Chance of success of court order to force sale ?

griff450

Wedding called off by her 3 weeks before...

FBaby

Gift is a gift, it's tough luck.

Yeah, but if OP wants the house, he will have to 'gift' her with more money, and they are thinking 'tough luck' too.

Caroline_a

I would say that if ex's father thinks you owe him £50k he should be trying to take you to court for it. The sale of the house is nothing to do with him. 2 totally separate transactions. (and I don't believe that you owe him anything anyway)

xylophone

You and your ex-fiancee bought a property together in anticipation of marriage.

A lot of work was required (apparently largely financed by/paid for by/done by your prospective FIL).

There was no mention of a loan/payment for services rendered - this was simply a favour to his daughter and her intended.

It would also appear that it was his daughter who decided that she did not wish to go through with the marriage, left the property and (presumably) severed the joint tenancy.

She has asked her father to act on her behalf in all matters to do with the property but this in no way gives him any rights of ownership.

Nor does it give him the right to invent a loan that did not exist.

It still seems to me that the property should be sold on the open market, fees/costs shared and proceeds divided equally.

FBaby

Well we don't know why she decided to call the marriage off! In such circumstances, there is usually a lot more to the story which leads to decision being made to be fueled on self-protection or revenge.

Loan or not loan becomes irrelevant, what is left is who controls what. Agree with the above, OP wants his cake and eat it, ie. the house and paying her off without taking into account the work that has raised the value of the house. It doesn't look like this is going to happen, so it becomes a decision of what matters more to OP, keeping the house or getting the most out of it financially.

griff450

I appreciate the work that was done had raised the value of the house, but I disagree that this entitles her to a huge increase in the sale proceeds !

The work was done for the benefit of both of us at the end of the day.

aneary

Go to a solicitor start off but deciding how the house should be split.

Do not negotiate with your ex or father any more directly. There is too much emotion involved.

Most solicitors will try to get an agreement in before court action if not a court will decide. Then put the house up for sale split proceeds as per agreement and move on.

Yes it may make more financial sense for one of you to buy the other one out but it makes little emotional sense.

xylophone

Yes it may make more financial sense for one of you to buy the other one out but it makes little emotional sense.

I agree with this - make a clean break and get on with the future.

griff450

My solicitor is now informing me she MAY have a claim under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996. That the works undertaken raised the value of the house and that a court COULD award her more than 50% of the property, I could then also be liable for her court costs.

So it seems like a gamble to me to go to court .... at the same time if I didnt I'm left with about 20K

This is in conflicting advice to many I have spoken to.

griff450

Her actual contribution to the property has been minimal in terms of deposits, repayments, materials.

The work done was obviously done for the benefit of us both, and she undertook none of the work herself.

Does anybody know much about the trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 ?

What are her chances of success if this were to happen.