Keeping our home

I have just registered with the site and am really in need of some help and advice. It seems that anywhere I turn the odds are stacked against me. I had temporarily relocated to France for the year in September 2007 due to my husband’s employment. I discovered in November that my husband had been lying to me about a number of very serious issues on the personal and business front. I returned home in December with my three children, with no intentions of going back to France. On my return I discovered that the bank had a repossession order on our house and also that my husband had been bankrupt since 2005! The mortgage had not been paid since February 2007, and he had lied to me on many occasions telling me that all was fine and that the mortgage was paid, and there was enough in the mortgage account to cover payments until the end of December 2007. Even if the arrears are now paid, it turns out that my husband’s trustee in bankruptcy will begin repossessing the house to clear his bankruptcy debts. I do not want to have to sell our home as I have three young children (age 11 months, 3 and 6) who love living there, and it is convenient to school. Since coming home in December I have filed for divorce I have not spoken to him for almost 3 months, and he is obviously trying to make life s difficult as possible for me. I received word from him 2 weeks ago to say that this is not a financial issue, and that if I wanted to live at the house then he could easily pay the mortgage arrears and the bankruptcy debt. He had however told me it was unsafe for me to live at the house, as there were threats to my safety there. I am having to live at my parents time being. I believe he said this to try to keep me in France so that I would not come home to discover the mess he had left back in the UK. He however seems to be putting clauses on paying the debts, and it would appear that he would still want to have his name on the property. I want to see if there is any way I can possibly keep the property as a sole owner going forward. According to the trustee in bankruptcy I would need to buy his share of the property. I will do anything I can to save the house for my three daughters. I have been an innocent victim in this, and have been very hurt by my husband’s lies, deceit and dishonesty. To have my home taken from myself and my three girls is just so awful. Is there any way my husband could be forced to sign over his share of the property due to his gross unreasonable behaviour if his bankruptcy debts and mortgage arrears were paid? Please can someone offer me some help - I am at my wits end, and trying to remain strong for my children.

There is some kind of order you can get to put on a house to say that you are entitled to live there even if you don't own it, as it is your matrimonial home. You would have to get someone else to tell you exactly what it is called.

I have no idea whether this will help in the case of bankruptcy, but it might be worth a try.

dont want to build up your hopes but check out your rights as a sitting tennant or squatter. Something a support worker told me today. to be on safe side ask your solicitor about it.