DH's ex not selling jointly owned property and DH paying full mortgage ..advice please

[Antalya1]

My DH has a jointly owned property with his ex. They have 2 grown DS's, one still at the home but with a full time job.

There are two years left on the mortgage and under much duress, mainly just wanting to be able to move on, after many phone calls and under much duress, DH agreed that he would settle for only 30%. In addition as ex claimed that she wanted to be free of the house asap, DH agreed that he would pay the full mortgage andhas done for a number of years now. Time has gone on and ex has decided that she would like to stay in the house so has made it difficult for viewers and has turned down offers, without DH's knowledge or input.

Ex has her own business but as she doesn't pay tax, would be unable to get a mortgage to buy DH out.

Is there a way that Dh could now force the sale of the house or at the very least renegotiate the mortgage repayments. It's doubtful that his ex would do this willingly as she's not a lady that is the most reasonable to negotiate with and we really can't afford to go down a costly court route.

Any advice would be great as at the moment we really don't know what we can do.

More fool him.

Tell him to get proper legal advice, it will be cheaper in the long run!

? How did he get divorced without a financial settlement ?

He did and had hefty solicitors costs to pay and his solicitor told him at the time that it was a ludicrous demand, however, even the solicitor after dealing with ex for many years knew that she would just drag it out. In addition after years of emotional abuse it was a quick reaction to be free.

Anyone with any useful advice??

i think sneeze's advice was useful. get legal advice! he's going to have to anyway to sort this out.

Yes, he will need to apply for an order for the sale of the property. You say he doesn't want to pay for solicitors but certainly if it doesn't get settled by negotiation and ends up going to court he will be at a disadvantage if he isn't represented and she is.

He should consider the legal fees in proportion to the amount at issue. So say there's £300k in the house, and he'd normally expect to receive half (I'm not sure whether they were married or not - that would make a difference), if he is going to end up with £150k or whatever, it's got to be worth paying £3k or so to solicitors and a barrister to achieve that.

He needs to think of the costs as an investment in getting a fair deal.

But didn't his solicitor get a consent order?

This was part of the settlement, what we would really like to know is if there would be any chance of getting this reveiwed. We would be willing to go down the court road again but not if there wouldn't be a chance of any change.

Ah. I do wish you'd said in your OP that there is a consent order in place! That does put a different complexion on it.

So the order says that the house is to be sold and your dh is to get 30%, is that right? If so, then yes, he can make an application forcing the sale, and if it gets really nasty the court can sign the conveyancing paperwork (though that is rarely necessary).

I'm assuming that we're going back several years, as he's now remarried, in which case it is extremely unlikely that the order could be set aside. It will have stated towards the end that both parties accepted it in full and final settlement.

They have been seperated for a number of years, but only divorced early last year and then settlement made then. We are only recently married. Can a forced sale can only take place if there is a buyer in place? or is this something different.

But Mumblechum asked what the order actually says. Can't start to think of an answer to your question until you make that clear.

When should the house be sold? The order should have made this very clear.

The consent order says: the respondent (DH) undertaking to pay the mortgage on ...............until the said matrimonial home is sold and to indemnify the petitioner in respect of all actions, claims and demands...

also that it is ordered that...

the property shall be sold by private treaty...following provisions to apply..

...property to be sold for a price agreed between the two parties (know that offers have been turned down with DH's knowledge of offer being made)

....property to be sold by petitioners solicitors

not sure which bits would be relevant!!

70% petitioner...30% DH

our solicitors advice is that it is pratically impossible to force the sale of a house, for the reasons you state, making it difficult for estate agents/buyers, not agreeing a price, and thats with an order.

She is breaking the terms, Id just stop paying.

sorry should have said offers turned down 'without' DH's knowledge that an offer had even been made at the time

Looks like an immediate sale. He needs to get the advice of the estate agent. Is it being marketed in accordance with their advice? If so, there's not much he can do save for cross his fingers and hope a buyer comes along. If the agent advised to accept any of the offers, but she refused, then he ought to take advice about taking it back to court. He should make the estate agent his new best friend.

Whatever he does he should not stop paying the mortgage or he will end up with nothing & a bad credit rating. Agree with e=your ex making the estate agent his new best friend!!!

Maybe her ex could suggest moving in for a spell to help the sales process!!!!

Your DHs ex is clearly a woman determined to have her cake and eat it!

The only thing he has to remember is that although the legal wheels turn slowly, he will get his 30 percent in the end. Did the solicitor who represented him initially advise If there was a time frame, as the ex could keep this going for the next 10 years?

My relative was told by his solicitor that if his exP continued messing about re selling/estate agents the court could arrange a sale by auction. Different circumstances though, so doubt whether applicable. She wouldn't even give the names of the estate agents who valued the house, hope your DH has better luck.

Checking out with his solicitor should not be too expensive and may clarify things.