Advice on enforcing court order of sale

K.N.2303

My partner bought a house 7 years ago with his then partner. They split up not long after and she has lived in the house since then. My partner has no children with her and they were never married 

She is living there with her now husband, and their 3 children (in a two bedroom house). She has constantly obstructed him trying to sell the property with numerous excuses and promises. 

He has been trying to sell the property/her buy him out for the last 7 years, we have 1 child and 1 on the way ourselves and are just not able to buy our own property because she refuses to sell or remortgage the house in her or jointly with her husband.

We have sought advice from solicitors and are now applying for a court order for sale - it’s becoming very costly and she’s ignoring all communications from our solicitor. 

My question is would this likely be a straightforward court order, or would there pose an issue with her having 3 young children (even though they are not my partners and she is married). The solicitor fees are racking up and I’m worried the costs are going to end up being more than the equity and we are going to end up in a multitude of debt if this drags on so long? 

Has anyone had a similar experience or can shed some legal advice on this?

TripleH

Keep a tab on all expenditure you incur sorting this out.

Who has paid the mortgage since they split up and how is the house owned?

Who/how was any deposit contributed?

Cannot say if it helps, but if you put forward that your partner is happy to be bought out his share rather than the house be sold as an alternative to turfing a young family out their home (ie that you are being reasonable) I expect this will not count against you.

I may sound harsh but if you have to rent, I can't see why your partner's ex and her family can't.

K.N.2303

Thank you for your message. It was originally owned joint tenancy but he was advised to split the tenancy. 

She has been paying the mortgage for the last 5 years, but my partner has wanted to sell since they split. She said she would buy him out; then this dragged in for months and then she said she couldn’t get a mortgage. Then multiple family members bereavements, then she was pregnant and had children who were sick x 3. She also advised she doesn’t want to sell until she has done works to it (3 years ago), the house looks in worse condition than it was when he originally bought it. 

She did put it up for sale once 2 years ago after him threatened to take her to court but she would not let any viewings happen and wouldn’t open the door. So the estate agent eventually took it off as it was wasting their time. She’s tried every trick in the book but we are just so stuck and it’s impacting us financially and emotionally and also moving from rental to rental. It is becoming costly - we just want to make sure it actually follows through and she doesn’t have the right to stay there until her children are 18? 

elsien

There's no  right for anyone to stay anywhere till their children are 18 unless there is a specific mesher order.
They weren't married and it's not his children so wouldn't apply.