Marriage breakdown - help please

november71

Hi. Me and my wife are getting divorced after 20 years of marriage. We have no mortgage as our house is paid for. My wife does'nt want to live here and initially moved out with our 19 yo daughter to her sister's house but has now moved back in. I want to buy out her share of the house but she is reluctant for that.

My questions are -

can she refuse to let me buy the house?
if she moves out again (voluntarilly) can I change the locks to prevent her from having access?

So far the split is freindly. I'm pretty sure she would'nt come into the house and remove all the furniture etc but I'm just wondering what my options are if things get nasty.

Thanks for any help.

allycat999

I am sure someone better qualified will answer this soon but the two things I know are that even if you change the locks it is still her house and she can legally enter it even if this means breaking in, although it is not classed as breaking in. The other question is yes you can force her to sell the house but you need a courts help in this, my brother had to get an order to force his x to agree to sell the house.

black-saturn

You cant change the locks as she is part owner of the house. If you do she can contact her solicitor about it and there is something he can do (sorry cant remember what). But what you can do is install a bolt or chain so that she cant just walk in when she likes when you are in. But you cannot refuse her entry and she can walk in any time you are out.

She has though voluntarily walked away from the house so any belongings in it she now has no entitlement to as she knowingly walked away. Unless she can prove she paid for them and has the receipts she cannot claim any of those back.

I walked out of the family home with my children 4 years ago, after a 13 year abusive relationship, and left everything behind bar 3 carrier bags of kids clothes, £5 and a mobile phone. I went to a solicitor to retrieve my belongings and he said that I had knowingly walked away so therefore I voluntarily left everything. All i was allowed to retrieve was my daughters asthma medication. So everything I have ever owned from the age of 0 to 31 has gone and has been sold on ebay.

allycat999

black-saturn wrote:

I walked out of the family home with my children 4 years ago, after a 13 year abusive relationship, and left everything behind bar 3 carrier bags of kids clothes, £5 and a mobile phone. I went to a solicitor to retrieve my belongings and he said that I had knowingly walked away so therefore I voluntarily left everything. All i was allowed to retrieve was my daughters asthma medication. So everything I have ever owned from the age of 0 to 31 has gone and has been sold on ebay.

So sorry for you, I left my x after domestic violence therefore also leaving everything, however my solicitor arranged for me to collect everything that I wanted through the divorce settlement.

black-saturn

allycat999 wrote:

So sorry for you, I left my x after domestic violence therefore also leaving everything, however my solicitor arranged for me to collect everything that I wanted through the divorce settlement.

I wasnt married and therefore officially nothing belonged to me unless I could prove I paid for it.

innovate

november71, as amicable as the separation may seem - and be, it is hard to approach things without emotions (good or bad) after 20-odd years.

It is critical that you get totally unbiased and unemotional advice from a solicitor - you can still turn down the advice you get if you don't feel it is appropriate. Get a solicitor you trust, it will make the whole thing a bit easier for you, I am sure.

jockettuk

if possible mabey go to mediation its not marriage guidence its a third party helping to sort out all the nity gritty and can save on solicitors bills although you will still need a solicitor to sort it out.. my ex didnt want to go through mediation said it was a waste of time.. well he is now out of pocket solicitor wise and its all down to him messing things abt not me...

allycat999

black-saturn wrote:

I wasnt married and therefore officially nothing belonged to me unless I could prove I paid for it.

That really sucks. I was with my x for 8 years, he fractured my skull so I know what you went through ((hugs))

november71

Thanks to everyone for your help. My wife has now agreed to sell me her share of the house so that seems to be okay. She is going to stay until the sale is completed and then move out in one go so I can change the locks then. Hopefully things will stay freindly!

black-saturn - what happened to you was awful. I only hope your now feeling happier in your life