Capital gains from your principle private residence in the UK (the house you lived in) are not subject to capital gains tax. So provided you were both named on the title deeds of the property (and I assume you were as you refer to signing over) there is no liability for tax.
Regarding where to put the money, you talk about investing it rather than depositing it in a bank/BS. Since one has to registered with the FSA to give investment advice, I'm sorry but I can't comment.