Ex does not want to sell house despite as agreed in court

[ReadySteady]

Ten years ago we divorced and had a financial settlement agreed in court, which says ex would stay in the house and I would get a quarter of the sale price this year, after the last child finished secondary school.
Now my ex would like to keep the house and proposed to give me some of the money, maybe 2/3, when her sister will buy her out from a second property that they share. This could be any number of months or years from now.
No clear proposal as to the remaining 1/3.

I don't fancy going to court to get and order for sale, as then I will have to sell the place myself. As I think that eventually, ex will need to sell and I will get my share, maybe in 5 years time

Will I be able to get interests for the money the ex owes me during these years, by going to court, and will I get my legal costs paid too?

[R0b]

Hi,

First and foremost, agreeing something different than what was originally agreed in the court order is likely to give you problems and get very messy, very quickly. If you agree something, then you should take steps to formally vary that financial settlement.

You should be able to claim interest from the date she breached the arrangement up to the court hearing and also thereafter if the court agrees post-judgment interest should also apply. There is no guarantee you will get all of your legal fees paid because they have to be proportionate and that doesn’t always happen with lawyers for various reasons. As a minimum, you should expect 60-70% of your legal fees being awarded if successful but if the ex-wife has been unreasonable in her conduct of proceedings, a court may award full costs.

You may want to check if you have legal expenses insurance as you could be covered for this type of situation since a financial settlement is effectively a legally binding contract and most insurance providers will cover up to £50k, with generous providers offering up to £100k.