Buying him out

[mammadiggingdeep]

Hello all...
This should really be in legal but I'm on this board mostly and need an answer ASAP! Also, I've posted on legal before and had very few answers.

So...finally (after 18 months) got round to telling ex (father of my 2 dc, not married) that I want to sell the house. Jointly owned. He refuses. The solicitor has taken (a big!) fee already and hasn't written to him yet. The sol now says he needs proof of exact shares in property (50/50) and that he needs to request file from solicitor used in house purchase- at a cost of 180 quid!!!!!!

All I wanted to begin with was a letter sent to outline that I want to sell the house, that legally there are steps I can take blah blah.

This is at the moment taken over a month and nothing showing. If I need to pay this 180 then that will put fees paid so far at nearly 700!!!! Ffs.

What I need to know is do I have the right to request the said file myself??

I'm seriously skint and seriously needing to move on from this house now and having ties with the ex.

This is dragging it out even more and stressing me out.

Kind ladies of MN, please help me out!

I'm no expert but I do know legal fees must be fair and in line with the type of task/time taken. In this case I feel that £180 to request a file is ott and I certainly would not pay it!

Who is the file to be requested from?

"All I wanted to begin with was a letter sent to outline that I want to sell the house, that legally there are steps I can take blah blah."

Legally, there are no steps that you can take to force him to agree for the property to be sold. You are entirely at his mercy. Or go to court to force a sale, and this will cost you a mountain of money. Fact. And all it's cost you for this advice is a few moment typing on a forum

How much equity is there in the property and how much of your share could you afford to sacrifice in order to provide an inducement for him to be reasonable?

That's the bottom line

You don't need a solicitor to make an application to Court to force the sale of the property. It's very simple and easy to do yourself- the application that is. It will cost you £155 to make and you can print the forms off online.

No, I know that bitter...

The solicitor has 'opened a file' and is order of sale is one way we're heading. I had a few free half hours with solicitors and this seems to be the procedure. Letter to him, mediation, then proceed to order of sale.

I hope it doesn't get that far as as you say, the amounts quoted are astronomical.

Equity in house us about 130 k I'd estimate

Bus train...

Thankyou for replying.

The solicitor said I'd be able to save some costs by doing parts myself. Do you think I could do whole thing then?

Quite likely-

The file is to be requested from the solicitor who dealt with our house purchase

I'm assuming you've tried reminding him that as long as you have this joint financial product you are still financially-linked, with the consequent risks to both of your credit-records.. That neither of you would be able to move on and buy another property without this one being sold. He might start to get pretty keen to draw a line under this if he wants to buy somewhere for himself or with a new partner. Where is he living that he's not interested in getting his hands on a potential SIXTY-FIVE GRAND?

I have tried every line of persuasion bitter, believe me. He is living with his elderly father, rent free in a very large house. He comes and goes there without hassle.

The reason he doesn't want to sell is probably
A) it's what I want (he was a controlling bastard) b) he can keep ties with me, stops me buying a new place etc c) prevents me from moving away and d) because he's the most awkward, selfish twunt who is probably enjoying knowing this is stressing me out
:(