Deeds to the house.

lemonspongecake

My partner of 20+ years recently tried to withdraw equity on his house and found out his ex wife was still on the deeds. Background info; the divorce circa 2001 was amicable. She left him for someone else and  had his child. My partner ended up paying for the costs (flights to America and all costs incurred were charged to their joint card) That relationship failed  , she  later she married someone else, then he died.  My partner and his ex wife have had  no contact in 20yrs other than her telling him she had rights on the house. When they split he paid their debts off but no written statement. She originally agreed to have her name removed but I he wasn't financially able to hire a solicitor to act on it. It just became forgotten over time.  We want to move but he doesn't feel inclined to give her any share from the sale of the house after over 20 years. Is there any way her name can be removed from the deeds, without a huge legal bill?  

Tiglet2

lemonspongecake said:

My partner of 20+ years recently tried to withdraw equity on his house and found out his ex wife was still on the deeds. Background info; the divorce circa 2001 was amicable. She left him for someone else and  had his child. My partner ended up paying for the costs (flights to America and all costs incurred were charged to their joint card) That relationship failed  , she  later she married someone else, then he died.  My partner and his ex wife have had  no contact in 20yrs other than her telling him she had rights on the house. When they split he paid their debts off but no written statement. She originally agreed to have her name removed but I he wasn't financially able to hire a solicitor to act on it. It just became forgotten over time.  We want to move but he doesn't feel inclined to give her any share from the sale of the house after over 20 years. Is there any way her name can be removed from the deeds, without a huge legal bill?  

You won't be able to remove her name from the deeds without her agreeing to it.  She'll need to sign the papers, transfer and contract.  You might not incur a huge legal bill if she is willing to sign the papers.  Probably best if your partner contacts her and they have a conversation about how to proceed.  She might agree if there was some incentive, but only your partner and his ex can negotiate over what and how this might be achieved.  Was there any written agreement in place when they divorced? 

lemonspongecake

Thank you. No sadly nothing was written down it was all based on trust. The divorce was amicable and no solicitors involved. Partner did try talking  but she has much to gain by refusing to sign off her name on the deeds. 
from her point of view as a person on benefits for the last 30 years, no financial input into the property she stands to line her pocket nicely! Its a no brainier really. We want to move now but cant without including her. 

TBagpuss

Well, assuming that you aren't married, your partner can still apply to th court or a financial order. The court has to consider what is fair in all the circumstances, so can take into account the length of the separating and the fact that your partner has been paying the mortgage.

Alternatively, he could make an offer now based on the increase in the value of the property but not the mortgage - e.g. if when they split, the house was worth £100K and the mortgage was £50K, and now it's worth £400K with a £10K mortgage, he might offer her £100,000, or 25% of the house value, on the basis that 50% of the equity when they spit was 25% of the then value, so of the current £390,000 equity, £200K is the equity at the time of the split + growth due to rise in value, and £190K is the equity he has built by paying off the mortgage, plus the return on that investment. 

Be aware that if there was no financial order, she may also potentially have a claim against any pensions or other assets he has. 

Gavin83

This is a messy case and I suspect you won't like where this leads.

As a starting point she's entitled to 50% of your husbands assets (including pensions) which is likely to be a significant sum of money. He is also entitled to 50% of hers but it sounds like she won't have much. However this is a starting point and a court is likely to take into account that she hasn't contributed to the property since their split. How much she'd get is down to the court and up for debate but she'd likely get something.

As someone who clearly isn't wealthy it'll take an extremely moral person to walk away from a significant sum of money. Personally in your shoes I'd accept you won't get out of this for free and offer her a sum of money to complete the necessary documents to sign over the house and complete the financial order. She is unlikely to sign this over for a few thousand though so this may well end up costing you tens of thousands. In her shoes it may be better to take £20k-£30k guaranteed than to risk court action and potentially end up with nothing. Obviously this is not what you want to hear and only you can decide what you can afford. Whatever you choose to do I would strongly recommend getting some legal advice first.

There is also the added complication that she's on benefits. If they find out she has a 50% share of a property they're likely to stop those benefits and claw back a large amount of previously paid benefits. This may actually force her to go to court or at the very least ask for enough to make this worthwhile.

Were there any assets split when they divorced?

GDB2222

Could I suggest that your partner consults a divorce solicitor ASAP.  

lemonspongecake

thank you all for your time and efforts on this. Im going to ask partner to come in on it through my thread. Thank you.

warwick2001

lemonspongecake said:

thank you all for your time and efforts on this. Im going to ask partner to come in on it through my thread. Thank you.

I suspect this forum will not have all the answers you need.

You HAVE to consult a divorce lawyer ASAP. This appears to be a very complicated case, and you require professional advice and guidance.

Good luck

RAS

A divorce lawyer will cost money, but less than the cost of just paying his ex. Unfortunately, we've seen this sort of mess from incomplete divorces and sometimes complete failure to divorce.

She can go for half the value of the house and pension. It may however be that her remarriage has implications for her eligibility.