inhabitable property

[honeyhog]

I left my husband 4 years ago as he refused to leave when we were splitting and moved into rented accommodation with our 2 daughters despite the marital home being mortgage free and owned by us both outright. He looked after it at first as the children used to stay there but now he doesn't have them there and it seems he doesn't live there either. My next door neighbour contacted me to tell me there were rats in the loft and garden so I went to look. He has changed the locks without my permission but the patio door does not lock so I let myself in. There has been a flood which he has not dealt with ( presumably he has allowed his insurance to lapse). There are rat droppings everywhere. There are hundreds and hundreds of dead flies everywhere. The roof is leaking to the extent that the ceiling is coming in in one of the bedrooms and I found a letter from the council threatening action if the dozens of bin bags in the garden are not removed. He refuses to communicate with me. I will have to get a loan to get the place even remotely habitable again. Help would be great as I dont know where to start or what I can do legally

I think the state he has let it become may help your case if you were to apply to the courts to force a sale. Better to get your money out and move on than take out a loan when he could just trash it again? Someone would buy it as a fixer upper.

www.housebuyerbureau.co.uk/blog/force-sale-of-jointly-owned-property/

www.lindsays.co.uk/news-and-insights/insights/can-you-be-forced-to-sell-your-home-as-a-result-of-separation-or-divorce

Are you divorced?

If not, you'll need to do that and get a financial settlement in place.

In the meantime, as the place is jointly owned, you can enter and fix it up.

the divorce is just going through and then I'll have to face the financial statement then. I want to take him to court to get the house signed over to me as he has clearly shown his lack of intentions. I don't even know if that is possible? I know he won't actually agree to it.

It is possible, once you have the marital finances divided by the court.

Are there any other sizable marital assets - other houses, pensions, savings? Because it might be worth negotiating for him to have the (ruined) house, in exchange for a larger share of the rest, if they balance out - then you don't have to deal with it.

Also - don't sign off the divorce before the finances are sorted, otherwise you're still tied to him, possibly for years. The order should be: file for divorce -> settle (via court) financial agreement -> finalise divorce

Take photos and videos of the condition as evidence.