charges against a property

[big dave 102]

hello there my dad and his wife have recently split up and she is moving to spain with her new partner.

 

while they were married for 30 years his wife accumulated £25k debt which has been charged against the house five years ago.

 

all the debt was in his wife's name will he be liable for the debt now if he sells the house?

 

she has said she wants no money from the sale of the house but also confirms she wont be paying the charges against the house?

 

this is all new to both my dad and I and don't know who to speak to or what to do.

 

any advice would be greatly received thanks.

[ims21]

HI and welcome to CAG.

 

In view of the charging order on property, I have moved you to the general legal forum where the guys will be along to help as soon as they are available.

[dx100uk]

I assume the house is/was in joint names...

if so sadly the CO's will be met from any sale.

 

regardless to it not being 'his' debt

 

dx

[Ganymede]

Is the CCJ in joint names or just his wife's?

 

Is the Charging Order registered as a "Restriction" or an "Equitable Charge"?

[big dave 102]

I assume the house is/was in joint names...

if so sadly the CO's will be met from any sale.

 

regardless to it not being 'his' debt

 

dx

 

yes its in both names, his wife has said she will not continue to make the payments. can they make him sell the house?

[big dave 102]

i believe its in her name, he was at court at the time as his name was on the mortgage. not sure if its restricted or equitable, what is the difference?

[Ganymede]

Both can be used to force the sale of the house but this is very rare.

 

An equitable charge must be paid off when the house is sold, a restriction doesn't.

[steampowered]

If the property was held as a 'tenancy in common', the charging order should only affect her share. If the property was held as a 'joint tenancy' which is more likely in a husband/wife situation, my basic understanding of land ownership is that a charging order will 'sever' the interests of each person in the property thereby turning it into a 'tenancy in common' where each person owns 50% of the property.

 

Putting it simply, after the charging order was granted, most likely your dad and his wife then owned 50% of the property each. Assuming the CCJ and charging order are in the wife's name only, if the property is sold I think the 25k would need to be paid out of her share but shouldn't affect his share.

 

As part of the divorce process your dad should consider putting in place a written agreement setting out what will happen to his and her assets. She has said she doesn't want any money from the sale of the house but if you don't get a proper agreement there is nothing to stop her coming back and asking for that money (and more) later.

[big dave 102]

thank you for your help, i am going to call over and see him this week as i need to look at the paperwork and see exactly whats on the charging order.