need advice asap on house sale/divorce dispute

scatty73

Hi to all, hope someone can help.
Basically my partner is going through a divorce, he owns a property with his estranged partner, upon buying the house, she put down a deposit of 200k from inheritance and a declaration of trust was put in place stating that upon sale of the house she would be entitled to 2/3, him 1/3.
The property is on the market for which he has no control over, she is dealing with it all. She has asked him for a settlement figure in the divorce and he has asked for 100k out of the 250k assets after the mortgage has been cleared.
He has received a counter offer from her for approx 18k, after she has pulled back her 200k, so he has threatened to take the house off the market until a settlement figure has been agreed.
Since then he has received an ancillery relief application and a threat from her that she will stop contributing towards the house, ie, mortgage and bills.
What are his rights legally with this? Can he take the house off the market? Does the declaration of trust stand or can she (although she was the one who put it in place) go against that now and offer him less in the settlement?
They have been in a marriage for 5 years, have no children and she earns 13k less a year than him.
Any advice regarding settlements, courts, declaration of trust etc, very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance

Fire_Fox

What does your partners solicitor say?

silvercar

I'm confused. If the declaration of trust gives her 2/3, why would the settlement not be 167k to her and 83k to him?

scatty73

He cant get hold of his solicitor, she is away. Thats what we worked the DOC out to be, but now she is stating she wants her 200k that she put into the house and then they are to split the remainder 50/50

CloudCuckooLand

Was it definitely a plain "2/3, 1/3", or was it "she gets her £200k back, then whatever is left is 2/3, 1/3"...?

scatty73

It just states 2/3 to her and 1/3 to him,nothing about her 200k

CloudCuckooLand

So where did £100k come from? That's not 1/3 of any figure so far...

Was the orginal price around £300k - i.e. her £200k plus a £100k mortgage??

So, if he paid the mortgage he gets to "own" a third? Seems generous, as if he never clears the mortgage he gets to "move in on" her equity...!?

Sounds like a badly worded, poorly considered, document.

Fire_Fox

Isn't there another solicitor in the practice who takes on the workload of their absent colleague? My (completely amateur) opinion would be that the Deed of Trust stands as that is the purpose of such arrangements BUT if the ex wants to get nasty about paying the mortgage and/ or bills then there is nothing stopping her, and they will both end up with a shot credit rating. Who is living in the house at present, why are there any bills to pay? Why is your partner not involved in the sale process?

zzzLazyDaisy

He needs to discuss this with his solicitor. It is not something that people on an internet forum can advise on because we don't have all the facts.

The basic facts are that in a divorce the courts are not bound by the declaration of trust, and can re-adjust the property shares according to what the court deems just and equitable, but the court will have regard to the trust, all other things being equal.

Other things that might be taken into consideration are his pension (does he have one) and any other assets, savings, investments etc on either side - even down to what cars they each have and their value, and whether her own career was put on hold or adversely affected by the marriage (although the fact that this was a short marriage would also be taken into account).

He needs to speak to his solicitor. Sorry.

MarsdenCuckoo

Am no legal expert but would seem to me that some offset situation will come into effect with regards to:

1. Who has been servicing the mortgage?
2. Who has been having the benefit of living in the house?
3. Who has been maintaining the house?
4. What was the cost of the house when they bought it?
5. What is it's current value?

Logically, one partner cannot ask for a refund of their lump sum and then split the remainder pro-rata.....

What is certain is that if they can sit down and work out an equitable solution themselves then it will benefit them both - otherwise only the lawyers win!

Good luck; hope commonsense prevails.

caeler

I think your partner needs to get himself some legal advice quick.

I think her threats are empty about not paying towards mortgage and utilities. She obviously wants her £200K returned so won't risk defaulting and repossesion. I recommend that your partner is ONLY contributing the mortgage and buildings insurance if he no longer lives there. I'm not sure what the risk is if some utilities are in joint names.

If a house is owned jointly you don't need permission to market it but obviously both signatures are required to sell the property. The property could continue to be marketed but any funds as a result of the sale could be held in a client account until the consent order is signed and agreed? If she would be agreeable to this? Again she wants her money too. However I doubt there is much point in your husband trying to market it as she will refuse access to viewings!

I would hope the declaration of trust still stands, but again legal advice is key. Hopefully his solicitor who is dealing with the divorce is giving some advice??