Final Charging Order Hearing

[chrissa1]

http://www.theanswerb...l/Question976949.html
The Hearing to allow or not to allow a Final Charging Order to force a sale had been postponed until 4th April because my husband was in hospital.
As he sadly died on 6th Feb I wrote to the court to let them know and this Hearing is not now to be listed until after July 4th. I am having to sell the house anyway now.
My question is, will this horrible little man be entitled to any proceeds from the sale, (not that there will be any after the mortgagee is paid unless I'm offered £1M for it, Ha) or not?

Along with the Court Papers telling me about the postponement, I received a lovely short letter of condolence from the Judge who had been dealing with the case. I thought that was very kind of him.

[whiskeryron]

chrissa1, I am so deeply sorry to hear about the death of your dear husband & the predicament you are left in, I do hope that everything will be dealt with to your satisfaction & you come out of this on top.
Please let us all know how this went & remember we A/Bers are with you at least in spirit.Ron.♥♥

[Barmaid]

Chrissa, I am sorry for your loss. The Judge's letter proves that they are human.

If I could just get some facts straight before I go barking up the wrong tree:-

Is the property in your joint names? If so is it equally?
How much is the property worth? - I am assuming from your post that the value of the property in these depressed times barely exceeds the first legal charge and once costs of sale have been paid there will be little left?
Did your late husband have any other solely owned assets?
Was there any life assurance/insurance/endowment policies?
How much is the charge for?
I think I gathered from your previous post that the charge was against a debt incurred by your late husband - is that right?

[chrissa1]

Barmaid,
The property was in our joint names.
Property worth about £350K - £395K
Mortgage o/s £367K.
No solely owned assets by my husband.
No policies and the charge is for £17K solely against my husband.
I won't go into the details but the Claimant only got a Judgement because we were advised by a barrister (who we could ill afford) that to fight it would cost 4 times what he was claiming. But that's history now.

Thanks also whiskeyron.

[Bobbisox]

Hi Chrissa, I don't really know anything about this but after what you have been through, my good wishes are with you
Joy x

[chrissa1]

Thanks bobbi.xx

[Barmaid]

Well if you have already put the property on the market, I should imagine the Court will allow you to continue to conduct the sale.

Secondly, assuming you kept up the payments the Court originally ordered, I see the Final Charging Order being conditional upon that. if you did that, I cannot see the Court giving a final order.

Thirdly, if it is the case that your husband had no other assets and debts (including funeral costs), it may be that his estate is insolvent. If this is the case, you ought to consider applying for an Insolvency Administration Order (a bit like bankruptcy for the dead). This will cost, but it will absolve you from personal liability if someone thinks you have not dealt with his assets properly.

The "horrible little man" will be entitled to enforce his charge against your HUSBAND's share of the net proceeds of sale, if any. Your half is yours. I suspect there will be a shortfall which is why the above order is important to protect you from him.

I know you probably can't afford legal help at the moment, but if you can't get legal aid, try the CAB for some advice.

I'll help again if I can.

[chrissa1]

So should I keep paying the "HLM" his £100.00 per month which I would rather not do and can really ill afford.

[anneasquith]

hi chrissa. I really hope you get this issue solved quickly. take care.

[chrissa1]

Hi anne, I'm doing ok. Thanks for asking.

[Barmaid]

Have you got/are you applying for a Grant of Letters of Administration/Grant of Probate?

[chrissa1]

No, as his next of kin and because there is no Estate to speak of I've just registered his death, told the Tax man, dissolved our company, which had no assets as it's assets were my husband's knowledge and de-registered us for VAT.

[chrissa1]

Barmaid, I have just received a letter this morning from the HLM's solicitors. They write that theyve noted the contents therein and want to know who has been appointed executor so that they can contact them with regard to their client's debt.
I looked at your suggestion about an Insolvency Admin Order. It all looks very complicated. I also read that any jointly owned property passes solely into my name now that my husband has died and cannot be included in my husband's estate. Any advice would be gratefully received.

[chrissa1]

Oh, and unlike my kind Judge there was not one word of condolence in the letter. That sums the whole sorry case up.