Divorce & financial settlement

[BubbaFett]

Hi there & any advice in this matter greatly appreciated...

I am divorcing my wife & things are complicated not only by having 2 properties, but the fact that her mum lives in one of the properties.

The situation is my new relationship broke down(not with my wife) & I have had to leave the UK to be with family as I have nowhere else to go until the financials are resolved.

My wife resides in property 1, the matrimonial home.

Her mum resides in property 2, our former home which we kept as an investment for the future. Her mum has lived there nigh on 8 years, first 4 she paid rent but since then hasn't paid any - she looks after my son & lives in the house rent free in lieu of the childcare. There is & never has been a tenancy agreement, but I know this may come under implied?

What I am being told by my wife is that her mum is going to fight her rights to stay in the property, effectively stopping me from rebuilding my life & keeping me away from son. She is going to become an intervener in financial proceedings which I am now worried will not only cost more financially, but lengthen the time I have to spend away from my son. I am concerned that she will have sitting tenant rights & I face no prospect of being able to move her out. My wife keeps saying that we told her mum she could stay there forever, but I never consented to that.

The mortgage is in joint names & her mum, other than the early years rent she paid, has no financial interest in the property. I haven't paid the mortgages for about a year since I've not been residing in either property, my wife has been paying those.

Can anyone shed any light on this situation as I'm fretting that this is going to take forever & that I will have no rights to move her mum on so that I can rebuild my life.

if you need any other information, please ask.

[stevemLS]

Re: Divorce & financial settlement

I think you are right to fear that this will be costly and lengthy to sort out.

For what it is worth, my view is that you will have difficulty persuading a court to grant a possession order, which would be required in order to evict her, if for no other reason that your son lives at the property.

[BubbaFett]

Re: Divorce & financial settlement

Thanks for reply but I think you misread me - my son lives in property 1, the former matrimonial home with his mum, I am not looking to move them out of that house, in fact I will sign over all rights to that house.

it is house 2, where the ex mother in law lives on her own that is the issue. She has no tenancy agreement & pays no rent but is looking to intervene in financial proceedings. My view is that surely if my ex wife & son have a roof over their heads, surely it cannot be my responsibility, at the cost of a roof over my head, to continue to house my ex mother in law? If I can't move her out of there, I will be effectively homeless.

[stevemLS]

Re: Divorce & financial settlement

Sorry, yes, misunderstood.

I don't believe she will have acquired any rights over the property or to remain in it.

However, I think you will be in difficulty with possession proceedings given that your wife is joint owner and presumably will not co-operate with any such proceedings.

Others may have better suggestions but mine would be to press ahead with the divorce and financial settlement and deal with MIL as and when she arises - tbh I don't even know whether it is possible for a third party to intervene in such matters.

[BubbaFett]

Re: Divorce & financial settlement

Thanks again so much - I'm trying to make things amicable with ex wife & as financially viable as possible, for our sons future. She is in a well paid job, I'm out of work, she has a roof over her head I don't. I am not going to threaten to move her out of the matrimonial home at all, I want no rights to her pensions, savings whatever & as I have said, I will sign away all rights I may have in the current matrimonial home, which is worth far more than the 2nd home. Ex wife seems ok with her mum dragging things out, so as you say, all I can do is press on & see what happens.

I'm far from my son & feel I am putting his best interests first by not threatening the matrimonial home, I just want to be home soon to rebuild my life again. The worry was a judge ruling in favour of MIL leaving me in a constant state of limbo unable to move on. I've been told she can become an intervener & could even possibly squat if she so wished.

[stevemLS]

Re: Divorce & financial settlement

Have been doing a bit of research and yes it is possible for MIL to intervene.

It is getting a bit late now but others may have something to say so give them a little while.

In the meantime, best wishes for getting it resolved, it sounds a horrible situation.