Title deeds, removing ex husband

jenwooly

I wanted to get some information for my MIL, she has been divorced from her ex for approx 25 years, the last 18 years he has not had any contact with either her or my partner.

In the divorce he was going to sign the house/deeds back over to her but because of the something to do with mortgage it didn't happen. 

The house is now completely mortgage free, she wants the house to be in her sole name, as he has officially deserted her and no contact for 18 years, is she able to change the title deeds without his signature/say? The house was never officially his from the start and she actually bought it with a friend back in the early 80s  but put him on the deeds when they married, from what I can gather he hardly paid anything towards the mortgage during their short marriage.

I hope that covers everything  and really hope someone can steer us in the right direction, we have had no luck so far getting the proper answer or guidance 
Many thanks 

Comms69

Not without a court order - obviously. 

It's not clear if the divorce actually did this, but i assume it did. Find the paperwork. 

The rest is largely irrelevant. (except to ask is it joint tenants or tenants in common?)

davidmcn

jenwooly said:

we have had no luck so far getting the proper answer or guidance 

What has she tried so far?

jenwooly

I kmow in the divorce it stated that she would be sole owner but it didn't happen due to something to do with mortagage at the time, obviously she is concerned that if anything happened to her things could get difficult.

We have no idea where he is and even if he is still alive, this is the issue he completely deserted her and partner.

I will have to find about the joint tenants or tenants in common

Am assuming she has no rights with house even if he has not been around for nearly 20 years? 

Comms69

jenwooly said:

I kmow in the divorce it stated that she would be sole owner but it didn't happen due to something to do with mortagage at the time, obviously she is concerned that if anything happened to her things could get difficult.

We have no idea where he is and even if he is still alive, this is the issue he completely deserted her and partner.

I will have to find about the joint tenants or tenants in common

Am assuming she has no rights with house even if he has not been around for nearly 20 years? 

Yes there is a chance he would become the sole owner. 

The paperwork is the only thing (other than TiC / JT) that is relevant. As it currently stands he could simply move back in.

Thrugelmir

Was a financial consent order drawn up at the time of divorce? 

jenwooly

davidmcn said:

jenwooly said:

we have had no luck so far getting the proper answer or guidance 

What has she tried so far?

She told me we spoke to a solicitor but she wasn't very clear in what she was told she had to do, it was sometime ago.

I will be honest her memory isn't that good, me and my partner are trying to help her sort this out but with very little info from her side. 

I am in the process of getting copy's of title deed as she said she need to find it and thought It would be easier to get a new copy to save time 

ZaSa1418

If it hasn't been done and he is nowhere to be found then I think she will need to get a court order to remove his name. Does she still have a copy of her divorce papers where it says she will be the sole owner? I think you all need to get as much paperwork together and then accompany her to a solicitors appointment. 

jenwooly

ZaSa1418 said:

If it hasn't been done and he is nowhere to be found then I think she will need to get a court order to remove his name. Does she still have a copy of her divorce papers where it says she will be the sole owner? I think you all need to get as much paperwork together and then accompany her to a solicitors appointment. 

Yes as far as I am aware she still has the divorce papers stating what i mentioned above, I am assuming she will be able to get the deeds changed with a court order without his presence? Many thanks 

MovingForwards

Title deeds are downloaded in seconds from the land registry website and cost £3.

AdrianC

jenwooly said:

The house was never officially his from the start

Then he isn't on the deeds...

The reality is that he became a joint owner when she DID "put him on the deeds". He owns it just as much as she does.

If you suspect he's dead, then what you need to do is to identify how they owned the property. You can search to see if there's been any probate or will for him... https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

If they own it as joint tenants, and he's dead, then his ownership ceased the moment he died, and she's been 100% owner since then.

If they owned it as tenants in common, and he's dead, then whoever inherited the rest of his estate now owns his share.