# Am I entitled to share of house?



## juicylucy (25 Jul 2009)

Hello everyone, hope someone can help me out here.  My ex wants me to sign over our former family home to him. My name is on the deeds but I left 16 years ago, divorced, and am re-married with kids.  Do I have any rights/entitlements to this house? Ex has rented it out for the past few years and no longer lives there.  Can I claim some share of the house if it is sold? Can he sell it without my consent?  Sorry for all the questions! Thanks in advance.


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## Ravima (25 Jul 2009)

If there was negative equity, would you be happy to share the debt?


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## clonboy (25 Jul 2009)

who has been maintaining the house, paying mortgage , bills etc for the last 16 years? both of ye ?

you probably need to fill in a few gaps here for an accurate feedback from people


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## juicylucy (25 Jul 2009)

Thanks for your responses.

My ex has paid the mortgage as we had a legal separation whereby he agreed to do so as he was living in the house but he also agreed he would pay me 10% of the sale price if he sold - I've since been told that this wouldn't hold up in court as we were both advised by the same solicitor.
It was my salary that paid for it before then as he wasn't working.  Ex refused to answer letters after my solicitor mentioned paying me the 10%.  He has had the benefit of all the rental income over the past few years - I left with nothing except my clothes. Solicitor seems to have lost interest in the case as ex doesn't answer letters. I just want to know where I stand legally. I can't afford to go to court and don't want to sign away this house and regret it later.

Ravima: If you asked me that question a couple of years ago then yes, I'd have done anything to help my ex as we parted on friendly terms but since he stopped communicating as soon as the agreement was mentioned I don't think I'd feel the same - I bailed him out enough when I was married to him and gave him the contents of my flat when I left Ireland, the least he could do is stick to his side of the agreement.


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## Thirsty (25 Jul 2009)

> agreed he would pay me 10% of the sale price if he sold


Is this included in the divorce settlement? If so, it can certainly be enforced. 


> we were both advised by the same solicitor


Was this in Ireland? you cannot have one soltr representing both parties in a divorce hearing in this country.


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## juicylucy (26 Jul 2009)

Hi Kildrought, thanks for replying.

There was no divorce settlement, I applied for a divorce after living in the UK for a number of years and there was no solicitor involved.

Yes, the advising solicitor was in Ireland but perhaps since 1993 the law has changed? He drew up our legal separation document, charged each of us £50 and we went our separate ways.


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## mathepac (26 Jul 2009)

I think you'll need to provide more clarification because :


juicylucy said:


> ... There was no divorce settlement, I applied for a divorce after living in the UK for a number of years and there was no solicitor involved...


This sounds like an uncontested "by mutual consent" UK divorce applied for and usually granted after at least 5 years living apart. To be legally recognised in Ireland at least one party must be ordinarily domiciled in the State.

When you say there was no "divorce settlement" do you mean there were no property or maintenance clauses or were all property ties between the two parties severed by the divorce?



juicylucy said:


> ... Yes, the advising solicitor was in Ireland but perhaps since 1993 the law has changed? He drew up our legal separation document, charged each of us £50 and we went our separate ways.


This makes no sense as you first of all say that there were no solicitors involved and you then seem to say an Irish solicitor advised on a UK separation / divorce or is there an Irish separation agreement in place as well?

The dates of the various proceedings / agreements will probably be important, but I believe you need legal advice.  I'm not sure if that should be UK advice or Irish advice or both, but it sounds like being expensive.


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## juicylucy (26 Jul 2009)

Sorry for the confusion, we had a legal separation in Ireland, with an Irish solicitor.  I then lived in UK and filed for divorce myself, no solicitor involved and to which the ex consented. Neither of us had any money/property apart from the former family home so there wasn't any divorce settlement. Have tried going down the legal advice route twice or three times but nobody seems to be able to give me an answer. I don't want to stop the sale of the house if this is what the ex wants but neither do I think I should lose out on what we agreed on - but perhaps this is irrelevant if you say that all property ties would have been severed by the divorce?


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## mathepac (26 Jul 2009)

juicylucy said:


> ... if you say that all property ties would have been severed by the divorce?


I didn't say that, I asked a question. Obviously I have no way of knowing what (if any) clauses or conditions were in your divorce decrees.

My (badly phrased question) was - 





mathepac said:


> ... When you say there was no "divorce settlement" do you mean there were no property or maintenance clauses or were all property ties between the two parties severed by the divorce? ...


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## juicylucy (26 Jul 2009)

Sorry mathepac - having a blonde moment.  There were no property or maintenance clauses.


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## Thirsty (27 Jul 2009)

Non-legal advice here (as I am not a legal professional); but I think you could be on dodgy ground with this one.

The separation agreement (detailing the settlement agreement on the family home) should have been included in the divorce settlement; as it wasn't and the UK system allows for a 'clean break' (i.e. neither party has any further claim on the other), I'm not sure you have a basis to make a claim against the family home.

However, if he needs your signature to sell, he can either pay over what you are looking for or go to court to dispense with that requirement; if he has a ready buyer it might be cheaper to pay you...often negotiation works better than legal recourse.


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## secman (27 Jul 2009)

Since your name is still on the deeds, I doubt if he can sell it without your consent, but as to what % you would be entitled to is to say the least fuzzy. 

When you were married , it would have been 50/50. Under your seperation settlement agreement ,you agreed to 10%. But in the meantime you got divorced without reference to the property!

If ye can come to a mutual agreement, do so, otherwqise the wigs could get a wad trying to sort it out.

Secman


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## jack2009 (27 Jul 2009)

The fact that your name is on the deeds means that he cannot sell the house without your input.  However, as previously posted how much you get is all very confusing.  I would suggest saying that you agree to sign the deeds if he agrees to pay you the 10% you say that he previously agreed to.

I think if he does not agree to this that it will be him that has to bring you to court etc. and he may do the math and realise that it might be just as well to give you the 10%.


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## juicylucy (27 Jul 2009)

Thanks a million people - you've certainly given me a clearer picture of the situation - not to mention a lot to think about! I'll let you know how I get on.


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