Transfer of Deeds

[duckyalpine]

My Partner was divorced from her nast Husband some 15 years ago due to phsical assalut, the House (that he never contibuted to) still has his name on the deed, We want to sell this house to move out of the area, but the greedy X, is demanding money to sign the deed over. He already has the endowment, and never paid a penny to the upbrininging of his children.
After seeking legal advise we are told thay this could up to �15 grand!! is there any loop hole, that can force the greedy x to sign the deed, considering he never paid a penny to the house or kids. We are at our wits end and dont want to give him anything. Can anyone help with the solution.

[innocenti]

I am really sorry but you will not get out of paying him and there is no legal loop hole.

As unfair as it seems that you have to pay him any profits from the house, it works both ways. If your partner had gone bankrupt and the house repossessed then the mortgage company would have chased the ex for the shortfall. So if the ex was liable for any shortfall he has to be entitled to any profit. Sorry.

The best thing to do would be to see if you can negociate a settlement with him and avoid court as the fees could go up to �5000 and it could take months to settle.

If the house was bought 15 years ago then I would assume that there is a substancial profit from the equity and you should use some of that to pay the ex off.

[Loosehead]

"Deeds" are pretty meaninless these days, it's the land registry entry that matters. Assuming there is a mortgage, the lender would have to agree to a transfer of equity so it's not straightforward even if he agrees to the transfer. The problem is the lender will not agree unless they satisfy themselves that you can take respnsibility for the loan yourself. So forcing him to agree to the transfer is only relevant if the lender will agree to the transfer. As above there are no "Loop holes" but at least if the lender won't agree you don't have to give him anything.

[innocenti]

That is also true Loosehead, but they want to sell the house, so i would assume the ex is on the mortgage. As they are selling they wont need to need to consult the mortgage company.