divorce and property

[dollydaydream42]

I was married for 16 years and have 3 boys by my ex husband, we divorced last year, when we et i owned a property with my first sons father,me and my husband continued living there when we got married, the property is n my name and my ex boyfriends, who i have not heard from for 21 years and have no clue where he is, my ex husband bought a house in the same street in his name only ( my name is not on the deeds and never where )
So we moved into his house had 3 sons, then we split a while ago and divorced last year. I rent my flat out, but the mortgage payments on the house are paid by benefits as I do not work and nor does my ex husband due to illness. my youngest son is 12 and by law my ex husband has to put a roof over the boys heads until they are 18, so now we are divorced and when my son reaches 18 h has stated he is selling the house and I should move back into my own 2 bed property with 2 boys one who will be 22 but has autism and the youngest will be 18, the flat is far to small for 3 of us and i cannot sell it as it is not mine to sell as I bought it with my ex partner 24 years ago. so when my ex sells his house will i have any claim to it,or will he be made to pay back dated maintenance payments as I have not had a penny from him since we split 5 years ago, plus would he have a claim on my flat even hough I do not own it by myself and cannot sell it due to not knowing where my ex boyfriend is.Any advice would be gratefully receivd

You really need to get some formal legal advice. All the assets will go in to a big melting pot and be shared out fairly in accordance with established principles. It's not straightforward, particularly given the facts of your case.

well i cannot sell my flat until i find my ex boyfriend I did try some years ago but he never got back to me, surely if my name is not on the deeds to my ex husbands house and he has had to et me live here while he has had to live in a housing association accommodation and his mortgage has been paid for by the government, I will not be entitled to anything. We have been divorced nearly a year

Whether or not your name is on the deeds of your ex-husband's house is irrelevant. It is one of the assets of the marriage and will be taken into account in determining the settlement. That does not necessarily mean you will be entitled to a slice of it - that depends on a number of factors. But you certainly can't say at this stage that you will not be entitled to anything. As Collaborate says, you need proper legal advice.

As mentioned legal advice is needed as this is a very complex situation.

One aspect I can comment on is the other property which is still in the name of you and your ex-boyfriend.

In order to change that ownership whether to sell or simply to remove his name you will need to track him down or at least make a concerted effort to do so. A court can intervene in some circumstances if you can prove to the judge that he cannot be traced and show what efforts have been made to find him.

It is though rare and in my experience tends to happen where someone has moved abroad and disappeared for example gone travelling 3 years ago and cannot be found or there is a suggestion that they are missing presumed dead.

A solicitor will though be better placed to advise on this aspect as well.

did you not have a consent order when you got divorced? this would have set out the legalities in terms of division of property.

"Whether or not your name is on the deeds of your ex-husband's house is irrelevant. It is one of the assets of the marriage and will be taken into account in determining the settlement." if the divorce has already gone through with provision having been made for the op to stay in the marital home until the youngest is eighteen then I would imagine there is already a settlement, and as they are now divorced the op wouldn't have a financial claim on the house if this hadn't been set out in the consent order. This is why solicitors advise that it is preferable to sort out the finances before the divorce is actually agreed because once divorced you are on much shakier ground in terms of entitlement to any of the assetts.

Op should seek legal advice, yes technically all property becomes an asset of the marriage but if the marriage is dissolved and the financial agreement (consent order) states that the op will retain her flat and the op's xh will retain his property after the youngest child is eighteen then there is very little recourse after that.

Nothing was agreed about properties or finances at the time or before the divorce.

Nothing was agreed financially before the divorce, I asked for a divorce a while ago, but I wanted conditions before I went through with it.

I asked for my ex to pay the legal fees for the divorce and for my name to be put on the deeds to his house, he never agreed to this so the divorce was put on hold, well until he requested we divorce last year, I had no choice as the marriage was unrecoverable and due to the years that had lapsed he had every right to a divorce.

He has paid nothing towards the up keep of the children as he has been unemployed since we split up 5 years ago, he has paid no money towards the mortgage on his house that me and the kids live in, I pay that, so when the time comes and he wants his house back to either live in or sell, what claim will I have then, and what claim will he have on my flat that is in mine and my ex partners name, not my ex husbands.

You really do need proper legal advice. It is unlikely that the situation is as bleak as you appear to believe. Rather than seeking advice from random unknowns on an internet forum you should find a lawyer who specialises in family law and take advice from them. Many will give you an initial half hour free of charge.