forcing ex to sell our house

[bobpants]

hi i need some help here!
i split up from my ex over a year ago(we were NOT married)we have two children aged 4 and 6, both of our names are on the mortgage and deeds.
after attending mediation and months of letters between solicitors it seems that she does not want to sell the house(although she had agreed to it in principle in mediation).
there is about £40000 equity in the house which is a 4 bed terrace,she does not want to let me buy her out as any money will affect her benefits which is also the reason that she does not want to sell.The mortgage for the last year has been mostly paid by me from a joint account that we still have,the money in this joint account is dwindling as she won't pay any more in and i cant afford to either,so it would seem the only option would be to sell up before it gets re-possessed.
i have contacted an estate agent to put it on the market but she wont answer any of my calls and wont speak when i pick my kids up from her so i cant get an estate agent in.
As she is unwilling to sell it would seem my only option is to apply to the court to force her to sell up which is a last resort for me as nobody wants to go to court and the costs will be severely damaging to the equity
my questions are-
would i have a strong case for winning the case.
would a judge allow me to buy her out if i was to ask
what sort of costs could i expect and who would pay costs
thanks for any help!

[askyourgran]

I agree with Icg, there has to be fairness for both partners. It goes without saying that the children will be looked after. Circumstances change all the time. There must be a lot of lonely old blokes still paying for their mistakes while living in a dump unable to move on (with a new partner maybe) because of ex partners like this. She's on to a good thing and she knows it. He is being used for what he can earn. What happens if he loses his job?

[lcg]

yay...a sensible female perspective at last. i do think bobpants has to man up and bite the bullet now, rather than leaving it to fester into a worse situation where she and all the other bleeding hearts will still say...but he has a duty to the children!!! he also has a duty to himself as a fellow human being. mate...just because she does have you by the cajones now does not mean you have to let her lead you around by them too. good luck x