Law And Property

[davidmarsden]

in my divorce settlement i kept my house but agreed that should i sell it at anytime i would give my ex wife 40% of any profit. she has a caution logged at the land registry (which i was not aware of).she then wante money for a car and i foolishly gave her cash and we agreed that woould finalise any settlement. i now find she still has the caution registered and refuses to have it removed and i cannot prove i paid her cash for a car.
my question is-can i write into a will that on my death i do not wish for the house to be sold until the death of my present wife or can my ex wife force a sale?

[Zacs-Master]

Looks exceedingly complicated. I would call them.
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/professional/guides/practice-guide-19#guide-mark-39

[woofgang]

Gonna disagree with ZM here. IMO the caution is a bit of a red herring. It may make it harder to sell the house but not impossible. The bit that is the catch is that you agreed to give her 40% of the sale price of the house. I am presuming that that bit was legally agreed? I think (but you need legal confirmation of this, I am not legally trained) that your ex has a beneficial interest in your house that she can will or pass to someone else, so her death doesn't void your agreement.
That's really what you want to know isn't it? Does her death void the agreement?

[black_cat51]

i read it completely differently. Firstly, he only agreed to 40% of the PROFIT, not the sale price. And he's not asking about his ex wife's death at all, but trying to ensure the present wife gets to live in till she's died

[woofgang]

you are right about the profit/sale price, my error. If all the Op wants to do is give current wife the right to live there all he has to do is give her half the house. If the house is never sold then the agreement never takes effect IMO.

[davidmarsden]

re my question: i cannot just give my wife half the house because it would devalue my ex wifes 40% if it was sold. a solicitor said i could try to get the caution removed but the cost (because the divorce was 25 years ago) would be around £5000.but the big difference is supposed to be that my ex wife has only got a caution on the property and not a charge.my sole intention is to prevent my present wife to have to move out of the property on my death (if i should die first)

[woofgang]

not sure how it devalues your ex's 40% You give your wife half of the property as a tenant in common. This means that she owns 50% of the house. you own the remaining 50%. When the house is sold, your wife's share is 50% of the sale price. Your ex wife's share is 40% of the profit on the sale which is always going to be less than your share of 50% of the sale price. My understanding is that the caution is, as I said, a red herring. The agreement that you have with your ex is IF AND WHEN the house is sold.

But, as i said, you are best getting legal advice about whether your wife could force a sale.

[Peter Pedant]

Your question is:
I own 60% of a house - can I devise it to someone else (2 nd wife ) on my death without precipitating a ( forced ) sale ?

I would have thought the answer is yes

I dont understand why you cant make her joint owner of your 60%

as others have said - this is a technical question and you should pay for advice ( not rely on us punters)