Section 14, Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA)

[Donchik]

Hello,

I am being threatened with the use of this legislation to force the sale of a jointly owned property.

Does anyone have experience of defending such actions. For example what are the criteria the court uses to decide my right of ownership can be discounted and do I have any counter suit options to recover damages should the order be granted?

For the record, I am happy to sell, however the other party wishes to sell as what I consider substantially less that its worth.

Many thanks
D.

[des8]

I haven't been in that position but I understand In deciding what order should be made, the court will look at:

• the intention of the person who created the trust
• the purposes for which the property subject to the trust is held
• the welfare of any children who live in the property or might reasonably be expected to live in the property subject to the trust as their home
• the interests of any secured creditor of any beneficiary

I have also been advised that if one fails to adhere to the process there may be sanctions and costs implications

[Donchik]

Many thanks, The trust was set up after our father passed away.

Difficult to establish the purpose of the trust except to say because there were 5 beneficial owners, it was needed to show their proportionate shares of ownership. LR Rules over the amount of legal owners.

We've always expected the property to be sold for development, but that was not the purpose in setting up the trust.

I'm really concerned as the other owner is getting increasingly aggressive, and to be blunt selling now in the run up to a recession during a pandemic is at best insane!

Wondering if anyone has experience of defending such an attack, as if the courts force a sale now (Auction?) it's likely that all beneficial owners would lose out and the property would be sold well below its real value. If the sale was forced, would I be able to claim damages from the other party?

Thanks
D

[des8]

I suppose a lot will depend on the reason for the desire to sell the property, but applying for a court order is not necessarily a quick fix.

If one party is looking to sell against the wishes of the remainder have they considered buying him out? Would that be feasible?

If the court orders the sale I don't see what basis you could have for claiming damages