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Can I be obliged to sell house on divorce?


Bunny
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I will soon be divorced and my financial position is likely to get complicated. Our French holiday home is a significant part of our assets. I don't want to be forced to sell it, as I could never afford to buy back into the market. We were married in England. Can I be obliged to sell it under French law?
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As you say it’s a holiday home and not your primary residence I presume you are UK based and are getting a divorce here, in which case French divorce law is immaterial. Being in a similar position myself I’m sorry to say that it will be counted as just another financial asset and will go into the ‘pot’ to be divided in line with everything else. If you want to keep it then the only way is to buy your partners share at an agreed value.

If you are parting on very good terms and you partner also wants to keep the property it is worth exploring the possibility of retain joint ownership on a business footing.

 

Good luck.

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Thanks for the info. Actually, I do not have a base in England, so this house would be my only place to live when not staying temporarily with family in the States. Would that make a difference, if I could show it was my main residence?
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I am also in the position of having to either sell or remortgage my house in France.  I am not divorcing my ex at this point but will have to find a way of paying her out her share.  So far I have had positive reponses from both the Notaires and the Mortgage lenders.  The biggest snag is raising a mortgage large enough to pay her out and still be able to live.  At present I live in the UK but would like to move in the next 12 months. I have secured work in France but it may not be enough to service the mortgage I will need to pay her.  Any suggestions?
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I can only comment from personal experience so I urge you to seek expert advice.

If you get divorced in England and don’t have any dependant children the law now is very fare and all assets are assessed financially for a 50/50 split, so it all depends on your overall financial position. Dependent children put a different completion on things and expert advice is essential.

If you are not a British Passport holder, I guess you may be American, then I believe you can file for divorce in your country of origin and provided there are international reciprocal agreements in place with those countries where you have assets, any settlement is legally binding on your partner and those foreign courts.

If you can prove residence in France you may be able to file for divorce there, but I imagine there is a minimum residency period before you can do this.

But please seek expert advice as soon as possible.

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