I live in the U.K. on the 3/2/07 my wife walked out of the family home leaving me and our three children aged 16/11/9/ behind. She has now set up a new home for herself 40 miles away from the children.now the question I want to know is as the mortgage is in joint names can she force me to sell the house or can she force me to buy her out. Some people have3 said that she can and others say she can't until the youngerst is 16 years old. So I am quite confused on this subject and would be grateful if someone could give me the right legal answer to this question please.:confused:

Firstnight, it can go either way. If all depends on whether she gets a better attorney that you. You need to hire a divorce attorney and speak with him/her. Please don't put it off. If you want to retain custody of your children and the house, you need to sue her for divorce and press for her to turn the house over to you, if that is what you desire.

Thank you for the response much appreciated

What you need to do is speak to citizens advice, or a solicitor (many will give a free half hour) If you have custody of the kids, and cannot afford the house payments, and she can afford them, she may well be ordered to pay up until the youngest is 18, or you re marry. If she has poor finances also you may well have to sell the house or buy her out, the judge will look at both of your finances and the needs of the children when deciding this. I am going through divorce (in the uk) at the moment, but thankfully we sold the house as soon as we split up so don't have to deal with it now.

Not sure what UK laws on divorce are but the bottom line is how property is to be distributed. If the divorce settlement says that she gets half the value of the home, then you may be forced to sell to raise that amount.

Being the one that is left in the family home with my two children I have learnt that my ex cannot force me to sell or indeed buy out, my solicitor has advised and yes I am also in the uk that until the judge makes judgement on how things are spilt nobody can do anything without both signatures.If your wife has moved out and is not contributing to anything i.e. the mortgage or children she has indeed weakened her case with the judge as has my husband , so if this is the case do not pursue any payment as the longer it goes on the better your case will be because she is relinquishing her right to both purely by her actions.