Sale of the former matrimonial home

I think she thought she had this covered. She paid for the court order 🤣 however she is not obeying the rules she paid for.
 
I read them both and then deleted them :-) Probably not a good idea to post actual court order (even if anonymised) except in a PM maybe!

It does make clear that she has to deal with the lot. Market it, hire an estate agent and conveyancing solicitor, pay off the mortgage and deal with the lease etc and then any monies remaining divided in equal shares.

So the only real recourse, if she doesn't do anything after a solicitor's warning letter - is to apply to court to enforce the order. And if that happens DH could maybe request that it is amended so he markets and sells the property and divides the proceeds (so it's out of her hands).
 
Do you think he will get a solicitor's letter sent? I suspect if it's left, she will just not sell it, drag it out for ages, claim he didn't enforce it therefore he must have accepted the situation, and at some point in the distant future he may get a pittance. She will probably claim costs for these "repairs" or improvements to minimise his share.
 
She cant claim costs its not in the court order.
We have already given her notice before action. She pays no attention to solicitors letters, she ridicules solicitors, thats what we are dealing with . Sonits straight to court papers tomorrow
 
After 2 very abusive emails in response to Hs questions we finally were told that the house was flooded. There was a photo attached.
Something is being withheld. The photo shows the house has been completely gutted, walls removed and new windows put in. This doesnt add up to flood damage! She states she will put the house on the market in 6 weeks. That is all she will say. She will not state the agent or any details as to why walls have been removed and new windows put in.
Im not totally convinced the house will actually be on the market in 6 weeks.
But i guess if we present court papers now she seems to have a good excuse for the delay.
Im thinking this is some form of insurance job. 🤔
 
Photos aren't evidence of flooding and there is a lack of information there. And I doubt flood insurance would allow for new windows. In fact if she had sold it straight away, when ordered, this wouldn't now be an issue so she has created the issue in a way which may not look good. She has been responsible for the house and selling it before it deteriorated. If it did go to court she would have to prove it had been flooded and when and show any insurance claims. Maybe it has been flooded though.

When you say walls removed, do you mean plaster knocked off or actually walls knocked out?!

The not so good news is, if it actually has been flooded it could be very difficult to sell as buyers may have difficulty getting flood insurance. They would have to take over the existing policy I think (If the insurers allow that), or go with a specialist company maybe. Building societies won't lend on a house without flood insurance. But then there are a lot of people in that situation, so I think there are specialist insurance companies now.

If you want to check, you can do a couple of things. You can check with the postcode and address on here. It'll tell you if it's low, medium or high risk for flooding. Then underneath you can click on the map for visuals which shows the risks a bit clearer.

Check the long term flood risk for an area in England

How to check the long term flood risk for an area in England, assess risk from rivers and sea, surface water, reservoirs, ground water.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

But the main way to check if there has been recent flooding is just googling floods in that area and various things will come up (and youtube videos).

I guess he could reply asking if the house is subject to an insurance claim and if so could she forward the details please. You'd probably get another abusive response, but if she didn't send the details, then again she would look like she was lying if it went to court. If his name is on the deeds or he is still paying a mortgage on the place, he'd have every right to see details of any insurance claim.
 
Hmm. Still worth checking the flood records to rule out natural. If however, it's a burst pipe, due to the house being left empty then she has been negligent in not selling the house before it went to rack and ruin, so to speak. Empty houses left too long, do get burst water pipes - the water freezes in them in winter. If she was going to leave it empty she should have drained the water system.

So maybe OH could send a carefully worded, polite request for further information. (In case he needs to use it for evidence).

Eg

"Thank you for the update. Is there an insurance claim underway? If so please, could you send me the details and paperwork regarding the insurance claim and the cause of the flood? Thank you."
 
If it did end up going to court, it's possible her share in any profit could be reduced due to negligence and not complying with the court order. However, if she did leave the house empty for a long time, and didn't get insurance cover for an empty house, there may not be any insurance cover!
 
Yes walls have been removed apparently. And a new window put in. Its a renovation. Im struggling to imagine why she would say its a flood if its not. Im struggling to imagine why she would get it renovated. H will gain from any profits achieved.
 
Maybe it's an insurance claim after a burst pipe? So not actually renovations but making it habitable?
 
Esme, how do you provide written evidence to support a court application?
It says
Written evidence should be provided in the form of an affirmation
 
I'm not sure exactly. Affirmation is usually swearing to tell the truth under oath. With Child Arrangements applications there is a "statement of truth" which can be added to the end of anything you write. So I would think it would be a carefully written statement that is factually correct, and has a statement of truth at the end. Cat Lady is more likely to know exactly :) But I would think you could attach other documentary evidence as well.

Again with Child Arrangements, a "witness statement" or statement of evidence, is a formal statement that refers to "exhibits" which are attached (ie pieces of evidence) and the whole statement, including the exhibits, is your evidence. And again needs a statement of truth at the end.

Something like "I believe that the facts stated in this statement of evidence are true" then signed and dated.
 
Its been 6 weeks since H requested an update on the sale of the house. EFH said it will be up for sale in 6 weeks. Its not. I dont feel confident with the court papers.
Its gonna have to be a solicitor or I feel this will never be over.
Can we employ a solicitor from abroad to work for us in the uk?
Ive sent a few messages out to solicitors to see if they will assist, I will see what comes back.
 
Our problem is, EFH ridicules solicitors. I need a solicitor who can quickly get to the point of the matter and push it to court without having lengthy conversations with a woman who is unable to actually reason within the real life world of adults.
 
I don't know if you'd need to use a solicitor in the Uk or not or one where you are. However solicitors do often faff about and drag things out (all money and they do umpteen cases at once). I was wondering if it might be quicker and more efficient to have a consultation with a direct access barrister. They tend to be effective and quick at hearings. With a consultation they will tell you what you need to do. You need to do the paperwork yourself but they will usually look over it for you as part of the consultation fee. Then if/when there's a court hearing, you get them to act for you and they get it well and truly tied up.

However Barristers are experts in court hearings - so if it's something that could be resolved without court then you might need a solicitor. I suppose initially, a solicitor's letter might make her get a move on, but then you say she tends to ignore solicitors. That is quite clever because solicitors can't make her do anything - only court can. Although a solicitor could politely threaten court and say they will ask for costs against her if she doesn't get on with it.

I suspect it might be more effective to use a Uk lawyer. They can do most things remotely these days.
 
Well a solicitor did respond but H wants to leave it. He has a defeated attitude. He states he is not prepared to waste the money when all that will happen is she will turn up to court with a sob story, switch on the waterworks and walk away with no penalty for not obeying the order to put the house up for sale.
Thats his choice. He could be right. So we are just going to leave it and forget about it.
He said, shes already disobeyed this court order, what difference will another one make? He does have a point and at the end of the day no one cares about the sale of the house.
Fact of the matter is EFH does whatever the hell she likes with zero consideration for anyone except herself. She is a piece of work and not a good one. 😕
 
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