Housing options following separation

Thank you for replying, I sincerely hope that my fears are exaggerated but can see no light at the end of the tunnel yet!
My husband started divorce proceedings against me 2 years ago in order to force me to sell my property and to "cash in" basically. He is 64 and I am 57. He is the Petitioner and has taken it to Decree Nisi which was last August but probably as the property has not been resolved he has not proceeded to decree asolute.I have enough grounds to do this myself if it would help my situation. We have bee seperated for 18 months.
I do not receive any benefits because I get rent from the property and a small pension which put me over the £733 legal aid limit by about £50 per month. Great
Any insight or advice on my situation would be most gratefully received, many thanks.

Well, let''s see, shall we.

The first thought is, why can''t you live in your own house. Well, obviously, there is a tenant there, so first question is, if you wanted to reclaim possession so you could live there, how long would you have to wait ?

Let me ask you another question, and I''m playing devils advocate here. Do you think that, if you got vacant possession, you could sell it and buy a suitable house for yourself out of the proceeds ?

You see, there could perhaps be two reasons why you are not getting benefits. The first could be your company pension, but the other, and just as likely, is that the value of the house is counted against you as capital.

HOWEVER

If you live in the house, it is not counted. Well, of course, you get a rental ( I assume ! ) but you''re taxed on that and you have all sorts of liabilities that go with being a landlord these days.

You say you have a small pension. If you live in the house, then it does not count against you and I suspect - in fact I''m **** sure - that at the moment, it does.

So, assuming you live in your own house, is it possible that you could qualify for benefits ? Well, I don''t know but it''s sure worth checking. You see, at your age having a house which is yours outright reduces your housing costs very dramatically, if you consider what renting would cost.

Now - your reference to your husband getting £35,000 '' from the last FMH '' . Can you please elaborate. This looks to be as though he''s had this bite at the cherry and wants a second bite.

Your say he''s in local authority accommodation. Next to a freehold, this is about as sure as it gets. I''d argue pretty forcefully that he''s housed already and he''s trying to put you on the street so that he can spend the money on drink.

Your income is too low for maintenance to him to be an issue. So we can forget that. You need somewhere to live and he is securely housed. The Court must make sure you have somewhere to live.

And legal aid is not a gift. He''d have to pay it back and any capital sum he received would be deducted from his benefits. It''s the most rubbish claim I''ve seen for ages.

But anyway, I''ve asked you a few questions so perhaps you can answer these.

LMM

You have made my year saying "this is the most rubbish claim you have seen for ages" Yeah! Thank You!
I left the property initially in June 2011 as he had started divorce proceedings against me in March but I was still expected to cook, clean, sleep with him and pay all of the bills as usual. Arguements ensued and the police were called several times so in the end I left for my own sanity. He could not hack it there on his own as it is an old run down farmhouse 3 beds and quite expensive to run but I love it there. The council re-housed him but he later threatened to burn the house down, super glued the locks to the doors and I was too scared to move back alone especially before the police granted the restraining order.
The tenants have another year left of their 2 year tenancy.
The house has a £35k mortgage and has been way overvalued at £175,000 but I do not want to move I want to live back there especially as my daughter and grandson will be moving back in with me.
We were getting divorced then he talked me into one last chance and the previous house was sold and we travelled around Europe for a few months. He was cruel to the children so I left him with a new Land Rover, caravan and all of the household effects amounting to around £35,000 which he agreed would be his settlement if it did not work. Unfortunately he found us when I had bought this house and moved in on us and subsequently put a charge on this house.
Your opinion on this situation is very gratefully received. Thank You.

I suspect he can''t put a charge on the house. He can do this only if the house is, was or is intended to be, the marital home and I don''t think it ever has been any of these. Or am I wrong ? You mentioned you say he '' moved in on us ''

You say divorce proceeedings have started. .What stage have they reached ? In particular has the Absolute been issued ?

LMM

He put a charge on this house with his solicitor when he had moved away again virtually as soon as he had found us after we ran away from him in Gibraltar. My solicitor did not query this at the time but no it was never intended to be the matrimonial home like I said he had already had £35k and agreed to let us go our seperate ways if things did not work out.
My husband started divorce proceedings against me 2 years ago in order to force me to sell my property and to "cash in" basically. He is 64 and I am 57. He is the Petitioner and has taken it to decree Nisi which was last August but probably as the property has not been resolved he has not proceeded to decree asolute.I have enough grounds to do this myself if it would help my situation. We have been seperated for 18 months. So would it make a difference between nisi and Absolute at this stage please.

Yes, I think it could, but I don''t think there is any rush.

I am trying to work out what this '' charge '' actually is. Normally a charge is - well, something like a mortgage, some third party has a charge as security for some payment which is due.

It is often found where, for one reason or another, one spouse ( usually the wife ) is allowed to live in the house for a given time, but the husband still retains an interest in the house which will be realised at some time in the future. The purpose of the charge is to prevent the wife selling the property an absconding with the money.

But I don''t think this is what we''re talking about here. What I think it is is a notice of matrimonial home rights.

These rights are :
If the non-owning spouse is in occupation, a right not to be evicted without the leave of the Court.
If not in occupation, a right to return, with the leave of the Court
So in practice this means that one spouse can’t ‘ order the other out ‘ and the non –owning spouse doesn’t have to go merely because the other says so.

In your case this is academic ; he can''t live in the house because is is tenanted and even if it wasn''t I don''t think a Court would re-admit him if he has accommodation on his own account.

But these rights end on divorce, and therefore, on the Decree Absolute his rights end and you could remove the notice.

I''m no expert on legal aid but I believe that legal aid in family cases will be withdrawn from April 6th. But I think your husband''s problem is, leaving that aside, he is securely housed , he will be on benefits, and any sum he receives over £6000 will affect those benefits. Not to mention that he will have repay his legal aid.

But I need to be clear what this '' charge '' is ; if you have a look at your title can you send me the exact wording and then I can work it out.

LMM

I am sorry for the delay in replying but I have been inundated with more queries from solicitors I am sure it is because he has a Legal Aid Certificate insitu and I have to pay!
In 2003 I was served with Notice of a matrimonial home right under the family law Act 1996. I never did anything about this as we were getting divorced at the time and it was served by his solicitor.
I have now however been served by the Land Registry with B133 Notice to a registered proprietor of an application to enter a unilateral notice. A unilateral notice in respect of a pending land action regarding a property adjustment order in the Swansea County Court.
This is so complicated. I transferred adjoining farmland to our 2 children in 2004 as soon as my eldest was 18 and was allowed to own property. My ex- is contesting this even though it was not part of the title deed that he had already made a charge on.
I don''t do anything by halves do I?
If I have bored you to death by now I understand but I really do appreciate your input and your insight, far more encouraging than my solicitor I must say. Many thanks x