Buying house from divorced couple through court order sale...

Pelo4Life

Hi everyone. I'll try to briefly summarise where we're at, and any advice / reassurance is greatly appreciated.

We've sold our house to cash buyers, and have found a lovely new family home. It's being sold through a court order as part of a divorce; the ex-wife lives in the home (with kids), the ex-husband has moved out. Interestingly, she's the one who is really keen to sell and move on with her life. We viewed the house, offered there and then and had the offer accepted. Happy days!

As we started to engage our solicitors, they were struggling to hear anything from the solicitors of the vendors. The ex-wife keeps calling the solicitors, but gets no-where. Turns out, the house is purely in ex-husbands name and he hasn't instructed the solicitors. After days of chasing (solicitors, estate agents, divorce lawyer) the ex-husband has now instructed the solicitors to sell the house.

I get the impression that the ex-husband wants to obstruct the process and slow it down 'just because he can'. However, I've been told the court order states he cannot delay the process... so maybe the divorce lawyer reminded him of this which is why he's now instructed?

My main concerns are that the ex-husband is going to be deliberately slow throughout the whole process in the hope that the chain falls through, or that it takes so long for an exchange / completion date that he demands more money in order to exchange (is that a possibility?).

My wife and I love the house, and we're prepared to see it through (and can break the chain our end of absolutely necessary). I'd just love to hear from anyone who's experienced this, or to know what we need to be careful of. On the plus side, the ex-wife is as keen as us and is doing a fantastic job driving it forward her end. And at the back of my mind I keep thinking that there is a court order stating the house has to be sold, so if we're prepared to play the long game (it is the right house for us long term) then we should get it?

Thanks!

princeofpounds

Divorces are infamous for painful and drawn out sales processes. However, it tends to be worse when the reluctant party is the one in occupation, as they have more to lose. It sounds like the lawyers are on the ball when it comes to court orders etc., so my guess is that this will progress and it's worth being patient if you like the property. But be prepared for little information on the divorce process itself to be disclosed to you, and for delays. 

TBagpuss

If there has been a court order then it's ;less likely that he will deliberately delay things as it's likely to have a negative financial impact on him - his ex-wife could apply back to court to enforce the order, and claim the costs from him - hopefully as the wife wants the sale to go through, she';ll have made sure that her solicitors make him aware of this and will keep pushing if he is unhelpful.
Obviously if you have an unmotivated seller it may be slower than if both owners were keen to sell, but I think you are in a better position than if they were still going through the divorce and no order had yet been made. 

Pelo4Life

Thank you both so much, that’s incredibly reassuring. I’ll continue to keep patient and check with the solicitors on progress 

princeofpounds

Pelo4Life said:

Thank you both so much, that’s incredibly reassuring. 

It wasn't meant to be! But if you're expectations are set sufficiently low then you might be alright.

FreeBear

TBagpuss said:

If there has been a court order then it's ;less likely that he will deliberately delay things as it's likely to have a negative financial impact on him - his ex-wife could apply back to court to enforce the order, and claim the costs from him

If he keeps throwing spanners in the works to frustrate the sale, he could be held in contempt of court. Some judges take a very dim view of this and could invite him to spend some time in the local prison to help him focus his mind. Might be worth your solicitor sending a note to his solicitor about contempt and the consequences of failing to comply with a court order.

princeofpounds

FreeBear said:

TBagpuss said:

If there has been a court order then it's ;less likely that he will deliberately delay things as it's likely to have a negative financial impact on him - his ex-wife could apply back to court to enforce the order, and claim the costs from him

Might be worth your solicitor sending a note to his solicitor about contempt and the consequences of failing to comply with a court order.

It's not the business of the OP's solicitor to get involved in this. It would be a matter between the divorcing partners themselves.

Pelo4Life

princeofpounds said:

Pelo4Life said:

Thank you both so much, that’s incredibly reassuring. 

It wasn't meant to be! But if you're expectations are set sufficiently low then you might be alright.

Haha I’ll take what I can get. If it becomes a battle of wills, I’ve had practice: I’ve got 2 young kids 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

GDB2222

FreeBear said:

TBagpuss said:

If there has been a court order then it's ;less likely that he will deliberately delay things as it's likely to have a negative financial impact on him - his ex-wife could apply back to court to enforce the order, and claim the costs from him

If he keeps throwing spanners in the works to frustrate the sale, he could be held in contempt of court. Some judges take a very dim view of this and could invite him to spend some time in the local prison to help him focus his mind. Might be worth your solicitor sending a note to his solicitor about contempt and the consequences of failing to comply with a court order.

You say that, but consider what a seller normally has to do in order to sell the house:

F&F form - well, he has to liaise with the ex- to find out whether she wants to take the curtains. Or, he just says that nothing is included, and he's taking it all.

TA6 form - that's pretty onerous. What if he just answers all the questions "don't know"? If he hasn't been in the house for ages, how can he possibly know whether there's Japanese Knot Weed. It wouldn't be prudent to answer that there isn't. And, no judge can require him to have that knowledge.

There's plenty of scope for this to take ages. 

lookstraightahead

GDB2222 said:

FreeBear said:

TBagpuss said:

If there has been a court order then it's ;less likely that he will deliberately delay things as it's likely to have a negative financial impact on him - his ex-wife could apply back to court to enforce the order, and claim the costs from him

If he keeps throwing spanners in the works to frustrate the sale, he could be held in contempt of court. Some judges take a very dim view of this and could invite him to spend some time in the local prison to help him focus his mind. Might be worth your solicitor sending a note to his solicitor about contempt and the consequences of failing to comply with a court order.

You say that, but consider what a seller normally has to do in order to sell the house:

F&F form - well, he has to liaise with the ex- to find out whether she wants to take the curtains. Or, he just says that nothing is included, and he's taking it all.

TA6 form - that's pretty onerous. What if he just answers all the questions "don't know"? If he hasn't been in the house for ages, how can he possibly know whether there's Japanese Knot Weed. It wouldn't be prudent to answer that there isn't. And, no judge can require him to have that knowledge.

There's plenty of scope for this to take ages. 

Agreed. Who knows what's going on.

Pelo4Life

F&F form - well, he has to liaise with the ex- to find out whether she wants to take the curtains. Or, he just says that nothing is included, and he's taking it all.

TA6 form - that's pretty onerous. What if he just answers all the questions "don't know"? If he hasn't been in the house for ages, how can he possibly know whether there's Japanese Knot Weed. It wouldn't be prudent to answer that there isn't. And, no judge can require him to have that knowledge.

There's plenty of scope for this to take ages. 

That’s my concern: that he takes a ‘reasonable’ obstruction approach, as what is ‘unreasonable’? We completed all our forms in a day and drove them back to our solicitors, but we’re motivated!

Also, I understand he’s instructed his solicitors not to have any contact from his ex-wife, which could make things very difficult as she’ll have most of the answers for the house…