Selling the marital home

Hi Mike

Thank you for your advice. The price was agreed between us at the beginning after advice from our estate agent. He then had an independant valuation done which valued the house at £25,000 below that price. I was informed of his valuation through his solicitor. This of course was before the credit crunch and he was happy to leave it at the price it was at that time.

In relation to him now suddenly demanding occupation rent. Does anyone know what this is and is it enforcable?

As soon as I moved back into the house full time I took over all the bills. I pay all the utility bills including standing charges. I also have paid the building and contents insurance(we have still not divided furniture etc so half is his. I am covering any maintainance on the property which has included me decorating parts to keep it up to a good standard for selling.

The only amount he pays is for our interest only mortgage. This amounts to £40 a month. He is not happy to pay this and wants me to pay this as well. I did not choose to be left with such a large house to maintain and it was his choice to buy another house rather than buy me out of the marital home. It would of course have been easier all round if he had as he could have sat on the house till he was happy prices had recovered.

Best wishes

Jade

Occupation rent means that the spouse who is occupying pays to the other a sum to reflect the fact that (s)he is living in a house which belongs in part to someone else. Such orders are very rarely encountered and you're about as likely to see a dodo in your back yard as you are to encounter one.

In your case the Court hasn't ordered it and I think I'd be inclined to say that the situation has arisen as a result of his own intransigence in pitching the price too high. I think I'd tell him to take a runninbg jump ( couched in suitably legal terms ).

mike 100468

Mike

I am inclined to agree with your summing up as regards the occupation rent. Nothing was in the order in relation to it. I certainly don't think it will be worth his while to go through the solicitor route and court (though rational thinking is not one of his strong points). I think he will be seen to be unreasonable in his stance with both selling the house, asking me to pay the £40 a month interest only on the mortgage and occupation rent when his income is at least 3 times mine.

I think I will just ignore his email and wait and see what happens. Thank you for your advice and yes, I will one day tell him to take a run and jump when the moment is right.