Separation of joint assets

[cwilsonbrown]

My husband and I have separated after living and working in Spain for 8 years, I have returned to Uk with our 15 year old daughter and he is living in our jointly owned property in Spain with a new partner. Does anyone know what the law is in Spain regarding forcing sale of a property if one party will not pay an agreed financial settlement to transfer the property?

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Madam,

Co-owners can always force the sale of a property through the law courts. Please read my article on deed of Dissolution of Joint Property Ownership:

Dissolution of Joint Property Ownership in Spain - 14th November 2007

Quoting an excerpt:

One of the Co-Owners Refusing to Sell?

There are times in which one of the joint-owners may decide he needs to sell the property and the others refuse to buy it from him, either because they don’t have the money to buy his share or simply because they refuse to sell the property all together. In these cases a dissolution of joint-ownership may be enforced by a law court (arts 406 and 1062 Civil Code). The drawback is that the asset will be sold in a public auction which will fetch a price far below the market value. This is only advisable as a last resort where there is a serious disagreement, as all joint owners stand to lose.

Forcing a sale thorugh the law courts involves litigation fees so it is more expensive than an amicable DJPO (usually 1% of teh property value). Besides, the price fetched at the public auction will most likely be well below the market price price of your property so you both stand to lose a great deal of money.

Which is why I advise you to only follow this option only as a last resort for your own sake.

Please contact us if we can assist you on representing you on this matter.

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt