Domestic abuse victim — forcing the sale of a former matrimonial home after divorce

Our Legal Director Kirsten Tomlinson is an expert in family and divorce law — especially when it comes to cases of domestic abuse and dealing with vulnerable clients. 

Some years ago, she worked on a particularly distressing financial enforcement application on behalf of a wife against her husband to force the sale of their former matrimonial home.

The husband was in prison, serving a lengthy sentence for the rape and sexual assault of the wife. He was an extremely controlling individual whose influence was felt even from behind bars, where he managed to cause issues in relation to the sale of the property.

Here’s how Kirsten managed to secure the sale while protecting her client from having to face her abuser in court…

Impeding the sale of the former matrimonial home

Our client was fragile, anxious and very softly spoken — which was understandable, given what had happened to her and that she was now facing difficulties with the sale.

Before Kirsten was instructed, our client had already reached a financial conclusion to her divorce and a final order was made by the court. This meant that the former matrimonial home was to be sold and split on a 60/40 basis in the wife’s favour. 

Yet despite offers being made for the property, the husband refused to accept them — impeding the sale in an effort to exert further control over our client.

Implementing the terms of the financial order

Kirsten’s job was to help the wife implement the terms of the financial order because her husband was refusing to allow the former matrimonial home to be sold. 

To achieve the right outcome that she deserved, Kirsten firstly gathered evidence from the estate agents to prove that the husband was refusing to accept reasonable offers for the property. This included evidence that the offers being made by potential buyers were reasonable and should have been accepted. 

Kirsten then wrote to the husband to ask for his agreement to accept such offers and allow the sale to proceed. While he refused, providing him with a chance to comply was an essential step that caused him to breach the financial order — allowing us to issue court proceedings on the wife’s behalf.

Issuing court proceedings and securing Special Measures

After exhausting all the options to try and deal with this matter outside of the courtroom, Kirsten was ultimately forced to issue court proceedings to enforce the terms of the order. 

This led to a hearing, for which Kirsten attended court alongside an expert barrister. The husband was summoned from prison to attend and permission for Special Measures was granted by the court to keep our client in a safe room during proceedings so that she didn’t have to see her husband. This protected her from the emotional and physical terror that she would have felt if the pair had come face-to-face.

The husband tried to use this opportunity to change the Judge’s mind about the division of the net proceeds of sale — claiming that this was the reason for him not agreeing to the sale, despite the fact that it was ordered by the court.

The Judge explained that nothing could be done about the final order and dismissed the husband’s arguments before making a new order that allowed the wife to take over the sale. She was then entitled to sign the paperwork and allow the sale to complete without the husband being involved. The Judge also granted Kirsten’s costs application which required the husband to pay her legal fees for making the unnecessary application to court. This would be paid from the husband’s share of the net proceeds of sale.

Selling the former matrimonial home

Our client was relieved that her former matrimonial home could be sold and ties could be cut to her husband without having to see him in court. 

She received her share of the net proceeds of sale plus an additional amount to compensate her for paying our legal fees to get the enforcement and costs order against her husband. If he had complied with the original terms of the financial order, she wouldn’t have needed to issue proceedings and he wouldn’t have been left out of pocket.

The money enabled her to move on with her life and took away the last form of control that her husband had over her.

In future, the court may be wise to consider including a default position in circumstances like this. Where there’s a risk of one party not complying with the order for sale, they could be given a certain period of time in which to accept reasonable offers for the property. If they refuse, the paperwork could then be sent to a Judge for signing but without the need to issue formal proceedings and incur further costs and delays. The paperwork could even be sent with a copy of the original order along with the evidence from the estate agent to confirm that the offer is reasonable to accept. 

Expertise with vulnerable clients

This case demonstrates the value of choosing a solicitor with experience in working with vulnerable clients. Here, the wife needed a sensitive and empathic approach and confidence in Kirsten taking the lead on such a bold application to secure the right outcome.

Solicitors themselves would do well to consider the impact that any legal action like this could have on their clients and encourage them to seek extra support if needed (for example, from their GP or counsellor to help them throughout the process). As in this case, protective measures may be required to prevent clients from being triggered and having to face their abusers in the courtroom. 

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