Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
How do I respond to a motion to appoint a trustee to sell the property jointly owned with my ex-husband? The judgement of divorce stated "that if for any reason the property is not listed or said property does not sell within a reasonable time period, either party may file a motion to have a trustee appointed to sell the property". The motion was filed by my former husband, and I have to respond. I have a buyer for the home, and I need to know how to respond to the motion. Since I have a buyer, am I able to stop the sale of the home by the court-appointed trustee?
2 Answers from Attorneys
If you don't know how to answer, you should consider hiring an attorney. Otherwise, just inform the court just what you explained in the above question. You will need to provide information and documents that include the identity of the buyer, the agreed price, the signed sales contract, the agent's name, and how far along the process is at this point.
Also licensed and practicing in Maryland.
The first thing you should do is see if the contract offered by your buyer is acceptable to your ex. If so, or if further negotiation with the buyer will yield an acceptable contract to him, he has no reason to continue the lawsuit. If the buyer won't make their offer acceptable to your ex, then he has every right to pursue the litigation, but since that will inevitably result in greater expense for both of you, a better course of action would be to remarket the property through a realtor to see if a better offer is available.