ex hubbys wife after half my house after 20 yrs of me paying for it on my own legal fraud.:(?

[charger777]

[fredpuli47]

A bit more detail would be helpful ! Is ex-hubby's wife divorcing him ? What order was made as regards this house when you divorced him? I'm guessing at possible scenarios and none of them make much sense !

[MarkRae]

As others have said, you provide very little information.

it sounds to me like you and your husband divorced over 20 years ago when the house was in your joint names, he moved out and got remarried, but you stayed in the house and continued paying the mortgage whilst the ownership of the house remained in your joint names.

In which case, he still owned half of the house at his death and, depending on his will, his most recent widow now owns it.

For heaven's sake, seek legal advice!

[charger777]

sorry. i have been divorced since 1985, hubby left emptyed the bank account, left me to bring up 2 daughters ...he remarried 18yrs ago.but his name still on the deeds to my house , which he never contributed to in any form deserted his children ...he died august last year...and has left his half to his step children, im now in battle with his widow who is now claiming she wants 30,000 settlement from me, she also has never been here or contributed a penny..im stumped i have a solicitor who i have no faih in .:(

[MarkRae]

Then find another solicitor!!!!!

Take the morning off work and go to your local CAB. If I were in your position, my first thought would not be to post in here...

[mightyWBA]

Tread very carefully with solicitors if it comes to a battle they will have it all.
I would try citizens advice first.
If his name is on the deeds then legally half the house belongs to him,however you have to agree to sell it if your name is on the deeds as well.
The fact you have paid the mortgage for 25 years should hold a lot of weight.
Counter claim half of what you have paid toward the house against his estate if it gets nasty.
They might back down.
Get rid of your solicitor if you have no faith,they are a selfish bunch.
Be careful and good luck!

[fredpuli47]

Sounds to me as though you've got a claim in equity on established principles, which could very well be quite enough to extinguish any claim the widow has on the house. She knows,or her lawyer knows, she's 'fishing for money' which is why they've pitched the claim at only £30,000 in the hope you'll offer them something to go away.They can't think they've much of a claim at that 'price', putting it kindly.

[charger777]

fred thanks for your reply, i did sort of think if they thought they had the claim on half they would have gone for half..and i agree she is wanting to make some easy money

[charger777]

wBA counter claim good idea...thanyou :)

[fredpuli47]

By the way,if the house was owned 'jointly' and held on what we call a 'joint tenancy' the whole of his interest is extinguished automatically on his death and it's all yours anyway, simply because he died before you.That means he has nothing of it to pass to his widow and she has no claim. Not so if it's held on a 'tenancy in common' . the other way in which a house is owned 'jointly'. Then his interest passes on his death. An obvious point, but you never know what her lawyer has been told or been bothered to check!

[charger777]

fred you know your stuff....before he died had theTennancy Severed so that means hes already divided his half from me..but i still have to pay the whole amount of mortgage which should have finished last year but im now playing catch up for when i was home with the children..he seems to have tied up everyrhing..i have paid for it to go to court a judge i think is my last chance whom is the only one who can overturn all this mess

[Barmaid]

You definitely need legal advice.

What were the terms of your divorce with regards to the house? Whilst you have paid the mortgage on "his half" this could be deemed as occupation rent. I would seek legal advice with a view to sorting it out along the lines fredpuli says. I would also suggest you ask about the possibility of making a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 assuming you have never remarried.