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Success story
The agency’s email was short: his former wife had turned Saturday’s viewers away again. That made eight lost viewings in a year. She still lived in the house. He asked us what to do about an ex ignoring a court order to sell the house they owned.
A sale ordered, then a year of cancelled viewings
Their children were grown up. On divorce, the court approved the financial order they agreed. Their home would be sold and the net proceeds split equally. It gave them joint conduct of the sale, set no dates or price, and directed neither to sign.
Then nothing moved. She cancelled viewings and stopped answering the agency, which took the listing down. She was ignoring a court order to sell, while he paid rent on a flat and half the mortgage. He felt foolish for trusting the order.
What the law says about an ex ignoring a court order to sell the house
The court ordered the sale under section 24A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Section 24A(2) lets it add consequential or supplementary provisions as it thinks fit. So an order can say who runs the sale. Section 31 lets the court vary an order for sale, so when an ex is ignoring a court order to sell, a thin order can gain detail.
Then there is section 39 of the Senior Courts Act 1981. Suppose the family court has ordered someone to sign a contract, conveyance or other document, and they neglect or refuse. The court can then nominate someone to sign instead. The document takes effect as though the refusing party had signed it.
Section 39 needs an existing direction to sign, however. If the order has none, ask the court to add one.
How we guided him back to court
With joint conduct, no dates and no direction to sign, section 39 had nothing yet to enforce. So, to enforce a court order to sell the house, we advised two steps: vary the order first, then use section 39 if she still refused.
We helped him gather the agency’s emails logging each lost viewing, his unanswered letters, mortgage statements and two valuations. She ignored his last letter asking her to agree a timetable within 14 days.
First, he applied himself, with our guidance, to vary the order. He asked for sole conduct of the sale and viewings on 48 hours’ notice. He also sought a direction that she sign the sale contract and the transfer deed within seven days of a request. A further direction would make her give the buyer possession on completion. Rule 9.24 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 gives the court that power.
We advised him to seek a penal notice on the viewing direction too. Under rule 37.2, that notice sits prominently on the front of the order and warns that disobedience risks punishment for contempt.
How the house sold and his share reached him
At the hearing, after a year of ignoring a court order to sell, she asked for more time. The judge varied the order as he asked. The asking price was fixed from the two valuations and could drop if no acceptable offer came in by a set date. Viewings began within a fortnight.
An offer followed, yet she let the seven days for signing pass. He then applied under section 39 on Form D11, the general application notice in the financial case. The court nominated a person to sign the contract, and later the transfer, in her place. She moved out before completion, as the order required.
The conveyancer repaid the mortgage and sale costs, then split the rest as the order said. The court also ordered her to pay part of his costs of that second application. Outcomes depend on the order and the facts, so yours may differ.
If your ex is ignoring a court order to sell the house
This week, read the order. Check who has conduct of the sale, what dates it sets, and whether anyone must sign or give possession. Keep a dated record of every cancelled viewing, agency email and unanswered letter. Save originals, and delete or edit nothing. Meanwhile, pay your share of the mortgage unless the order says otherwise.
Do not strike a new deal by text without advice, force a viewing, or post about the dispute online. If a letter setting a deadline goes unanswered, apply to enforce the court order to sell the house.
If you are owed money instead, read our Form D50K guide. Rule 33.3(2)(b) lets you ask the court to pick the method, such as an attachment of earnings order. Our guide to enforcement of financial court orders covers the rest. If the court has not ordered a sale yet, see how another client obtained an order for sale.
“Put three things in one file first: the sealed order, a dated list of every refusal and two recent valuations. Then ask for directions a stranger could follow: who instructs the agency, the asking price, how much notice a viewing needs and the date to sign by. Ask too for the order to say who pays the mortgage until completion, so arrears do not become the next argument.”
Garry Steedman, Family Law Consultant (Divorce, Children & TOLATA), Kabir Family Law
Stuck with a sale that will not move?
Is your ex ignoring a court order to sell the house? Bring the order and your record of refusals to a free initial consultation. Everything stays confidential, with no commitment. We will read the order with you and explain your next step. Read about our approach to these success stories.
The legal issue
The marriage had lasted most of their adult lives, and the children had left home. On divorce, the court approved the financial order the couple agreed: the jointly owned family home would be sold and the net proceeds split equally, with her living there until the sale. The order gave them joint conduct of the sale but set no dates, no price and no direction to sign. For a year she cancelled viewings, stopped answering the estate agency and ignored his letters, and the agency took the listing down. He rented a flat, kept paying half the mortgage and could not reach his share of the equity.
The law this rests on
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 s.24A(1): where the court makes certain financial orders, including a lump sum order or a property adjustment order, it may then or at any time afterwards make a further order for the sale of property in which either or both spouses have a beneficial interest.
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 s.24A(2): an order for sale may contain such consequential or supplementary provisions as the court thinks fit.
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 s.31(1) and s.31(2)(f): the court has power to vary or discharge an order made under s.24A(1) for the sale of property.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010 r.9.24: when the court makes an order under s.24A, it may order any party to deliver up possession of the land to the purchaser or any other person.
- Senior Courts Act 1981 s.39: where the High Court or family court has directed someone to execute a contract, conveyance or other document, but the person so directed neglects or refuses, or cannot be found after reasonable inquiry, the court may order execution by a person it nominates; the document then operates as if the person first directed had executed it.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010 r.37.2 defines a penal notice as a notice displayed prominently on an order's front page, which warns that disobeying it can lead to being held in contempt and punished, for example by imprisonment, a fine or confiscation of assets.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010 r.18.1(2)(a) and (c) and Practice Direction 5A para 2.2(ii): an application made in the course of, or in connection with, proceedings under Part 9 (financial remedies), such as this section 39 application after the varied order, follows the Part 18 procedure on Form D11.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010 r.28.1: the court may at any time make such order as to costs as it thinks just. In financial remedy proceedings, r.28.3(5) and (6) start from no order for costs but let the court make one for a party's conduct, and r.28.3(7)(a) makes it consider any failure to comply with a court order.
- Family Procedure Rules 2010 r.33.3(2)(b): an application to enforce an order for the payment of money may ask for such method of enforcement as the court may consider appropriate (Form D50K).
How we approached it
We read the order with him and explained why section 39 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 could not yet help: the order did not direct anyone to sign. We advised two steps: ask the court to vary the order under section 31 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and add clear directions, then use section 39 if she still refused.
We helped him assemble the evidence: the agency's emails logging each lost viewing, his unanswered letters, his mortgage statements and his tenancy agreement. We suggested two written valuations, and helped him write a last letter asking her to agree a timetable within 14 days.
He made the application to vary the order himself, and we guided him through it. He asked for sole conduct of the sale, viewings on 48 hours' notice, a direction that she sign the sale contract and the transfer deed within seven days of a request, and possession for the buyer on completion. We advised him to ask for a penal notice on the viewing direction. When she later let the signing deadline pass, we helped him prepare a second application under section 39, which he made on Form D11 in the same financial case.
The outcome
The judge varied the order. He had sole conduct of the sale, the asking price was fixed from the two valuations and could drop if no acceptable offer came in by a set date, she had to let buyers view the house on 48 hours' notice under a penal notice, and she had to sign the sale contract and the transfer deed within seven days of a request and hand the buyer possession on completion. Viewings began within a fortnight and an offer came close to the asking price. When she let the signing deadline pass, the court nominated a person to sign the contract and later the transfer in her place. She moved out before completion. The conveyancer repaid the mortgage and sale costs and split the rest as the original order said, and the court ordered her to pay part of his costs of the second application. Outcomes depend on each order and its facts, so another case may end differently.
What to take from this
- Read your order first: who has conduct of the sale, what dates it sets, and whether it directs anyone to sign or to give possession.
- Section 39 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 only helps once the court has ordered your former partner to sign. If the order says nothing about signing, ask the court to add that direction.
- The court can vary an order for sale made under s.24A, so a thin order can gain dates, a price and sole conduct for one of you.
- A penal notice on a direction warns that disobeying it risks punishment for contempt of court.
- Keep a dated record of every cancelled viewing and unanswered letter, save originals, and delete or edit nothing. Pay your share of the mortgage unless the order says otherwise.
- Do not make informal deals by text or email without advice, do not go to the house to force a viewing, and do not post about the dispute online.
- If you are owed money rather than a sale, you can ask the court to choose the method of enforcement.
Checked and approved for publication by Hannah Overton.
Last reviewed .
