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Family and relationships question:

My boyfriend split up from his ex partner 7 years ago. They never married but had a child together and lived together for five years. He agreed when he left to pay the mortgage and their joint debts . His ex has now issued proceedings through the CSA for maintenance instead of the in lieu agreement. His ex remains in the house with his son who is now 14. My question is my boyfriend is happy to continue paying maintenance for the child but not to continue paying the mortgage or the joint debts and wants the house sold to discharge the debts and the joint mortgage. There is equity in the house once the debts are discharged of about £50,000 and he is happy to give her half even though he has been paying the mortgage. Can she stop him from getting an order for sale and if he does get an order can the costs of this be deducted from the share of the proceeds he was going to give her?

posted in Family and relationships | 1 response

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Responses:

Nicola Williams

Nicola Williams' response

In deciding whether to order a sale the court has to weigh up various factors including the welfare of any children living in the property. Sooner or later a sale is inevitable, so in a sense the answer is no, she can't stop him - but the sale might be postponed until the child is independent. The court has no power to alter the ownership of the house. So if it is owned 50/50 they will each receive 50% of the net proceeds of sale. it is possible that your boyfriend might receive credit for the amount of capital he has paid off the mortgage. That will depend on the agreement they had when he left, if there was one. If your boyfriend is left with no choice but to apply for an order for sale because his ex-girlfriend refuses to agree and the court does indeed make an order then at the same time the court may make an order for costs and direct that the proceeds of sale are divided to take account of such an order. Your boyfriend might want to take specific advice on his situation as more detail is required to give a better idea of his chances of success in asking the court to order an immediate sale.