Ok.. first off he lives in PA... 2nd... his wife ran off with another man, leavng him to fend for himself with the mortgae and all sorts of bills.
Well after 5yrs of him living there and paying off the past debt and keeping up with the mortgage payment( albeit with help of a live in girlfriend )... She now has the nerve to want him to sell the house. I believe she is under the illusion that she will walk away with all this money... she is wrong... even if they make a 20 grand profit, they still have to pay closing costs, realtor fees amongst other crap.
My brother doesn't want to leave... my question is... does she have a legal bearing to force him to sell? The home is still under BOTH of their names.. but he has been the only one paying the last 5 yrs. He is too naïve when it come to theses matters and I'm afraid he'll give in to her... he said he spoke a lawyetr and they told him she can force the sale... I honestly don't believe it
Any advice would be great...

Ps.. I also don't believe there was ever any divorce decree of who gets what... I think they were both afraid of what could have been lost by either of them at first.. I mean she abondned him and the kids... they now share custody.

Hello again, left:

No, she cannot force him to sell. He needs a divorce attorney.

excon

I agree with excon, she cannot force a sale, but she may be able to force him to buy her out. What he should do is get a divorce attorney immediately and file for divorce on the grounds of abandonment. There will probably have to be a settlement of assets, but, given the abandonment, he may be able to come out ahead.

But he REALLY NEEDS to get an attorney and hit her before she hits him.

No, he cannot be force to sell, unless it is court ordered. Divorce

He needs to see an attorney now.

I am confused as to your PS. Are they divorced?

If they look at the marital debts he has paid off alone, versus half of the marital assets, is it about even?

Yes they are already divorced... she is remarried. I don't know what was decided as per the divorce, but he has been living there ever since she left... and paying the mortgage w/o any help from her

Hope that clears up any confusion...
So.. with knowing that is there any chance she can force him to sell... how can she force him to buy out... what if he can't afford that??

We would need to know what was in the divorce settlement with respect to the house. Depending on what it says, its possible she could force a sale of the house to satisfy his obligations under the settlement.