Sale of the former matrimonial home

Noodle

Noodle

Active member
This has been going on for years. H has now been divorced for 10 years. Last year EFH court ordered the FMH to be sold. She requested the whole of the equity. H refused and she finally agreed after about 6 months....of more feet dragging ...to half the equity. Thats fine.
So another 6 month wait for the court order. Full and final and 50 50 on the house.
8 months later and the house is not even on the market. She is not even living in it. She is living in her boyfriends house. She states she is having the house renovated before she puts it on the market. Seriously?
She is spending money on the house so that H can benefit from the profit?
Does anyone know if we can get the ball rolling on this matter?
H says that the house is a real mess because EFH is so lazy that she left it to ruin. He says the shed was a literal broken down dump in the garden and that she never cleaned. 🙄
So maybe its not fit for sale. But still potentially she could never put it on the market as shes obviously has no need.
 
I would have thought the court order would specify that the house needed to be put on the market within x months and an agent used who deals with both parties. It may need a return to court for a specific order to put it on the market. However sometimes a hint at that can make someone play ball. So he could get a solicitor's letter sent saying - under the court order of x date, the house is ordered to be sold, yet there has been no attempt to put the house on the market. This may constitute contempt of court. Please confirm the house will be on the market, with an estate agent, by the end of September, and forward the details of the agent, who will be required to deal with both parties.
 
No not officially - but I had to deal with the legal side of a business once and learned a lot via lawyers when we had our court cases. One solicitor gave us very useful tips on how to write letters and emails etc.
 
Esme said:
I would have thought the court order would specify that the house needed to be put on the market within x months and an agent used who deals with both parties. It may need a return to court for a specific order to put it on the market. However sometimes a hint at that can make someone play ball. So he could get a solicitor's letter sent saying - under the court order of x date, the house is ordered to be sold, yet there has been no attempt to put the house on the market. This may constitute contempt of court. Please confirm the house will be on the market, with an estate agent, by the end of September, and forward the details of the agent, who will be required to deal with both parties.
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No im not sure, i need to look again at the court order but it doesn't give a specific date, im sure of that.
There is a complication in that the house is part owned by a housing association. Im not sure how much say the housing association have. H believes that they may wish for the house to be returned to a good condition prior to sale.
Nevertheless he has sent an email out tonight requesting a timescale on sale of the house and promising court action if there is no progression in the immediate future. Not that EFH has ever responded like a normal human being to any solicitors letter she has ever received.
Its like dealing with a 6 year old unless its on her terms. The woman is vile and impossible.
 
Ok i have just read the court order and it states the house must be sold immediately! So yes she is in contempt of court. So what do we do now?
 
I think a letter before action is usual. I think he should get a solicitor's letter sent as a one off as she'll probably ignore anything he sends himself. I'm not up on divorce financials - but I think contempt of court is something a Judge normally decides at a hearing. So I think the process would be:

Letter before action - eg informing her what she needs to do with a deadline and if she doesn't she will be in contempt of court.
If she ignores that or doesn't put the house on the market by the date you've given, he'd apply to court to enforce the order.

Contempt of court just means the order is breached really so it would need to be enforced like any other order. You'd probably need a half hour's free legal advice as well as a letter sending.

Thing is though - does it say who has to sell the house? Is it her or is it both of them?
 
I feel really angry today. The reason is, I checked the court order and it states the house must be sold immediately. She just does what she likes. Im angry that H is like a wet lettuce and does and says absolutely nothing about the situation. I think he enjoys it. Im not lifting a finger. The house and the money can sit and rot. And the 2 of them can stay in their little jointly owned house bubble forever x
 
I guess it's the old thing of he thinks she has something to control him - like contact with the kids. So he is nervous of pushing it in case they reject him as well as you. Even if he did push it they would blame you. I think a solicitor's letter would be the way forwards, because then it's not personally from him, and if she does tell the kids he can say - "these are adult legal and financial matters and not for you to worry about".
 
If she's living with her bf you would think she would also want the equity from it. But it more likely suits her to keep it as security and make DH sit and wait. But if the order says - she has to sell the house immediately then that is what she has to do. There is no option to keep it to move back into.

I'd just tell DH to get a solicitor to send a letter saying something like "We write to remind you that the order of x date states that the house must be sold immediately. Please forward three valuations by estate agents by 8th September, so our client and yourself can agree an estate agent to market the property with."

Then if she fails to do that, they can follow up with something heavier like if the order is not complied with, we may need to apply to the court for enforcement due to contempt of court."

But I take your point - DH's issue really. Is he still paying a mortgage on it though? If so, it indirectly affects you as well maybe?
 
Hi Doodle, Esme kindly messaged me about your thread which I hadn’t yet seen. I am a solicitor but in an area very far from family/property matters.

I agree with Esmes advice that the first step should be ask a solicitor to write a strongly worded letter to her regarding the sale of the house. They might put a deadline in for her to confirm it’s been listed.

As the house is jointly owned I don’t see why your DH could not contact the housing association himself and find out what needs to be done before sale?
I understand the order says she must sell the house - that is likely because she was the one living there/had possession. Do the children also live at her boyfriends house now? Or she does go back to the house with the children regularly? Seems unsettling.
It would be worth getting the initial free advice from a solicitor as to whether your DH could just go ahead and appoint and agent to sell the property as he is a joint owner still. Also I think he will need to appoint his own solicitor to act for him in the sale anyway - to make sure he gets his money
 
I think this is sound advice. I would also add in that the place has to be emptied and cleaned and prepared for sale, it was she who was using the place and should take care of this.
In any case your DH needs an agent, who will get in touch with EFH to handle all the paperwork and payments, even if it is her agent selling the house you need to be in touch.
If a very rundown looking place is sold the price will go down, so a bit of work on the house could significantly raise the value.
I think this is important for you as well as her, because more money is more money to split.
You mentioned she is very messy.
 
Good point Maya - and sometimes a good clean up is all that's needed. Rather than redecoration etc. A professional team of cleaners in for a day and it could be sparkling.
 
Tja
CatLady84 said:
Hi Doodle, Esme kindly messaged me about your thread which I hadn’t yet seen. I am a solicitor but in an area very far from family/property matters.

I agree with Esmes advice that the first step should be ask a solicitor to write a strongly worded letter to her regarding the sale of the house. They might put a deadline in for her to confirm it’s been listed.

As the house is jointly owned I don’t see why your DH could not contact the housing association himself and find out what needs to be done before sale?
I understand the order says she must sell the house - that is likely because she was the one living there/had possession. Do the children also live at her boyfriends house now? Or she does go back to the house with the children regularly? Seems unsettling.
It would be worth getting the initial free advice from a solicitor as to whether your DH could just go ahead and appoint and agent to sell the property as he is a joint owner still. Also I think he will need to appoint his own solicitor to act for him in the sale anyway - to make sure he gets his money
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Sorry, the reply button doesn't seem to be working.
According to the court order EFH has complete control of the sale of the house. The only thing it states that she is in breach of is that it must be sold immediately.
 
Also I think an important point is we are now on the other side of the world. We cant deal with this hands on.
 
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