Angela Brown
Daniels LLP Solicitors I WANT to sell our house but my husband doesn’t. We have no children or dependants. What’s the legal position? I PRESUME that you and your husband own the property jointly. If your husband refuses to agree to sell then an application will have to be made to court. It’s not clear whether or not you and your husband have decided to separate. If you have then the easiest way of dealing with this would be to issue divorce proceedings and at the same time issue an application for financial provision. Making an application to court is an expensive and sometimes lengthy process. I suggest that you initially contact a family solicitor since the first step would be to write to your husband setting out your proposals. It may be that there are assets other than the matrimonial home which need to be considered. MY wife has Alzheimer’s and I am worried that she may need to go into care. I was told that the local authority would take any monies we have over £44,000, but I now hear that in the case of mental issues this rule does not apply. THE NHS should pay the full cost of a nursing home if the resident is there primarily for medical reasons. Otherwise the local authority will pay but can recover the money from the resident by taking nearly all their income and their capital until it is reduced below £23,250. Note that the local authority could only take your wife’s money, not yours, and that your wife’s interest in any house you occupy could not be taken into account. This is a complicated area and you should, if necessary, take advice from a specialist solicitor. Also, the Alzheimer’s Society website has a useful section on the subject. I NEED to find out who owns an unoccupied property nearby, but I find it’s not registered at the Land Registry. I have contacted the local authority to inquire who is responsible for council tax payments, but they say disclosure would be in breach of data protection. Is this correct? Where do I go from here? THE electoral register is open to inspection of course, but council tax records aren’t. In this situation your best bet is to ask at nearby properties to see if anybody knows the owner or their whereabouts. Unregistered properties especially risk being appropriated by squatters. Anyone could move in and claim ownership after 12 years’ unchallenged occupation.
NO NEWS ON GROUND RENT
FOR the last three years I have received no correspondence from anyone about my ground rent. I have a name and address, but a letter requesting a statement received no reply. What can I do? YOU’RE in a very common situation. It’s possible that the freeholder has died, in which case an executor or beneficiary may contact you in due course. No ground rent is owing unless it has been demanded, so you have nothing to worry about and the collectors of the ground rent can only claim a maximum of six years’ ground rent from you.
Call SAS Daniels LLP Solicitors on 0161 475 7676 or 01625 442 100. Visit www.sasdaniels. co.uk. If you have any legal questions, write to Weekly Law and You, MEN Media, Mitchell Henry House, Hollinwood Avenue, Chadderton, OL9 8EF, or leave your query on the legal advice line 0117 964 4794.