Ex in prison for child sexual abuse - trapped in mortgage and lost

[Mancrick101]

Hi,

Really turning to here in search of any pointers.

I own a home with my ex partner, who lived with me and my daughter (now over 18 and registered disabled).

4 years ago, my ex partner was found to have been sexually abusing my disabled daughter, from the age of 10 right through to her being 15 years old. This came to light almost 5 years ago and my ex partner was arrested and bailed, then released due to insufficient evidence. We appealed, and this process took over a year, resulting in the decision being reversed, and he was charged with several offences of sexual abuse against a child.

Another year later, there was a trial by jury and he was found guilty on all counts, and sentenced to imprisonment. He is almost half way through an 8 year prison sentence of which he will serve approx half.

Meanwhile, I am paying the mortgage and myself and my daughter are living in the family home.

The offender’s relative is now acting on his behalf in negotiating a way forward in terms of the property. I made an offer 12 months ago to buy my ex partner out, (apparently his vile abuse of a disabled child is not relevant when it comes to property law) but this was refused and it was (unbelievably but potentially legally correct) suggested that I should be paying him “rent” while he is not living in the house!

I understand that I will not be able to renegotiate with the mortgage lender to change mortgage product once my fixed term ends, meaning I will default to a variable rate, which will likely be unaffordable.

I believe I cannot obtain a mortgage in my sole name, due to the property being owned jointly? So therefore I’m unsure of my options. Can this sexual abuser force the sale of my home? Does it matter that my disabled daughter lives here with me?

Is he likely to be able to come out of prison and force a sale of the property? Even if he cannot, how do I escape this mess and rid him from my life?

Solicitors are advising that I need a specialist in this field (whatever this field is) and there is absolutely no advice on the internet (it’s as though nobody has EVER been in this situation.

What statutes should I be researching?

Any pointers would be hugely appreciated.

Mandy

[atticus]

Welcome to the forum. I am sorry to read this.

You are the joint owner of this property. It follows that the other party does have rights in the property, as do you. The key question appears to be to determine the value of your respective interests in the equity. You do not say whether you and your ex partner made a declaration of trust when you bought the house - I will assume you did not.

So determination of the values of your respective interests will require detailed examination of who has paid what. This includes mortgage repayments.

The relevant statute is the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, commonly referred to by lawyers as TOLATA. Find someone in your area with experience of TOLATA cases.

Under TOLATA either party can go to court seeking an order requiring the property to be sold, and determining how the net proceeds are to be divided (see section 14). Factors that the court will consider are set out in section 15(1); the court may also consider your daughter's needs in view of her disability.

This is a very quick overview, and I hope that it helps. I agree that you need specialist advice. As I said, you should find someone in your area with experience of TOLATA cases.

[Mancrick101]

Thank you so much for your response, which is immensely helpful! The information re TOLATA is extremely useful, as I wasn’t aware of which statute dealt with such issues. I am going to take a look at the act, in particular sections 14 and 15 as you mentioned.

Thank you again.