Am I entitled to share of equity from a sold house during bankruptcy ?

mizzhogbear · 11 November 2021 at 12:10PM

Hi

My situation is that my very recently ex husband went bankrupt 2020 and was discharged recently in the last few months however in the process of the bankruptcy my ex gave back our house to the bank. I was not on the named mortgage however I did contribute to the deposit towards the house , paid towards the mortgage ( joint bank account and my wages were going into the mortgage paying account) I also had applied to the land registrary that the house couldn’t be sold without permission because of my daughter being under 16. Our house obviously had quite a-bit of equity in it and now my ex is stating that the insolvency service are asking about me because I may be-able to make a claim. He’s very cloak and dagger about this and he won’t forward me the correspondences or give them my details. I was wondering if this was true and if I could make a claim as we were married and I did contribute from day one towards the house even though my name wasn’t on the mortgage. It would be great if I could because I feel that my husband has 💯 hoodwinked me and got himself sorted and debt free at the expense of myself and my daughter losing our home etc . He lost his job due to Covid during 2020 and I continued to work as a nurse and he told me it would be the best way forward to clear all the debt as I couldn’t do it alone on my income . Anyhow fast forward to now And since he's got discharged from bankruptcy and a decent job again, he has then left me pretty much homeless and also in debt.

Many thanks 😊

Mizz

fatbelly · 11 November 2021 at 12:29PM

Yes it could be true. There is the concept of beneficial interest.

This is not a fixed formula so has to be established by agreement or a court.

Shelter have an explanation of the concept

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/relationship_breakdown/housing_rights_of_cohabiting_sole_homeowners/occupation_rights_if_one_partner_is_the_sole_owner#title-2

As a first step discuss this with the insolvency service and see if you can get a free half hour with a solicitor who understands property law

mizzhogbear · 11 November 2021 at 1:20PM

Thank you for your reply and wow 😯 I did register my name on the land register at some point to ensure that my ex couldn’t sell house from underneath to safeguard my daughter . But I will attempt to try and get I touch with the insolvency myself as he wants to act as a middle / go between person.