Divorce advice needed pls

[amglover]

Put this in the finance section but didnt get much response so here goes....


Will try and make this as short and to the point as poss as asking on behalf of a mate.

He and his wife have been separated for a few months now and it looks like divorce is on the cards, so he wants to know where he stands financially. One nipper involved and they have been married for 2 years, they have a property together mortgaged for 200k interest only, and about 30k of credit card debt (in his name) most of this was spent doing up their house. Both working full time earning the same money and no savings to speak of.

Main things he wants to know are listed below.

Will the 30k debt be split between them

Who gets the house as it was bought with a 30k deposit given from his folks and they now want it back, which I think he has in writing somewhere

Will he have to make any other financial commitments towards her apart from maintenance for the nipper


Thanks chaps!

[Justayellowbadge]

The debt should be considered a marital debt, regardless of whose name it is in.

A lot of what will happen will depend on the arrangements regarding the child. If the little one stays with mum, she will, in all likellihood, get the house. Again, that will also depend on the equity left in it.

He is not going to like what is about to happen to him at all.



There is a pretty good calculator app on wikivorce.com that will crunch all the numbers.

Edited by Justayellowbadge on Wednesday 15th July 18:29

[V8mate]

The credit card debts are his alone.

The Matrimonial Homes Act means that she can stay in the house until the child is 18 if she wants to. Up to her if she'll agree to it being sold any earlier than that (unlikey if thre isn't much equity in it)

[Justayellowbadge]

V8mate said:

The credit card debts are his alone.

I had to pay my wife's.

[JonRB]

Justayellowbadge said:

The debt should be considered a marital debt, regardless of whose name it is in.

Perhaps morally. But since they are in his name they will be considered his.

I have exactly the same situation in my own divorce right now, so I am speaking from experience.

[Maxwell Smart]

Justayellowbadge said:

V8mate said:

The credit card debts are his alone.

I had to pay my wife's.

that seems fair....not

[Justayellowbadge]

Maxwell Smart said:

Justayellowbadge said:

V8mate said:

The credit card debts are his alone.

I had to pay my wife's.

that seems fair....not

The concepts of 'fair' and 'divorce' are diametrically opposed.

[JonRB]

Justayellowbadge said:

The concepts of 'fair' and 'divorce' are diametrically opposed.

So true.

[anonymous-user]

Try to keep lawyers out of it and keep it civil.

If it turns nasty, the fairness of the divorce will depend largely on who can afford the best legal representation.

[V8mate]

Justayellowbadge said:

V8mate said:

The credit card debts are his alone.

I had to pay my wife's.

That would have been as part of some kind of settlement, though. Legally, the debt is owed by him to the CC company, no matter what the monies were spent on.

[The Moose]

I have heard (but honestly can't remember where) this piece of advise:

Have a free first consultation with as many divorce lawyers around (worth taking a day or two off work) as you possibly can.

Start with the really best lawyers around and work your way down that way.

Most will give you free consultations.

My understanding is that because you have consulted with them, it would be a conflict of interests if they then work with your wife. Hence you are forcing her to go with a "worse" lawyer.

This is just what I have heard. I have no idea if it is BS or not, but if there is any possibility of it being true, worth a day or two?!?!

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong - I am not in the legal profession, nor profess to be an armchair lawyer...???

Cheers

The Moose

[jimbo65]

V8mate said:

The credit card debts are his alone.

The Matrimonial Homes Act means that she can stay in the house until the child is 18 if she wants to. Up to her if she'll agree to it being sold any earlier than that (unlikey if thre isn't much equity in it)

[jimbo65]

Sorry, debts on credit cards are considered to be a matrimonial debt

[JonRB]

jimbo65 said:

Sorry, debts on credit cards are considered to be a matrimonial debt

Perhaps if you can prove if they are matrimonial and a judge orders them to be treated as such.

But in a majority of cases, it's in your name it's your debt. It's your credit rating that suffers if you don't pay it.