He said we cannot sell as he won’t agree. Is that correct? I am having a total panic that I will be stuck living with him for much longer. Thanks

If he doesnt agree to sell the house, and it’s jointly owned, then no you can’t sell. You’ll either need his permission and agreement or a judge would need to order the sale as part of the financial settlement

even if it’s not jointly owned it’s a marital asset so he could get home rights on the land registry which would prevent you selling ( if it’s just in your name)

have you even discussed finances and settlement etc,

it does seem like you’re jumping the gun

Thank you. I would obviously wait until I’ve spoken with a solicitor and discussed finances and settlement so perhaps I would need to wait for that side of things to all go through. We own the house jointly as tenants in common. I just don’t want to be stuck for years not being able to move on.

If your dh doesn't want to sell now, because of the state of the market, would he be able to buy you out. If he knows a court will eventually order the house to be sold, perhaps he would find that option more appealing.

Thank you @Meadowfinch. No he definitely couldn’t afford to buy me out.

do you own 50% each? or unequal shares? Is there any reason why the financial settlement would vary that ?

do you both have pensions? Children? Equal or unequal earnings etc?

It can take years if you can’t reach agreement and he drags it out.

We both own 50%. Three young children. Both work full time and both have pensions although he earns about double what I do and has a much larger pension.

The 50% can be varied as part of the financial separation. It’s not a given that you each retain that share on separation

you’ll be asked to declare your assets and income
he’ll be asked to declare his.
youll also be asked to declare what you know is joint.

and depending on that along with other circumstances, needs, etc a split will be derived. It might not be 50:50 overall or indeed at each asset level

Which starts to open up possibilities of trading off housing equity for pension? Depending on the amounts, and your ages.