Restriction K, Divorce, and Inheritance?

[maddiemay]

I am seperated and live in the former matrimonial home (no young children)

there are two restrictions on the property in my ex husbands sole name.

 

 

I bought the ex's beneficial interest from the trustee in 2009 when he (the ex) was declared bankrupt, for a nominal fee using the same solicitor as the trustee.

 

 

I was unaware at that time that they were not dissolved in the bankruptcy.

I only discovered that they remained 6 years later when he left me.

 

I have recently learnt that he (the ex) will be inheriting 50% shares in two properties and will be getting a lump sum.

This of course sticks in my throat a little given that throughout our entire marriage I lived under threat from debt collectors, bailiffs and HMRC because he never submitted tax returns or paid anything he could get away with.

 

 

Only a few days ago he told me and I quote 'that house has nothing to do with me' So he swans off with the new love of his life leaving me with a huge interest only mortgage that will end in 10 years (I will be 64 then) and any equity I may have had will pay off his debt whilst he lives mortgage free!

 

My questions are:

 

1) Would I have any grounds for potentially suing the solicitors for not acting in my best interest in the purchase of the beneficial interest, because I feel if it wasn't the same solicitors acting for both the trustee and myself they would probably advised me of the consequences.

 

2) Can the creditors with the restrictions try to collect it from him direct if they knew he had money/other properties with equity, or can they only collect it from the sale of my home now they have restrictions.

 

3) When we divorce and it comes to the financial side of things, would a judge expect him to pay off his debt as he's going to be financially secure and I'm not.

 

I know he'll have to stay on the mortgage and I will be ordered to use my best endeavours to get him removed, but that's not going to happen on my income, that shouldnt affect his ability to buy himself somewhere to live because he'll have enough not to need a mortgage anyway.

 

I cannot afford a solicitor, I have paid off over £3,000 in mortgage arrears accrued before he left, and am only now two years later just about getting back on my feet emotionally and financially.

 

Any advice would be massively appreciated on the subjects of divorce and the restrictions as its worrying me immensely

Thank you for reading my sob story

[dx100uk]

if they are only a restriction K then you can do what you like

 

 

with a restriction k the only 'legal' thing that should be done is whom ever has the restriction has to be told the property is sold.

 

 

not your problem though anyway.

 

 

there is no legal compulsion to pay them off upon sale or even a remortgage.

 

 

go enjoy your life

its his problem!

[maddiemay]

That's great to hear.

 

 

I'm wondering now though if the debt will go into the marital pot,

I can guarentee his inheritance won't though, that'll be well hidden!

 

I assume then if I do sell, the debt will revert back to being unsecured and they'll then go after him, hope so anyway!

 

Sorry to sound bitter, but Iam

Thank you for the reply, much appreciated

[dx100uk]

the debt is not your problem end of

yes it will by default revert to him.

 

 

whatever you are told

it does NOT need to be settled on sale etc

many solicitors sadly believe otherwise

its a restriction k

[king12345]

As you're still legally married to him, you have an interest in "his" inheritance.

Go speak to a solicitor as a matter of urgency before he makes the inheritance disappear.

You're entitled to part of it imo

[martin2006]

Dx is correct, a form k restriction is exactly that, a restriction, not an order, if the property is now in your name then his debt is entirely irrelevant to your property.

Personally i would write to the owner of the restriction( can find via land registry) and inform them he has no interest in the property whatsoever, but does have interest in x,y,z property and in order to obtain any joy from the restriction it would be best placed on a property he owns rather than one he doesnt.

Fyi, upon sale, the owner of the restriction only has to be informed a sale has taken place, not paid from proceeds as a disbursement.

[maddiemay]

OMG thank you so much!

I'm so relieved, I will make an appointment with a solicitor to get ready, he's not inherited it yet, but it would be nice to be prepared, who knows he might just make me an offer without the need for solicitors.....and another pig just flown by!

Fantastic news about the restriction, thank you all so much, might sleep tonight now!

Maddie

[ericsbrother]

As you are not divorced and presumably havent signed a legal separation document to disentangle your affairs then you can go after any asset he has as part of the divorce settlement.

 

 

Obviously he has to inherit first as currently he has nothing but if it is just stuck in probate you can ask for that to be considered as a done deed as far as assets go.

 

Judges wont force him to settle his debts, they are nothing to do with you.

 

 

Divorce is legally almost the same as death as far as you are concerned.

 

 

set aside a couple of thousand quid to pay your solicitors fees and if he behaves unreasonably ask for those to be met by him for being unreasonable.

[maddiemay]

I can guarentee he will be unreasonable, he'll plead poverty, he started that the second he moved out, the fact that he was in a £900 a month rented flat with other woman number 1 (living with number 2 now in less than two years) taking several holidays a year and buying new work vans indicated he was lying, but that's just normal for him, he actually believes his own lies.

 

The man turned into a monster, no idea why, it was his choice to leave, I tried all I could to get him back so not sure why he has so much hatred for me.

My thinking is, it'll be him who wants the divorce not me so Im hoping if I agree to it he'll pay the costs as he knows I don't have any money to pay for solicitors etc.

 

Thanks again, I wish CAG had a divorce forum

[king12345]

Doesn't matter if he's gonna be unreasonable.

 

You are entitled to part of his inheritance whether he likes it or not.

 

The fact that properties are involved makes things a bit slower and transparent because he must go through probate.

Speak to a solicitor and explain your financial shortfall.

 

If there's a good chance to get some money the solicitor might act in a similar way of "no win no fee" (unlikely) or they could offer you an affordable payment plan.

 

In my opinion you shouldn't let this go, you're entitled to it as far as i know.

[maddiemay]

Thanks King, all this positive talk is doing me wonders,

I've had a real rough time of it since he left,

everything else I've managed to deal with but the real terrifying thought was that I'd loose my home because of his mid life crisis!

 

 

You should see how he acts around me, it's quite pathetic,

acting like he's Brad Pitt but actually looks more like Peter Stringfellow ha ha!

 

thank you so much, I will definitely seek legal advice and keep you kind people posted.

[Mr.P]

Doesn't matter if he's gonna be unreasonable.

You are entitled to part of his inheritance whether he likes it or not.

The fact that properties are involved makes things a bit slower and transparent because he must go through probate.

 

If the ex isn't named as an executor, he would have no control over probate and would have great difficulty in hiding the inheritance. The will and estate valuation become public records, so it would be very easy to prove his current "worth".

 

Failing to declare the inheritance when it comes to completing the divorce documents regarding the financial separation could land him in a whole lot more trouble. The courts take a very dim view of asset hiding.

[maddiemay]

Thanks Mr P,

I'm led to believe that we should leave the marriage equal,

but he'll find a way around it he always does,

 

 

who else do you know that's been trading for 10 years plus and hasn't submitted a tax return!

I'd be happy to walk away with nothing if the tax man took it from him.

 

In all honesty I'm happy to learn that the equity there is in the house,

or will be in 10 years (hopefully) will be mine and not his creditors,

anything on top is a bonus.

 

 

I never had anything the whole time I was with him, so won't miss what I've never had.

 

He does have a pension which was frozen about 3 years after we got together,

don't think it was massively profitable,

but he can take 25% tax free (his whole entire income has been tax free!)

so maybe he'll offer me that at least now he won't need it.

 

So grateful to you for bothering to post, means so much to have unbiased advice

Maddie

[Guest]

I will make an appointment with a solicitor to get ready

and not the same one as his/ or any trustee. just to ensure that there wont be any conflict there

[maddiemay]

They wouldn't or shouldn't act for me if they're acting for any of them, just like I believe the trustee and myself should have had different ones.

[Guest]

quite, if it wld involve a potential conflict. just checking, as you said in your op that you used the same sols as the trustee when buying yr ex interest. who was the trustee

[maddiemay]

The official receiver was the trustee,

I was offered the chance to buy his beneficial interest for £1 plus £210 for solicitors fee's.

 

I contacted the acting solicitors last year after the ex left and they told me they acted in the trustees interest so couldnt talk to me about it.

I wasn't in a good enough place then to question them but feel I probably could now.

 

I also contacted the creditor with the biggest restriction to tell them he didn't live here any more,

I gave them his dad's address because I knew he'd have to stay in contact with them for fear of his dad finding out about the huge debt and getting a you know what from him.

I haven't received any mail for him from them since, so guess they've accepted he doesn't live here.

 

Thinking back now to the emails I sent to the creditor, explaining my fears about being left at 65 with no home,

but they still allowed me to believe it was possible they'd be paid from the proceeds,

now I know it's just a restriction, that seems pretty mean of them.

[dx100uk]

I bet we know their name...

[maddiemay]

I'm sure you do, pretty well known in the field or should I say paddock!

[dx100uk]

i would of expected better from them TBH.

[BazzaS]

I bought the ex's beneficial interest from the trustee in 2009 when he (the ex) was declared bankrupt, for a nominal fee using the same solicitor as the trustee.

 

.........

 

My questions are:

 

1) Would I have any grounds for potentially suing the solicitors for not acting in my best interest in the purchase of the beneficial interest, because I feel if it wasn't the same solicitors acting for both the trustee and myself they would probably advised me of the consequences.

 

The official receiver was the trustee,

I was offered the chance to buy his beneficial interest for £1 plus £210 for solicitors fee's.

 

I contacted the acting solicitors last year after the ex left and they told me they acted in the trustees interest so couldnt talk to me about it.

I wasn't in a good enough place then to question them but feel I probably could now.

 

 

I'm uncertain from what you are saying if the solicitors were acting only for the trustee in bankruptcy, or for both of you.

Your first post suggests the latter, but the subsequent post suggests they weren't acting for you.

 

It would be unusual for a firm to act for both buyer and seller for the reason you have highlighted : the inherent conflict of interest.

 

Did you actually retain them (with you as their client, and they sent you a "client care letter" .... ) or merely pay them a cost they incurred that they said the buyer needed to pay?

 

Did you get an invoice for the £210? If so, how was the £210 itemised / described?

[maddiemay]

Thank you for your interest, I posted a cheque direct to the solicitors for £211, £1 for the purchase and £210 for the fees. I'm guessing now I'm a bit more with it, that the solicitors were acting for the trustee and I didn't actually have one, I think at the time I was so relieved it was a way to stop the house being taken because of the bankruptcy, and also it would stop any of his (ex) creditors in the future being able to put orders on it, I didn't think the consequences through.

 

I was never involved in any of the meetings between my now ex husband and the trustee in his bankruptcy so was only told what he wanted me to believe I.e all charging orders/restrictions would be dissolved in the bankruptcy, he's still telling me now they were!

[king12345]

Thanks Mr P,

I'm led to believe that we should leave the marriage equal,

but he'll find a way around it he always does,

 

 

who else do you know that's been trading for 10 years plus and hasn't submitted a tax return!

I'd be happy to walk away with nothing if the tax man took it from him.

 

In all honesty I'm happy to learn that the equity there is in the house,

or will be in 10 years (hopefully) will be mine and not his creditors,

anything on top is a bonus.

 

 

I never had anything the whole time I was with him, so won't miss what I've never had.

 

He does have a pension which was frozen about 3 years after we got together,

don't think it was massively profitable,

but he can take 25% tax free (his whole entire income has been tax free!)

so maybe he'll offer me that at least now he won't need it.

 

So grateful to you for bothering to post, means so much to have unbiased advice

Maddie

 

His debts have nothing to do with the interest you have in his inheritance.

The solicitor would negotiate your share and that share cannot be used to pay his debts.

The debts would have to be paid by him with his share.

A good solicitor specialised in inheritance will explain everything to you and most importantly will register your interest as soon as they apply for probate.

[honeybee13]

Maddiemay, do you think your ex will let you know when he/his lawyer have applied for probate?

 

If not, once probate is granted you can check on this website because the information is in the public domain. Sadly, I had to do this with a relative who I knew had left me a bit of money when the family didn't want to tell me what was in the will. You can see for free if probate has been granted and if you want a copy of the will, it costs £10.

 

I monitored this site weekly until the name of the deceased relative came up as probate having been granted.

 

Edited to add link. https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

Edited November 28, 2016 by honeybee13
Link.

[maddiemay]

I know he's giving them all a lump sum so he can see them enjoying it,

obviously I won't know if it's the lions share or just a bit.

 

 

I'm not sure how he's done it but obviously for over 20 years I was part of his (fil) family and it was me he always discussed his affairs with (he was hell bent on them not having to pay inheritance tax so I'm guessing he's found a way round it because giving them some before he died was never part of his plan.

 

Getting anything from the inheritance wasn't really my point in posting,

but thinking about it if I'm legally entitled to some, then why not,

 

 

after all why should his 2nd other woman benefit and I don't,

I was around a lot longer than she will be,

not to mention if he (ex) marries her then dies,

her kids get it,

who were nothing to do with my in laws!

 

I'm sure he'll (ex) file for divorce sooner rather than later in the hope it's all done and dusted before his dad passes,

 

 

I'll just need to stall at every step!

 

Thank you again everyone, it really feels like I have people fighting my financial corner