Order to prevent sale after exchange

SameOldRoundabout

A friend of mine is going through a messy separation, her ex owned his house when they got together with a brother. She bought the brother out with cash but was never put on the deeds or mortgage. She has contributed financially for 9 years until he asked her and their child to leave. They are married. 

Long story short, she found out recently he has sold the house. Her first legal app yesterday means they’re going to get an order to stop the sale next week. However, the ex has already exchanged on the sale at least, quite possibly the ongoing purchase too but we do not know. 

What are the implications of this? Bit of a cross post with one on another board but I figure this board will have better knowledge of this particular area! She isn’t sure what will happen next, only that the solicitor has told her she’ll be seeking to stop the sale next week. 

AdrianC

SameOldRoundabout said:

A friend of mine is going through a messy separation, her ex owned his house when they got together with a brother. She bought the brother out with cash but was never put on the deeds or mortgage.

In reality - she lent the ex the money to buy the brother out.

They are married.

So the divorce financial settlement will take account of the entirety of both partner's finances, as well as the need for future provision of the child.

Long story short, she found out recently he has sold the house. Her first legal app yesterday means they’re going to get an order to stop the sale next week. However, the ex has already exchanged on the sale at least, quite possibly the ongoing purchase too but we do not know.
What are the implications of this? Bit of a cross post with one on another board but I figure this board will have better knowledge of this particular area! She isn’t sure what will happen next, only that the solicitor has told her she’ll be seeking to stop the sale next week. 

No need to stop the sale. The house being sold simply makes the value of it easier to determine for the divorce.

Stopping the sale post-exchange will just waste an awful lot of money that could be far better used.

SameOldRoundabout

Thanks Adrian. The divorce proceedings haven’t even started yet, which is why he’s tried to do this secretly I think, even telling the child not to mention it to her mother. 

His onward purchase won’t involve a mortgage as he has chosen to give up work and has no income. There is approx £115,000 equity from this property which will have to part of the onward purchase with a new partner, possibly or possibly not already exchanged on. 

Section62

AdrianC said:

No need to stop the sale. The house being sold simply makes the value of it easier to determine for the divorce.

Stopping the sale post-exchange will just waste an awful lot of money that could be far better used.

I'd see it as a tactic to encourage the friend's ex to agree the friend is entitled to a share of the sale proceeds rather than treating it as his pre-acquired asset.

If the ex has also exchanged on a property they are buying then he'll have a time pressure to get this sorted out before completion on that property, or else have further expenses.

Also as they have a child, if the friend is the parent the child lives with then they have a strong argument that it is the ex who should have left and the child plus friend should continue to live in the family home until the child is 18(?).

If the ex is seeking to dispose of the family home without consideration for where the child will live then a court may decide the ex should be liable for the whole of the abortive sale costs and might ultimately make a financial arrangement order taking that into account.

(I'm not a lawyer and those comments aren't intended as any form of legal advice)

AdrianC

SameOldRoundabout said:

The divorce proceedings haven’t even started yet

She needs to get them started asap, because...

he has chosen to give up work and has no income.

"Oooh, I couldn't possibly pay any child support - I'm SOOOO POOOR! No, you can't possibly order me to sell my house, it's all I have..."

This is one for the families board, rather than here.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/marriage-relationships-families

Section62

SameOldRoundabout said:

Thanks Adrian. The divorce proceedings haven’t even started yet, which is why he’s tried to do this secretly I think, even telling the child not to mention it to her mother. 

Presumably he's got a solicitor involved in the property sale if he's already exchanged. I wonder if the solicitor has also been kept in the dark about the family arrangements?

Does the friend know who the buyer is?  The brother, or other family member, possibly?

SameOldRoundabout

The solicitor will definitely not be aware of the house being a marital asset. He’s done his best to get the sale through without anyone finding out it was happening. The buyer is an outside party, the EA has confirmed the completion date to friends solicitor yesterday but as of yet the ex is unaware of any problems coming up. He is very sly and unfair. He made it very clear that he saw the house as his and his alone when he threw both her and the 6 year old out, they now live in rented accommodation. He was pushing for divorce but she didn’t want to sign his lies about a 2 year separation until she had legal advice, the house being sold was a total surprise to her about a week or so ago so it’s added a whole bunch of pressure to it. 

He does not pay child support, having opted out of work by choice last year and living off his savings for the period. These are now gone and unbelievably he’s been hounding my friend to sell her 12 year old car and give him the money as he initially bought it a few years ago!! He has even threatened to steal it and sell, despite it being in her name. He really is awful. 

AdrianC

SameOldRoundabout said:

He made it very clear that he saw the house as his and his alone when he threw both her and the 6 year old out, they now live in rented accommodation. 

And, legally, he's right. It's 100% in his name.

That's totally irrelevant when it comes to the divorce settlement, at which point it will be viewed as a marital asset.

Why hasn't she got wiggling on the divorce?
No need for a two year separation. He's ticked the boxes for unreasonable behaviour.
https://www.gov.uk/divorce

teachfast

Isn't it the onward purchase she should seek to prevent? The sale could be helpful in realising assets. I may be speaking nonsense. The only subject I'm an expert on is how bad most conveyancers are. 

Section62

SameOldRoundabout said:

He made it very clear that he saw the house as his and his alone when he threw both her and the 6 year old out, they now live in rented accommodation.

All the more reason for the solicitor to seek to stop the sale, and hopefully for the friend to be able to make a case that she and the child should be able to live in the house instead.

If he is not in a position to pay maintenance then the cost of renting will be down to her only.

Even if she gets 50% of the equity from the sale there is a risk of it not being enough to buy on her own (with the costs of the child being on her for mortgage affordability purposes) and it doesn't take many years of renting before that 50% of the equity will become zero, especially once the legal costs of the divorce have been paid.

She may soon find the ex has a change of mind and wants the child to live with him after all. She should take the precaution of carefully preserving any texts and emails discussing the house and/or child with him, and keep a diary with contemporaneous notes of any conversations that take place.

Thrugelmir

In general courts would prefer that the divorce and other matters are resolved. Prior to the disposal of the matrimonial home. The court assumes guardianship of any children to protect their interests while proceedings are ongoing. .