How can I sell a house.

andrew&dawn

My wife bought a house with her ex-partner. They got a joint mortgage togeather, of which he has contributed nothing. They obviously split up, he dosn't live in the house although he is very unco-operative when we approach him. He is of no fixed address and the solicitors don't seem to care.
We would like to make a fresh start so please can someone help us or offer us some advice.

Pal

What do you mean "the solicitors don't seem to care"? A solicitor should be quite willing to give you the legal ins and outs if you are paying them.

terrierlady

If i have read this right the ex partner is still written on the deeds of the property?
As Pal has said see a solicitor, he will need to be removed from the deeds and I would imagine will not do that without some form of cash settlement, the home has most likely gone up in value since they brought it together and he must have lived there at some point?

andrew&dawn

Pal wrote:

What do you mean "the solicitors don't seem to care"? A solicitor should be quite willing to give you the legal ins and outs if you are paying them.

I mean that when we approached the solicitor, they said that they would be able to hire a private detective to make him sign the relevant papers to give my wife sole ownership of the house. This failed to materialise.

nmiah786

andrew&dawn wrote:

I mean that when we approached the solicitor, they said that they would be able to hire a private detective to make him sign the relevant papers to give my wife sole ownership of the house. This failed to materialise.

Is that legalally allowed!!!!

terrierlady

no one could make anyone sign unless they wanted too, he will im sure sign for an agreed amount of money.

kit

I have to say that solicitors dont seem to care.... I have been trying to sort out finances with my husband (soon to be ex) for over 2 years. He wont reply to letters and my solicitor says theres nothing else she can do and then writes to him again and charges me £50!

andrew&dawn

Ok then, what are our legal rights as law abiding citizens who are paying the mortgage and polocies that go with it?

kit

There is nothing you can do without the ex signing away his share of the house.
Change solicitors and get them on it.


EDIT - he will probably look for payment for this! He can even make any claim on the increase in price of the property since he left even tho he has not been paying anything towards it; I have done this as I am paying rent to live somewhere else due to him living in the marital home so I am getting half of the full value (when he finally signs the agreement!).

The_Geek

Unfortunately unless he is willing to sign, there's not much you can do.

If he's of no fixed address, would he not be open to the idea of cash coming his way? I can't see why he would turn down some cash but insist on having his name on a house he doesn't live in. Everyone has their price. The hard part is whether you can accept his price.

NSR2

andrew&dawn wrote:

Ok then, what are our legal rights as law abiding citizens who are paying the mortgage and polocies that go with it?

I'm not a lawer. But a "fair" thing to do would be to sue the other party to get your share of the money /assets back.

Have you kept a record of the amount you've paid for the morgage?
Can you prove how much of the morgage you've paid in court?