Financial Split on Divorce
Discussion
My Sister in Law has eventually decided to go ahead and serve divorce papers on her Husband. They split 3 years ago when he cheated on her and it knocked her for six.
She hasn't got a penny to rub together and the separation took so long as he agreed to pay half the mortgage so they didn't have to move out of the house as she was only working part time. She continued to receive half the mortgage payment for three years but nothing else i.e. no maintance for the two kids so she had to go full time, as well as take on extra work during the evenings (dog walking) to pay her half of the mortgage and support the children. Now she has decided to get divorced she has told him she will sell the house as their oldest is at University and youngest at College so she can know look to downsize.
She will be going to see solicitors next week but mentioned to her ex that a 60/40 split should happen as she will need the larger amount to help purchase or rent new property and he threw a fit demanding 50/50 as he had paid half. If they both get lawyers involved would they see the injustice and are they likely to tell her to peruse the 60/40 claim?
She hasn't got a penny to rub together and the separation took so long as he agreed to pay half the mortgage so they didn't have to move out of the house as she was only working part time. She continued to receive half the mortgage payment for three years but nothing else i.e. no maintance for the two kids so she had to go full time, as well as take on extra work during the evenings (dog walking) to pay her half of the mortgage and support the children. Now she has decided to get divorced she has told him she will sell the house as their oldest is at University and youngest at College so she can know look to downsize.
She will be going to see solicitors next week but mentioned to her ex that a 60/40 split should happen as she will need the larger amount to help purchase or rent new property and he threw a fit demanding 50/50 as he had paid half. If they both get lawyers involved would they see the injustice and are they likely to tell her to peruse the 60/40 claim?
tony wright said:
My Sister in Law has eventually decided to go ahead and serve divorce papers on her Husband. They split 3 years ago when he cheated on her and it knocked her for six.
She hasn't got a penny to rub together and the separation took so long as he agreed to pay half the mortgage so they didn't have to move out of the house as she was only working part time. She continued to receive half the mortgage payment for three years but nothing else i.e. no maintance for the two kids so she had to go full time, as well as take on extra work during the evenings (dog walking) to pay her half of the mortgage and support the children. Now she has decided to get divorced she has told him she will sell the house as their oldest is at University and youngest at College so she can know look to downsize.
She will be going to see solicitors next week but mentioned to her ex that a 60/40 split should happen as she will need the larger amount to help purchase or rent new property and he threw a fit demanding 50/50 as he had paid half. If they both get lawyers involved would they see the injustice and are they likely to tell her to peruse the 60/40 claim?
Wouldn't the mortgage payment be classed as maintenance? I think 60/40 in her favour is harsh as the children are pretty much grown ups and could be/should be/are in student accommodation...She hasn't got a penny to rub together and the separation took so long as he agreed to pay half the mortgage so they didn't have to move out of the house as she was only working part time. She continued to receive half the mortgage payment for three years but nothing else i.e. no maintance for the two kids so she had to go full time, as well as take on extra work during the evenings (dog walking) to pay her half of the mortgage and support the children. Now she has decided to get divorced she has told him she will sell the house as their oldest is at University and youngest at College so she can know look to downsize.
She will be going to see solicitors next week but mentioned to her ex that a 60/40 split should happen as she will need the larger amount to help purchase or rent new property and he threw a fit demanding 50/50 as he had paid half. If they both get lawyers involved would they see the injustice and are they likely to tell her to peruse the 60/40 claim?
A friend is going through something similar, he is of the persuasion that as he paid most of the mortgage, it should be 60/40 in his favour, despite him originally cheating on her (7 years ago, they gave it another try, she left him over a year ago) or that she has the 2 children (9 & 12) to raise on approx a 3rd of what he earns.
I tried to explain to him that it needs to be fair, and that would be at least 50/50, any good divorce solicitor could get 60/40 in her favour! And don't even mention the CSA (or whatever it's called this week).
Agree, the cheating is irrelevant. I suppose the question of fairness comes from him paying 50% of the mortgage costs for the last three years. If he then receives 50% of the value of the house in reality he has paid nothing towards the cost of the kids since the split. He did remind her that he had given her more than 12k since they split (his half of the mortgage payments). Really it's been an investment for him as he will get it all back plus extra as the value of the house has risen.
Division of marital assets is a complicated area with no guarantees whatsoever, and you can easily torch tens of thousands arguing via solicitors.
You can't simply look at the house equity, you need to look at all marital assets including pensions, and even the future earning potentials of the parties.
Having said that, assuming that are a normal couple and not mega rich then what she proposes is not unreasonable, especially if she isn't going after a share of his pension (if he has one).
I agree that both of them should view the payment he made as child maintenance and she paid all the mortgage.
You can't simply look at the house equity, you need to look at all marital assets including pensions, and even the future earning potentials of the parties.
Having said that, assuming that are a normal couple and not mega rich then what she proposes is not unreasonable, especially if she isn't going after a share of his pension (if he has one).
I agree that both of them should view the payment he made as child maintenance and she paid all the mortgage.
tony wright said:
She hasn't got a penny to rub together and the separation took so long as he agreed to pay half the mortgage so they didn't have to move out of the house as she was only working part time. She continued to receive half the mortgage payment for three years but nothing else i.e. no maintance for the two kids so she had to go full time, as well as take on extra work during the evenings (dog walking) to pay her half of the mortgage and support the children. Now she has decided to get divorced she has told him she will sell the house as their oldest is at University and youngest at College so she can know look to downsize.
What counts as full time education can be the start of many a battle in a divorce settlement.Section 25(3)(d) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/18/sectio... - may be engaged.
tony wright said:
She will be going to see solicitors next week but mentioned to her ex that a 60/40 split should happen as she will need the larger amount to help purchase or rent new property and he threw a fit demanding 50/50 as he had paid half. If they both get lawyers involved would they see the injustice and are they likely to tell her to peruse the 60/40 claim?
The purchase/rent new property argument cuts both ways. However, if she argues on the basis of needing to be able to provide a roof over the heads of the children during the holidays until they finish their full time uni/college courses, she may succeed in getting a bigger slice of the total cake. If it comes to a dispute it will be down to a judge to decide. Far better if the parties can come to an agreement, otherwise escalating costs could easily wipe out any supposed gain for one side or the other. It's no different to unravelling any other business contract. The trick is to try to take any emotional baggage out of the equation and to be pragmatic. Unfortunately one or both sides in a divorce often don't.
I had a similar situation with a son and daughter both at uni. Fortunately my soon-to-be-ex was neither stupid nor greedy and we had no difficulty finding common ground. The main one was not lining the pockets of the legal profession. We told our respective solicitors exactly what we wanted to achieve and and instructed them not to muck about and get on with drawing up the agreement with the correct form of words to give effect to it.
In this case, if the separation began before the kids left full time secondary education the lack of any financial contribution, other than the mortgage payments, by the husband for the relevant period is likely to count against him imo.
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Jim1556 said:
Wouldn't the mortgage payment be classed as maintenance? I think 60/40 in her favour is harsh as the children are pretty much grown ups and could be/should be/are in student accommodation...
A friend is going through something similar, he is of the persuasion that as he paid most of the mortgage, it should be 60/40 in his favour, despite him originally cheating on her (7 years ago, they gave it another try, she left him over a year ago) or that she has the 2 children (9 & 12) to raise on approx a 3rd of what he earns.
I tried to explain to him that it needs to be fair, and that would be at least 50/50, any good divorce solicitor could get 60/40 in her favour! And don't even mention the CSA (or whatever it's called this week).
When a friends wife decided to divorce him, he had to hand over £2k a month spousal maintenance (their kids are grown up) and a significant % of the marital home. He had a good job and paid for everything, his wife worked part time.A friend is going through something similar, he is of the persuasion that as he paid most of the mortgage, it should be 60/40 in his favour, despite him originally cheating on her (7 years ago, they gave it another try, she left him over a year ago) or that she has the 2 children (9 & 12) to raise on approx a 3rd of what he earns.
I tried to explain to him that it needs to be fair, and that would be at least 50/50, any good divorce solicitor could get 60/40 in her favour! And don't even mention the CSA (or whatever it's called this week).
50 / 50 is the only reasonable split.
It should be 50/50 of everything, though. So 60/40 on the house might end up being the right number.
If they can manage to be decent to one another it will save them both an absolute fortune. Once the lawyers get involved it will be expensive. Very, very expensive.
It should be 50/50 of everything, though. So 60/40 on the house might end up being the right number.
If they can manage to be decent to one another it will save them both an absolute fortune. Once the lawyers get involved it will be expensive. Very, very expensive.
Russ T Bolt said:
When a friends wife decided to divorce him, he had to hand over £2k a month spousal maintenance (their kids are grown up) and a significant % of the marital home. He had a good job and paid for everything, his wife worked part time.
I nearly threw up then, £2k a month in spousal f
king maintenance???This isn't America!
She got half or more of the proceeds, any financial tie should then cease, other than children in full time education to the age of 18! Anything more is taking the piss!!!
Why should she get 60/40?
I'm now divorced, wife walked out while I was at work leaving the kids with me and has been aggressive over the divorce.
Doesn't contribute to the children other than the odd £10 or £20 , has claimed 40% of my pension and told me she's doing me a favour as she could of had 43% and during mediation I said I wouldn't go through CSA stating that life would take care of her ( karma)
Her reply was ok then I won't go for spousal maintenance!
The one agreement were both ok with is a 50/50 split
I'm now divorced, wife walked out while I was at work leaving the kids with me and has been aggressive over the divorce.
Doesn't contribute to the children other than the odd £10 or £20 , has claimed 40% of my pension and told me she's doing me a favour as she could of had 43% and during mediation I said I wouldn't go through CSA stating that life would take care of her ( karma)
Her reply was ok then I won't go for spousal maintenance!
The one agreement were both ok with is a 50/50 split
If he gets away with 60/40 then he's getting off lightly. We don't know the background but its pretty common that the husband has a chance to build his career whilst the wife is usually more impacted by having children - so this can be factored into financial split, which is only fair really - as can his pension.
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