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Court application to force the sale of matrimonial home

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  • Court application to force the sale of matrimonial home

    Hi there and thanks for your answers...we are separated for almost two years, we are both on the title of the matrimonial home, a buyout is out of the question(we don't qualify) for both of us. My spouse doesn't want to sell the house...just wants me to leave and I will not pay child and spousal support...totally unacceptable for me. How can I start an application to request the court to force the sale of the home ?(step by step) . I live in Ontario, I have no lawyer yet, I make more money to qualify for Legal aid but I have lots of debt...thanks

  • #2
    Originally posted by Bobo27 View Post
    Hi there and thanks for your answers...we are separated for almost two years, we are both on the title of the matrimonial home, a buyout is out of the question(we don't qualify) for both of us. My spouse doesn't want to sell the house...just wants me to leave and I will not pay child and spousal support...totally unacceptable for me. How can I start an application to request the court to force the sale of the home ?(step by step) . I live in Ontario, I have no lawyer yet, I make more money to qualify for Legal aid but I have lots of debt...thanks
    If you have children then you will pay child support. Especially if you take this matter to court. A judge is compelled under law to order child support. You will have to disclose your income and assets on a Form 13.1 (financial affidavit) and child support will be ordered. Don't be a Bobo... Pay child support its the law and you can't avoid it if you do bring matters to court.

    Hire a lawyer. Just based on what you wrote here you are in for a WORLD of hurt.

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    • #3
      Child support is the right of the child and will be ordered, as Tayken said, if matter goes to court.

      Spousal support on the other hand could be waived by the entitled party. So technically, if you wanted, you can agree to let her keep the house in exchange of some sort of unequal buyout and not pay spousal.

      Best to consult a lawyer who will have all the relevant case facts and disclosure to advise on the best course of action.

      Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

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      • #4
        Thanks for your answer...I pay child support right now...my question is...what i have to do to determine my wife(still) to agree to sell the house ?????

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        • #5
          If she can’t buy you out then the house will need to be sold. If you are not living in the matrimonial home but she is then you can request she pay you occupation rent until it is sold. If she does not want to sell then you take her to court for a case conference before a judge to discuss the issue. If she still does not want to sell then, after having first attended a case conference, you can bring a motion before a judge requesting an order that it be sold.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Stillbreathing View Post
            If she can’t buy you out then the house will need to be sold. If you are not living in the matrimonial home but she is then you can request she pay you occupation rent until it is sold. If she does not want to sell then you take her to court for a case conference before a judge to discuss the issue. If she still does not want to sell then, after having first attended a case conference, you can bring a motion before a judge requesting an order that it be sold.
            Thanks for your message...I don't know where to start for a case conference before a judge, especially now with this pandemic looks like everything is on hold...I can't afford a lawyer right now, my job is very slow(covid), paying all the bills and child support and nothing is left end of the month...

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            • #7
              Many lawyers (myself included) will defer fees to the sale of the home. You may want to reach out to some lawyers in your area and see if they'd be willing to do this. You may not have liquidity, but you do have capital.

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              • #8
                Careful when lawyers see all that equity from your home, especially if the house is paid for. Lawyers will stretch the case until they bleed all the equity. It's like a blank cheque sitting there for them. I speak from first hand experience. In my case, in the 7 years my case dragged on lawyers took more than half the equity of my home. My home was paid for at 24 years old from nothing but hard work from ex and I. Now I can't get my own roof over my children's heads. Lawyers helped themselves to a nice family vacation, new car or whatever they did with blood money. Before anyone says it's the cost of divorce, it's the cost of a greedy, broken system. It should NEVER cost you the family home because that would NEVER be the best interest of the children. It's disgusting but the honest truth.

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                • #9
                  I’m going to speak as a lawyer who has worked with home equity to pay the accounts many times.

                  No, we don’t stretch the case to service our own interests. We can’t, it’s up to the parties to fight or settle. Yes when you’re paying from equity you can run up a lot more time (and therefore money) because you’re disconnected from the true expense. Proper (and frequent) billing is essential.

                  Now there are some bad apples out there, like in any profession. But good lawyers don’t need to stretch out the case. There is more business than I can handle, I am only one person and only have a limited number of hours in the day to sell. Stretching doesn’t help me, and it just increases the odds of an adverse assessment.

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                  • #10
                    There are definitely very good lawyers out there and I have dealt with them, but yes, there are many lawyers who look over a file for how much they can get. It is a problem because the decent and fair lawyers are really hard to find as there is no independent un-biased evaluation of lawyers.

                    My ex was taken for a ride by four different lawyers, and yes it was partially him being unreasonable but the lawyers encouraged the delaying tactics because they could charge for each adjourned appearance. The lawyers themselves took advantage by doing things like accepting a low hourly rate (because they had just passed the bar a few months prior) but then dragging what should have been a one hour conference into nine hours at the courthouse to rack up the billable hours.

                    To the OP, you don't need a lawyer, you can file an application yourself with a bit of research but you may benefit from paying a lawyer to review the steps with you and preparing an Offer to Settle and then doing the actual work (drafting; serving; filing paperwork, appearing before a Judge) yourself. Have a look at resources like CLEO and SRLP and read the Family Law Rules. It will take a lot of time to do it yourself, so that is where a lawyer is more efficient - but at a cost.

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                    • #11
                      Also, I do have a few friends who, outside of the court system but with the help of lawyers, drafted a separation agreement where prospective Spousal Support and Child Support was a "lump sum" that basically equalled one spouse's half of the equity so they agreed to sign over the house and not pay any SS or CS. You could also structure it that you owe your spouse $900 a month in SS and CS and they owe you $900/month in equalization payment for the value of the house so both cancel each other out. You need to do the math on what is fair for both of you. Keep in mind you are dividing *all* assets so pensions, car values, bank accounts etc all have to be divided. Both of you should fill out Form 13.1, 13B and 13C to make sure you fully understand your financial picture in the contact of Ontario Family Law. Those forms are available at: http://ontariocourtforms.on.ca/en/fa...w-rules-forms/

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