Dad obstructing sale of mum's house. Divorce settlement clearly says it goes to her but TR1 was not done. Terrified of losing the sale as it will result in bankruptcy.

[Miffymeowy]

As the title says, my parents got divorced 10 years ago but they never changed the deeds on the property. My mother has paid all mortgage and bills alone since the divorce and now desperately needs to sell the house. He signed the paperwork to list it and the only thing stopping completion for the last month is his signature. My father has gone over to thailand where his now wife lives and will not come back. He keeps moving the date back for when he will be able to come back with excuses and will not sign remotely, blaming the fact that he is disabled (even though he could repeatedly get to thailand alone to a remote village...).

My mum is terrified of the sale falling through. If she goes through a solicitor, how long is this likely to take to resolve and how much is it likely to cost? She is in a very dire financial situtation. Anyone with any experience in this?

So there is a financial remedy order saying he has to transfer the house to her?

The court can make an order authorising the juddge to sign any transfer deeds instead of him. Could be done quickly in the event of a real emergency.

Could this be a solution @Miffymeowy?

If there is a pre-existing court order* (e.g., a divorce financial order): your Mum's solicitor can use a Form D11* to apply to the court to enforce the order.

To enforce a TR1 signing under Section 39 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, you must apply to the court that made your original property or financial order for an enforcement hearing. The court can nominate a District Judge or a solicitor to sign the TR1 on behalf of the uncooperative party, giving it the exact same legal effect as if they signed it themselves

I'd suggest she does see a solicitor and they write to him putting him on notice that if he does not co-operate within X days, your mum will be applying to enforce the order and will seek an order for him to pay her costs. If he continues to obstruct the sale, she should do just that.

In my experience (family solicitor) enforcement is usually dealt with fairly quickly if the application is marked as urgent. Although costs orders are not common in family proceedings, they are often made where a person is being unreasonable, which it seems your dad is.

Costs will depend on the solicitor's hourly rate really. The last enforcement I did cost about £5k (which husband had to pay on wife's behalf given his unreasonableness).

Obviously this is all subject to the specific facts of your parents' matter, so I'd suggest your mum does see a solicitor, ideally the one who dealt with her divorce.