Can I sell our house without contacting my abusive ex-husband?

geriann

I live in a house that has a joint mortgage with my ex-husband.
the mortgage was took out in the year 2000.
He moved out & we got divorced in 2007.
I have no children.
The only thing that still ties us together is this property.
During the 7 years he lived in the marital house he only paid a couple of years worth of the mortgage payments...that's an estimate.
He agreed to me living in the house. I wanted to buy him out so i was the sole owner, but at the time of our divorce i didn't have the money to do that.
Since he moved out (May 2007) i paid all the mortgage payments myself. Then in 2009 (I think) my parents helped me to pay off the mortgage, so I've been mortgage free ever since.
I've had no contact with my ex-husband since about 2008. So i have no idea if he's re-married/had kids/got another mortgage, etc. I don't know where he lives or how to contact him. I obviously don't know his financial situation...wether he's working or not.
Since we were last in contact (2008) my ex-husband has never got in touch with me (directly or through a legal representative) about the marital home I live in. I don't even know if he knows he's still on the deeds of this home!
The last thing I want to do is contact my ex (if I could find him) because he was abusive.
At some point I'll need to sell my home...the marital home I still live in. Due to aging & worsening illnesses I'll at some point need to move from my maisonette, to a ground floor house/flat/bungalow. So I would be using the money from the house sale to buy a different property outright...aka no mortgage.
So I'm wondering if it's possible to sell this property without contacting my ex-husband?
I've never sold a property so I don't know what the process is. Do you have to show your ID? Show the deeds that list names? Would I need his signature on anything?
Is there a way to take his name off the house without having to contact my ex?
I get the disability rate of Universal Credit & Council Tax Benefit. So I don't have money to spend such things as solicitors. 

itsthelittlethings

Give Women’s Aid a call for some advice. I strongly suspect (sorry for the bad news) that it will not be possible. The solicitors will want to see the deeds.

jackieblack

If there was no legally binding financial order made as part of the divorce, you still jointly own the house and, potentially, he could be entitled to 50% of the money from the sale  
You should get professional advice 

Flugelhorn

He definitely will need to be involved is this wasn't sorted before - you need an sympathetic solicitor to be an intermediary 

I am afraid ID will be needed, land registry with names will be checked and any interested parties (ie owners) will have to have ID checked and sign documents. 

Section62

geriann said:

...
He moved out & we got divorced in 2007.
...

Have you kept the paperwork from the divorce?  Is there anything in it relating to the house, for example advice from your solicitor about what to do with the house, or a documented agreement with your ex?

AIUI you wouldn't be able to sell the house without his agreement, unless you are able to get a court order.  And it is unlikely you'd get a court order without him being aware.  You, personally, don't need to have any contact with him  - but you will need to get professional advice from a solicitor.

Albermarle

jackieblack said:

If there was no legally binding financial order made as part of the divorce, you still jointly own the house and, potentially, he could be entitled to 50% of the money from the sale  
You should get professional advice 

OP - Can you confirm the statement in bold is true ( or not)
Normally it is better to get all these home/financial issues sorted at the time of the divorce.

mta999

Is the house registered in both names at the land Registry

Emmia

Albermarle said:

jackieblack said:

If there was no legally binding financial order made as part of the divorce, you still jointly own the house and, potentially, he could be entitled to 50% of the money from the sale  
You should get professional advice 

OP - Can you confirm the statement in bold is true ( or not)
Normally it is better to get all these home/financial issues sorted at the time of the divorce.

Unfortunately I think it is the ending of the marriage but that tends to take precedence when people divorce.

The financial side especially in relationships which may have been financially abusive (or abusive in other ways) is often in the "too hard" or "do it later when the dust has settled" bucket. Those divorcing may  worry about losing their home and the impacts of moving...

Or the divorce process has taken a huge toll on them mentally, physically and emotionally, with the effect they may not have the will left in them (or the money to pay solicitors) especially if there's a financial imbalance and the other party can afford to stretch the divorcing process out. 

It's a mistake not to have a financial settlement, but I can completely appreciate why this often happens.

tacpot12

mta999 said:

Is the house registered in both names at the land Registry

The OP may not be aware that you can pay £7 to get a copy of the title register for their home from the Land Registry here: Search for land and property information - GOV.UK

This will tell you who the registered owners of the property is/are. 

Section62

Emmia said:

Albermarle said:

jackieblack said:

If there was no legally binding financial order made as part of the divorce, you still jointly own the house and, potentially, he could be entitled to 50% of the money from the sale  
You should get professional advice 

OP - Can you confirm the statement in bold is true ( or not)
Normally it is better to get all these home/financial issues sorted at the time of the divorce.

Unfortunately I think it is the ending of the marriage but that tends to take precedence when people divorce.

The financial side especially in relationships which may have been financially abusive (or abusive in other ways) is often in the "too hard" or "do it later when the dust has settled" bucket. Those divorcing may  worry about losing their home and the impacts of moving...

Or the divorce process has taken a huge toll on them mentally, physically and emotionally, with the effect they may not have the will left in them (or the money to pay solicitors) especially if there's a financial imbalance and the other party can afford to stretch the divorcing process out. 

It's a mistake not to have a financial settlement, but I can completely appreciate why this often happens.

This is why I asked the OP about paperwork from the divorce.... the solicitor should have offered advice on what to do about the finances/property even if the OP wasn't in a (financial/emotional/etc) position to do something about it at the time.

The stress/trauma of such a situation also means it is quite easy to subsequently forget what was done/agreed/advised.  So I'd suggest a good starting point now is finding out exactly what happend back then, in terms of legal advice and actions.

theartfullodger

Someone will need to contact him, but possibly not you.  Talk to solicitors specialising in family property disputes. 

|Very sorry, good luck. Best wishes