Many couples with a variety of levels of income take the decision to buy a property abroad at some point during their marriage.
However, an increasing number of these couples who are now facing divorce are finding that falling property prices in countries hit by the Euro crisis are turning their dream holiday home into a nasty sticking point in the financial settlement.
Settlements are having to be reached where the holiday home is not actually worth anything and in some cases vast sums of money have been lost or still owed on it.
This is a result of couples buying holiday homes in countries such as Spain, Greece or Italy, where the Euro crisis has hit the economies hardest.
In many cases significant losses have been incurred on a holiday home yet there is still a mortgage to pay.
A further issue arises where the holiday home is awarded to a party by an English court but the partner whose name it is registered in refuses to hand over any of the proceeds of sale. This can lead to a lengthy legal challenge in the jurisdiction of the country that the property exists in order to uphold the order made by an English court.
These issues can often lead to spiralling and unnecessary additional costs being incurred during a divorce. If you are considering a separation and you or your partner own a holiday home then you may find it useful to seek professional advice from one of our Family Solicitors through our Free Initial Consultation.
Alternatively, you may wish to give consideration to utilising our Mediation services. For more information about Mediation, please visit our designated Family Mediation webpage.
This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.
