House in split

[sandiy]

My stbexh left almost a year ago.In that time I've had a hell of a year financially minimal maintence for the children etc.He has paid nothing towards the morgage or any other home expences We were selling the house but,the sale fell through.At that point I just did nt have the energy Togo through another sale so I've been paying interest only for most of the year with the plan that come September when my course finishes I would get a decent pay rise and start repayment again.Ex agreed that I could keep the house if I also kept the debt instead of him having a cut of proceeds of the sale.I can't afford to re morgage to get him off the morgage and would nt get one anyway as my credit is destroyed by all that's happened.Now ex has decided out of no where to start behaving really badly towards me.How do I protect myself and my money in this situation.I just feel I'm chugging away holding everything together financially and at any point he can pull the rug out from under me and insist I sell.My children love this house and it's safe and lovely for them to play outside etc.I could never afford to buy a new place half as nice again? Iwould just like some advice about what I can do.I don t want to see a solicitor just yet because ex will never respond well until I'm clear on what I can do.

Can you afford the mortgage payments plus debt? How much equity in your property? You will have to see a solicitor to draw up the consent order to make it legally biding so why not see who does the initial free half hour consultation to talk through what needs to happen & possible outcomes?

I don't think he can insist that you sell - its quite usual for the non-resident parent to have to leave selling the house until the youngest child is out of school (18ish) I think you sort out some kind of order to enforce this when you sort out the divorce finances. Also, the split of the proceeds would probably lean towards the person with the most need (e.g. the person who has children to house)

Sounds like legal advice is the way to go here.

Any kind of settlement is possible at this stage: i.e. sale, deferred sale, buy out, equal or unequal split.

To get an idea about which approach is more likely you'll need some legal advice.

The property won't be dealt with in isolation. All your capital (including pensions) and income will be taken into account.

agree with collaborate

You can just see a solicitor for some initial advice, just a meeting where you talk things through. Once you hear what the solicitor has to say (which could include advice on how to protect yourself and your money in the current situation) you can then go away and think about what you want to do next. You don't have to involve your ex or do anything else until you are ready.