Jane Moore announced her split from her husband of 20 years live on Loose Women back in 2022. The plan at that time was to sell the family home and buy their own separate houses. But with the move reliant on two chains and Moore’s purchase falling through at the last minute, she’s been left with a ‘hefty legal bill’. Here, McAlister Family Law’s Lisa Brown looks at what you can do to protect yourself from unexpected costs in legal proceedings.
It is not uncommon for separating couples to decide to sell their shared home and purchase two as a structure of a financial settlement, as often neither party can afford to retain the family home. Sometimes there are also emotional reasons for wanting to sell up and move on.
Once the decision has been made very often parties are keen to “get on with it” but, as with any sale, there can be complicating factors and this can be magnified when there instead of the sellers moving into 1 property they are moving into separate ones and creating 2 chains.
Jane Moore has spoken recently about losing a sale at the last minute (due to her buyer having issues) and this leading not only to delay and disappointment but also a “hefty legal bill”.
There is nothing to suggest in this scenario that Jane and her ex-husband are not on the same page with a house sale and it seems as though it may have been that the additional costs were unavoidable and more related to conveyancing/ property issues than family law ones.
However, there are a number of cases where, despite the fact the parties have reached a financial agreement about what happens to the family home, more costs are incurred in implementing this.
This can be because one party is in the house and simply wants to drag their feet to stay there as long as possible. In this scenario you can find people put off buyers and/ or want to set an unrealistic asking or buying price. It can also be because one person, for whatever reason, prefers a quick sale and isn’t too bothered about the ultimate selling price (often this might be because the other person is taking all or most of the net proceeds).
The other frequent scenario with property is that, in circumstances where it is agreed that one party should retain it on the basis they buy out the other. they then find they cannot actually get the mortgage/ finance they thought they could.
So, what can you do to protect yourself from yet more cost?
In terms of a case with party who is reluctant to leave/ obstructing a sale or one who wants a quick sale at any price you should consider the following:
- If you think this is likely to happen, try to record as much as you can in the order in terms of suitable asking price/ selling price
- If you are not in the property remain in good contact with the agents so you are aware of negative/ positive feedback. You might also want to be involved in viewings
- If it seems clear that there are issues the first step is usually to ask the agent to put in writing what their view is as to the issues and how best to address them and then to invite the other party to agree/ rectify those (ideally by email or similar so you can produce it to a court if needed)
- If all else fails, you can return the matter to court under what are know as the liberty to apply provisions. You can ask that the difficult party pay your legal costs in this scenario.
In circumstances where unfortunately a mortgage/ re-finance just couldn’t be achieved you should look at the following:
- Ideally a court order should provide for a sale in default as this means there cannot be an argument as to what should happen next
- If not practical advice needs to be sought as to options and whether or not the party wanting to stay in the property has any other options. Consideration should be given as to whether a compromise can be reached (as tis is usually the quickest, cheapest and less stressful route).
- If all else fails then, as above, you can return the matter to court under the liberty to apply provisions for the court to make a decision as to what should happen next.
If you have any questions of the above the please do not hesitate to contact our specialist divorce and finance team on [email protected] or our residential property team at [email protected]
