reclaiming property sale £s from ex

[Manxman in exile]

Your relative requires paid for legal advice. 

 

Well, I say "paid for", but what I mean is professional legal advice from someone your relative can sue if the advice is judged wrong enough to be negligent.

 

Your relative needs to find out if there are any firms of solicitors locally who are willing to provide 30 minutes free advice so she can assess whether any case is worth pursuing legally.

 

Alternatively, see if there are any local "Law Clinics" or local university law departments who can provide free legal advice.  (Just ring up your local university law dept and ask if they know where you can get such advice).

 

Eventually though, your relative will almost certainly have to pay for professional legal advice. 

 

If you try the DIY approach it could be a disaster - well meaning though it is.

 

EDIT:  Just read your cross-post.  I'd say forget your own experience and SDs (I don't even know what that is.  A statutory demand?).  All that matters is whether your relative has a valid legal case - not how she goes about it  - except to get professional advice.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Manxman in exile

[Manxman in exile]

2 hours ago, HP Mum said:

Her 300k was the down payment/ large deposit..  Then there was a mortgage for the balance of the purchase price.   When the house was sold she never got back the 300k.   The ex just split the proceeds 50//50.  Her lawyer had drawn  a doc that stated her 300k was separate from any joint profit share.  Ex did not honour this.   Again relative was bullied into agreeing.

 

So a solicitor has already drawn up an agreement about the deposit funded by your relative?  Then it needs enforcing unless...  has your relation agreed not to hold the ex to the agreement - bullied or not?

 

Those are just points to think about.  Your relative needs a solicitor...

[HP Mum]

Manxman - YES.   The original conveyancing solicitor handled the sale of relative's first home and the purchase of the family home.  He drew up a legal document that stated her 300k was her financial input and to be separate from any eventual joint profit share upon sale.

When the family house was sold the ex bullied her into a straight 50/50 split - which didn't exclude her original down payment.   She wants to enforce the document which shows it should have been excluded and returned to her - before the 50/50 was done

[Manxman in exile]

OK - these are some of the reasons your relative needs professional legal advice:

 

1.  your relative paid a £300k deposit/down payment, BUT...

 

2.  your relative's ex-partner paid the mortgage throughout their relationship, BUT...

 

3.  your relative brought up the children and made a home for the family, BUT...

 

4.  etc...  etc...

 

On the face of it, it appears that your relative's ex-partner may owe her more of the proceeds of the sale of the family home than he has paid her so far, but without much more information than you will be able to give us, nobody here can say for sure.

[HP Mum]

Yes

 

He paid the mortgage.   

And took a large lump sum out for his own use

 

On the face of it he probably owes her a lot more than just the 300k down payment.  But over and above this i think she'll have difficulty proving and I just don't think he has the money - other than the equity in the other former marital home.  My opinion is to just go for the 300k.   And yes, will get legal advice once she has put all docs together

[HP Mum]

Then there is the relative parents to consider.

I am horrified to discover that he borrowed 60k.  Funds from pensions.   

[BazzaS]

If SD gets served,

a) if it doesn’t get paid and isn’t opposed : what then?

the relative would have to enforce bankruptcy so by the time the TIB is through how much would they get? Does the ex have equity or have they borrowed off people left right and centre?

In an action in bankruptcy no one creditor gets preference unless there is a charge or secured debt. If the ex has secured debts the non-secured creditor(s) share the scraps remaining!

b) if it gets opposed, what if they say “a sum might be owed, but probably not. If it is, the amount is in dispute”, likely the SD will be set aside.

 

I’ve served 2 SD’s.

I did so because the recipients (one a person, the other a company) knew:

a) the sums weren’t in dispute

b) I’d follow it through even if I didn’t recover the full sum, because I’d do it to invoke insolvency proceedings. 

c) they knew I’d take the cost hit to maintain my reputation not to bilk me.

 

The company wasn’t insolvent and didn’t want to be wound up. I knew I’d (eventually) get my money either way, but although they weren’t flush they were solvent and didn’t want  to have to start again.

 

The individual had an IVA and borrowed from me in breach of that. I’d have lost some or all of the money I was owed, but word went around....

(A mutual friend asked me why I was being so hard on the debtor : when I explained how accommodating I’d been and all the promises breached, with proof, they said “I knew there must have been some reason!”)

 

so, not for the faint hearted, and be aware of the risks before going down that route.

I was quite looking forward to my trip to the High Court for “Wednesday’s Winders”

[BazzaS]

31 minutes ago, HP Mum said:

 

On the face of it he probably owes her a lot more than just the 300k down payment.  But over and above this i think she'll have difficulty proving and I just don't think he has the money - other than the equity in the other former marital home. 
 

If the equity is in the home and he has other debts too (+/- any charges on it / secured loans)

then the SD / Bankruptcy route could be

a) costly, for

b) little return.

 

Your relative needs to find how much equity there is, and the level of

i) secured and

ii) unsecured debts!

 

[HP Mum]

Thanks Bazza

 

My understanding is:

- the ex is in the financial world.   Bankruptcy could affect his ability for further work?

- ex repaid all other debts.  Just avoided repaying relative's elderly parents and relative

- ex co-owns house with ex-wife.  No mortgage. No charges.     

- Potential divorce legal fees (stupidly) of £50k.   

- This house is for sale.  He could/ should have proceeds of 500k.   So plenty, plenty (in essence) to repay relative and her elderly parents.

 

I don't think ex would want bankruptcy.  And at the moment - before the house sale completes - there is potential to get a charging order.

[unclebulgaria67]

This is all very speculative at the moment.

 

No point issuing any statutory demand until the exact legal basis has been clearly identified by someone legally qualified and who is ready to help with any Court proceedings.  

 

Next step for your relative is to gather up all of the evidence, scan any documents so they be emailed to Solicitors if necessary and to then find decent local Solicitors that are able to help with this.  Your relative may get a free half hour chat with a Solicitors, but they will want a fee to start looking at any documents, so they can issue formal advice. 

[HP Mum]

Thanks UncleB    Relative getting all relevant docs together now.

Will revert back when have everything ready

[unclebulgaria67]

HP Mum, please confirm that you will be advising your relative to obtain formal legal paid for assistance with this.

 

 

 

[BazzaS]

I can’t see a charging order happening without a successful court claim, and would your relative really expect that (given the timescales / the court’s backlog with covid) before any sale.

 

talk of charging orders In time is unrealistic.

even talk of a SD (at least, a successful one!)

might well be pie in the sky, too

[Blunderwoman]

All sounds a bit desperate SWIM - I was in a similar position a few years ago. No chance unfortunately, all a bit "Judge Judy" TV understanding of how the UK law works. If there's no children involved and there's no contract then it's basically bad luck to your relative, and to think otherwise is to spend your life on an internet forum trying to hear comforting words.

 

[Ganymede]

I personally don't think a SD would work, but get some independent legal advice due to the large sums involved. 

 

Was there a Deed of Trust or anything in writing to say that the £300 would be paid paid first and then the remainder split 50/50?

 

Also, the two remortgages would need to have been approved and signed by both your relative and the ex. I'm not sure her being "bullied" is going to be a get out here either.