Can unmarried co-owner force a house sale after separation with child involved?

[welliesandbellies]

Can anyone give me some basic advice for my friend?

He was in a relationship with a woman, not married, but they have a child together.

They bought a house together. He owns 70% share, and paid the full deposit. She has a 30% share. They have a joint mortgage and I believe that this has all be drawn up legally and properly.

The relationship has broken down and friend has moved out and lives with his mother. They share childcare.

• The ex-partner is now refusing him entry to the home.
• She is now saying she won't allow a sale.
• She says the law will be on her side and allow her and the child to stay in the home until child is 18 (currently age 9).

None of the above feels right to me. Neither of them have funds for a solicitor, although they do both work.

I've looked for some 30-min free advice, but in the meantime can anyone give me a steer as to whether she has any grounds?

Thank you in advance.

So if they are tenants in common they will have declared when bought the house the unequal shares.
But that doesnt mean one party gets to keep the house.
The person who wants to keep the house can buy the other one out. Sounds like they are being difficult- could your friend offer to buy the other persons 30% (assuming they actually are TIC And not joint tenants as its then 50-50)
Alternatively- court

thank you @TheDuchessPark . I think they are tenants in common. Neither can afford to buy the other out. She thinks that she can stay there with the current arrangement until child is 18 and my friend will have to continue to pay the mortgage.

No that absokutely does not need to happen. Your friend is going to have to bite the bullet and get legal advice here but they are liable for the mortgage until its sorted out so advise to get advice sooner rather than later. Can ex-p house themselves on the 30%?

Not sure they can deny them access to the house either. They can try to request the police to accompany them into the house if they think there will be confrontation.

thank you @Luckypoppy @TheDuchessPark. I am not sure what equity is in the house.

I just find it hard to believe that a) she can deny access and b) a court would rule that she can stay there. He can't house himself unless he sells the house, hence why he's living with his mother.

Desperate to avoid legal costs!

If person 30% will not budge on selling the house and wont enter into mediation discussions then whats the alternative other than forcing via court? They will need to pay legal costs.
They do need to get access returned to the house. Person 70% must move back in. That may force person 30% to rethink their approach. If they cant agree this as adults and either A- continue to live together B- agree to sell and split the equity in line with % ownership agreed at purchase C go to court and force it. What other options are there?
Person 70% cant just instruct an estate agent and ask to get the house on the market without person 30% agreeing

OK I'm going to assume this is your new boyfriend and his ex partner. Correct me if I'm wrong.

He can go to court to get an order to sell the house if she doesn't agree. Yes, he has to house his child, but he doesn't have to house the childs mother. He can argue that he can easily house the child himself if the mother can't.

They will have to take them to court to force the sale.

Can person 70% go to a solicitor and get advice and a letter detailing their request to sell the house? Sometimes just engaging a solicitor and writting a letter is enough to get things moving and wont be extremely expensive and hopefully avoid court/forced sale

He has as much right to access the home as she does. Unless she gets an occupation order excluding him from the property (unlikely unless there has been domestic violence or he has threatened to harm her), she cannot legally refuse entry.

She does not have any automatic right to stay there until the child is 18.

However, avoiding legal costs is unlikely to be an option. It sounds like she is unlikely to budge without a court order.

Tell your friend to book a visit to a solicitor.

Also speak to a mortgage advisor, can he afford to extend the mortgage to buy out her 30%? If he can and can just offer it straight out, that would be best. Tell him to advise her to speak to a solicitor as well. Hopefully that will get her to realise she can go to court but at best she’ll get 30% plus extra if she’s paid for improvements to the property, but guessing if he’s the higher earner, it’s his money that’s paid for any improvements. then she’ll have to take legal fees out of that.

assuming no violence, she can’t keep him out of the house.

He needs to get a solicitor- he'll just have to find the money from somewhere. The first half an hour is usually free. But no, she can't live in his house until the youngest child is 18.

thanks all. No not my new partner, or me, genuinely a friend! @inmyhair

I've been through a very expensive divorce some years ago and all that is behind me thank god!

I think you have all confirmed what I thought to be true, but I didnt want to offer my opinion if I was way off.

@TheDuchessPark I think you're absollutely right and just a letter will be enough for her to back down. I think friends are misadvising her.

Neither are high earners and if anything she is probably higher earner and @FancyBiscuitsLevel he has spent a lot of time and money improving the hosue to get it ready for sale, which she had previously agreed to. I believe they drew up an agreement that she could stay until child left Y6 (this time next year) but she is now changing her mind.

Is he still paying the mortgage currently, and is it a 50/50 split?

A defence to an application to court for an order for sale is that it's still needed to house a child. Alternatively the mother may also apply for an order under Schedule 1 of the Children Act settling the property in trust until the child reaches 18.

Each alternative will have to be affordable - ie the mortgage is affordable for the mother, or the father is so loaded that he can afford to pay the mortgage on top of child maintenance.

@Thundertoast they split mortgage bills 50/50

the split childcare 50/50 at the moment so that neither has to pay child maintenance - although father acctually does more childcare. I don't think either can afford the mortgage alone.

She is using her child to stay in the property.
A court will look favourable at the child’s welfare. And yes, sometimes people can stay until the child is 18.
But, I suspect that a Court will in the end decide. And look at how proportionate it is, ownership and will take into account how that impacts on him.
At some point she will have to move out. She is simply putting off the inevitable.
He needs a Solicitor. And needs to look up under the Law Society webpage to find a good one.

One way to force the sale is for friend to stop paying his part of the mortgage.
It will go into arrears and the bank will force the sale.

This might be more expensive than a court order forcing the sale as the bank does charge to foreclose and they’ll take any offer that satisfies what is left on the mortgage. They don’t care if the owners are left with zero equity as proceeds.

So I’d advise him, while a solicitor and court order seem expensive there is a reason why that’s how it gets done.

If he can’t afford to buy her out then he can’t afford to leave this another year. He goes to a solicitor this week. Get the ball rolling. (They may well tell him to move back in.)

thanks all, a massive help!

Can your friend contact the citizens advice bureau? They will have access to solicitors that can give him 30 mins or so free advice although he may have to wait a few weeks to get an appointment with a solicitor as the demand is high

Your friend needs to get legal advice assp. Yes it’s costly, but if he ends up having to go to court to force the sale, that could take 12-18 months. I got an occupation order and a non mol when I separated from my ex due to DV, but it was really hard to get and it cost me £5k. The ex partner thinks she can get a mesher order to stay in the house till the kids are 18, these are still given but I don’t think it’s common any more as courts prefer a clean break. It’s well worth your friend paying for an hour with a good solicitor just to work out his options.

No it’s not right but the only way to force a sale is court order

i also think your friend needs to wise up a bit- why would be even entertain the idea that he loses 70% of a house just because she said so?

Seeing a solicitor doesn’t make the ex partner do anything. All they’ll say is you need to go to court to force the sale. Solicitors can’t make anything happen

Correct, but they can advise on the specifics of this particular situation we’re not privy to. An hour with a good solicitor working out a plan of action is money well spent imo. The friend may then go on to represent himself.