help! can someone please advice me further?

i have been divorced for 16 years,ex-wife stayed in former matrimonimal home,two children,girl/boy.

court order gave her occupational rights,custody,and two thirds equity in lieu of child maintenance.however i have always paid volutarily for children and always tried to help ex-wife pay her bills still!and made occassional mortgage payments.after seperation she was on income support and interest only was then being paid to lenders.subsequently the mortgage loan as increased.

i have not however maintianed a good record of my payments and would not wish to go back to court again over any issues.had enough for one life time.i did not sign the house over at the time as the courts requested me to!ie. sign conveyancing document!thats why i am still firts named on the deeds!she as never yet got it enforced by the courts?

my concerns now are that she is not making regular payments to halifax and i am getting letters to pay mortgage.she is living in property with her boyfriend,their son of 13. yrs. and my son of 23. yrs. old.

i do not wish to see the house repossessed or my son made homeless.my daughter left home some years ago now and her life is in a big mess also. i have been living in different accomodations since divorce but now i am living in my brothers house paying him rent.

what i would to know is what ex-wifes legal rights are if i do not pay and allow the house to be repossessed?i have been told that the moment she is evicted all her rights are null and viod?is this correct?and that before the halifax can sell to anyone else i am legally entitled to redeem the mortage but the halifax would want all the arrears,legal aid charges,and costs they inccur through repossession paid of as well.

as i am not in a position to afford or raise enough money to buy out my ex-wifes two thirds equity i was wondering would it actually be possible in practice the moment she is evicted to actually do exactly this.ie. walk into halifax redeem mortgage,pay off her legal and mine,and the costs?although her legal charge and the arrears and the costs and recover the property without having to buy her out or getting her permission for me to do this?i know it is very complicated idea but could it work inpractice? i know her debts are not my responsibility but finding the moneys to do all this would be enormaously a lot less than the two thirds i would require in a normal transfer of equity!

questions. can she block this manouvere or the halifax. could i do without hers or the halifaxs permission?

if i did achieve this idea would it be of benifit in recovering the property or even after she is evicted would she still be entitled to her two thirds equity the court originally awarded her? i am hoping if she allows herself to be evicted if all her rights are null and viod that this would/could literally apply to the court order?i know i am looking for a miricale to happen.she is not going to give me the house back and if i was going to try to buy back off her she would want every penny she could get out of me,for this reason it is now beyond my means.unless some how repossession can somehow work in my favour after all these years?

i know the questions are coplex and its no good me asking solicitors a] they are 150 pounds an hour,i cant afford.and thy all give you different answers anyway.

if i achieved recovery some how after repossossion by redeeming mortgage,would she be entitled to move back in the property?

if i am entitled to redeem the mortgage after repossession how can i get her name of mortgage and the deeds without hers or the halifaxs permission without me having to but her out?relinquish her two thirds???

is there a gnius out there or genourous millionaire who can help me?

please reply asp. to my e-mail address. "lesliemaisey@hotmail.com"

thank you.

09/05/03.

-- leslie maisey (lesliemaisey@hotmail.com), May 09, 2003

Answers

Leslie,

Sorry to hear of your problems, they're certainly complex. I'm afraid I can only make a few observations and suggestions. You say that solicitors have come up with different answers, I don't think you can rely on the courts either. The lender will, of course, have to go to court to get a possession order. It's not unheard of to find different courts come up with different answers on the same issue, look at Simon Wiggin's comment about MIG cases in my posting "On the MIG Question" for instance. If I were you, I think I would contact the Halifax manager and ask his or/and their legal department for advice. The law is heavily weighted on the side of the lender, so if you can reach some sort of an agreement with them I think you would be half way there. After all the lender wants to get their money and it's you who's got it. Good Luck.

Mark.

-- M Amos (idgroms@hotmail.com), May 12, 2003.