Is it possible to buy a charge thats on a property (third party)?

[angie_mck]

My partner was given £50,000 charge on the property his ex wife bought with the proceedings of the sale of the marital home when they divorced. He can realise the charge is she either 1, Remarries, 2, Co-habits or 3, the youngest reaches 18yrs of age. They have 3 children but only one under the age of 16. His ex wife run up huge debts just before the divorce and she lied to the judge saying that she didnt have the capacity to earn any money as she was depressed. Two days are the judge awarded her everything she started 5 jobs and 3 of them cash in hand!!!! The debts caused my partner to go bankrupt and he lost the charge in the process. She has now been co-habiting for the last 2 yrs so the insolvency practioner is now in the process of realising the charge but she is pleading poverty. She has made them an offer, not the full amount though. I know someone who will buy the charge and they will wait 4yrs till the youngest child is 18 then go for the whole £50,000. This way my partner will at least get something.
So, is it possible to buy this charge 3rd party from the insolvency practioner?

[Buenchico]

The mechanism for transferring a charge (whether or not it's done in return for a payment) certainly exists. It simply involves completing this form
http://www1.landregis...ary/documents/TR4.pdf
and lodging it with the Land Registry (who can advise you on any relevant fees)

The duty of an insolvency practitioner is to maximise the assets available for paying to creditors, so it's possible that he would consider an application for the transfer of the charge in return for an appropriate payment. It's certainly worth asking.

Chris

[themas]

Anyone who wants to buy the charge will have to negotiate the amount of the payment with the Official Receiver (or bankruptcy Trustee if one has been appointed). If the OR considers they won't get the full £50K from the ex wife then they are duty bound to consider any offer higher than the sum the ex wife could provide.

BUT the OR has the power to ask for a Court order for sale of the house. If they go down this route & the Court grants the order then they will realise whatever is available once the house is sold & any higher ranking charge (eg the mortgage) is paid off. So, if the OR thinks they can get the whole £50K this way they may well not accept any offer.

If the person you know does obtain the charge, I don't see why it is necessary to wait 4 years - you say the ex is co-habiting so it should be possible to realise it now.