Missing ex-husband turns up, wants to sell former home

Thrugelmir

Section62 said:

....unless there is already a financial remedy in place which has settled the question of ownership of the house. (but has been overlooked/forgotten about)

Doesn't sound as if a financial consent order was drawn up at the time of divorce. Can kicking down the road isn't a solution. 

Section62

Thrugelmir said:

Section62 said:

....unless there is already a financial remedy in place which has settled the question of ownership of the house. (but has been overlooked/forgotten about)

Doesn't sound as if a financial consent order was drawn up at the time of divorce. Can kicking down the road isn't a solution. 

Divorce is an emotionally stressful/traumatic time.... it is easy to blank out the details of some of the 'admin' type stuff.

Worth double checking before going to an expensive solicitor for fresh advice.

Loza2016

I remember reading about a similar case a few years ago. Husband left didn’t pay a penny towards the kids. 

About 25 years later turns up after wife had paid the mortgage off and demands his 50%. Went to court and he got his 50%. 

He owed thousands in child support but judge said it was a separate matter and wife would need to take him to court separately for that. 

steampowered

You would need to see a family law solicitor about this. The question is whether you could get a divorce order, ordering that your wife owns the house.

If you do not want to proceed with getting a court order, the only other solution I can see would be to buy this person out. Pay him a few grand for the trouble of signing the forms needed to transfer ownership to your wife and you.

As to the property - to me, it is financial madness to be keeping a mortgaged property which is either empty or where the rent does not cover the mortgage. A loss making investment is absolutely NOT the best way to build an inheritance for your kids.

Personally I would sell ASAP. That money would be much better off in an actual investment: like a proper buy-to-let, or stocks & shares ISAs.

newsgroupmonkey_

Loza2016 said:

I remember reading about a similar case a few years ago. Husband left didn’t pay a penny towards the kids. 

About 25 years later turns up after wife had paid the mortgage off and demands his 50%. Went to court and he got his 50%. 

He owed thousands in child support but judge said it was a separate matter and wife would need to take him to court separately for that. 

I'm going to guess here that they didn't divorce?

Whilst in the above case, I guess he could come after some of the gain, he can't go after the money that they've paid off the mortgage because most of it would be since the divorce.

TripleH

How is the property owned and is there any paperwork showing an unequal split to reflect the deposit?

Might be worth pulling together any payments made on the house and on joint loan agreements onebor other party has paid in the other's absence.

It isn't guaranteed to mean a reduced payout but helps present evidence why there shouldn't be an equal payout.

Is ex still making child support payments?

thegreenone

steampowered said:

As to the property - to me, it is financial madness to be keeping a mortgaged property which is either empty or where the rent does not cover the mortgage. A loss making investment is absolutely NOT the best way to build an inheritance for your kids.

Personally I would sell ASAP. That money would be much better off in an actual investment: like a proper buy-to-let, or stocks & shares ISAs.

Please re-read the OP's original post.   They couldn't sell/officially Let, as they couldn't find Ex for him to agree, so they had little choice in their actions.  Now Ex has come out the woodwork, the house may well have to be sold, despite the fact that he had absolutely no financial input. Grrrrrrrr........

Sebo027

Speak to a good solicitor. The paperwork trail will hopefully speak for itself. And I wouldn't limit it to the subject of the property - be sure to inform your solicitor of the entire picture (motorbike etc.) if you can verify it with bank statements etc. 

Loza2016

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

Loza2016 said:

I remember reading about a similar case a few years ago. Husband left didn’t pay a penny towards the kids. 

About 25 years later turns up after wife had paid the mortgage off and demands his 50%. Went to court and he got his 50%. 

He owed thousands in child support but judge said it was a separate matter and wife would need to take him to court separately for that. 

I'm going to guess here that they didn't divorce?

Whilst in the above case, I guess he could come after some of the gain, he can't go after the money that they've paid off the mortgage because most of it would be since the divorce.

I’ve tried to find the original article but no luck. Can’t remember if they had already divorced before he turned up.