The first is where after the breakdown of the relationship between unmarried partners – and one party wishes to sell the property, and the wish of the other party is to retain a house or flat.
In this situation, one party can apply to Court for an Order for the sale of the subject property. This is under section 14 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.
The Court has a wide discretion whether or not to order a sale of the property and if so upon what terms.
Under section 15 of that Act, the Court is directed to take the following circumstances into account when exercising this discretion; –
(a) the intentions of the person or persons (if any) who created the trust,
(b) the purposes for which the property subject to the trust is held,
(c) the welfare of any minor who occupies or might reasonably be expected to occupy any land subject to the trust as his home, and
(d) the interests of any secured creditor of any beneficiary.
It is quite normal for the party wishing to remain in the property to buy out the interest of the other party at an agreed price. However, this is not always an affordable option to the party wishing to remain. In such a case, other options may be considered.
In this situation, we will use our best efforts to resolve the matter amicably upon reasonable and sensible terms for our client-including through the use of pre-action mediation- in an effort to avoid costly and time-consuming legal proceedings. We can provide initial advice through the use of a fixed fee meeting or telephone conference. There will be no charge for initial telephone calls.