divorce advice

sablade

pls give me advice

my friends husband has walked out and wants divorce

she has 2 young kids and part time job

will she be forced to sell house and take a council house?

I thought she could keep house til kids are 18 is that no longer true?

cazziebo

sablade wrote: »

pls give me advice

my friends husband has walked out and wants divorce

she has 2 young kids and part time job

will she be forced to sell house and take a council house?

I thought she could keep house til kids are 18 is that no longer true?

Was it ever true?
The husband has to pay maintenance for the children (don't know how it works with CSA, my split predates the CSA) until they are 18 or leave full time education. As there are now two households to be maintained - the ex has to live somewhere - then it's not usually financially possible to keep the marital home. However it usually means downsizing.

FWIW, when I was in this situation I was told that I had to be homeless before I could be considered for a council house ie default on mortgage and have house repossessed. Thankfully, I found a job and managed to keep the house and pay childcare (not a lot of cash left after that!).

Horrible horrible situation. Look after her. It's my friends that got me through it.

Paparika

sablade wrote: »

pls give me advice

my friends husband has walked out and wants divorce

she has 2 young kids and part time job

will she be forced to sell house and take a council house?

I thought she could keep house til kids are 18 is that no longer true?

It's not so bad living in council property, it's what you make of it

sablade

is there a website than summerises the law as to what happens in divorce? When a lawyer advises their client what are the basic rights of either side?

cazziebo

Paparika wrote: »

It's not so bad living in council property, it's what you make of it

I agree - and I'd have been quite happy had that been possible. However, with the stress of divorce, single parenthood etc etc, I don't think I could have faced a repossession and eviction on top, not to mention probably having to move kids away from friends and my own support network...hence why I was thankful that we were able to stay in our home

Becles

There are no hard and fast rules of what happens to the maritial home in a divorce case.

They need to work out the total assets of the marriage including the home, any savings and investments, pensions etc. Then they need to work out a fair split of the assets. Usually 50/50 is a starting point, but it could go 60/40, 70/30 etc., in the wife's favour depending on the ages of the children, future work prospects etc.

If she is keen to stay in the home and the asset split doesn't cover the full equity in the home, she can either buy him out by increasing the mortgage or taking out a loan, or she can have a contract drawn up which means she can remain in the home until the youngest child reaches 18 and then split the equity with her ex-husband.

In my case I took out a loan to pay him off, as I wanted to stay in the home with the children and I didn't want to have the equity sharing thing hanging over me for a number of years.

While I'm sure you can see why your friend needs a home to house the children, you also need to consider that the ex needs funds to find a home too which is big enough for him to care for the children in when they go and visit.

Cat695

There is many options open to her

How bad is the split? if your friends goes on benefits then he will be taken to the cleaners by the CSA.....if she does that then he has every right to only support them and sell the house splitting everything by half

If she doesn't want to loose the house she could come to some terms with her ex and he pays for the house and she will not get the CSA involved (friend of mine did this) however again if she goes after benefits the CSA WILL get involved if she wants them to or not(he could then decide he will no longer pay for the house)

You only have to pay CSA up untill they are 16 not 18 UNLESS they go into further education

Please be aware the CSA can cause SERIOUS problems to what can otherwise be quite a amicable split.....if they are still talking and can get past the initial shock of divorce then it would be better for ALL to NOT go near the CSA

However if he can't be trusted in paying for the kids then go for the CSA and do what others have said before me and try and buy him out the house

It really pays not to be nasty to each other over things like this (they were actually in love once) so PLEASE don't go telling her she can take him for everything she can as its NOT true!! they need to sit down and talk simple as that!!

Kimitatsu

You only have to pay CSA up untill they are 16 not 18 UNLESS they go into further education

But dependant on the ages of the children, this years year 7 will have to stay in full time education until they are 18.

The way it usually works is that the house is split on a 50/50 basis and then what is taken into account are the other assets in the marriage, other property, pension etc. Also taken into account is the time she has taken away from employment to have the children and if that is why she is working part time that is taken into account to, as well as how well she has been able to provide a pension for herself up until now and will be able to do so into the future.

If she cannot afford to buy him out of the property once the split has been made then he can apply for a mesher order which allows her to stay in the property until her youngest child leaves full time education (not including University unless by agreement) and the house is then sold and the profits split as per the mesher order.

As for the CSA, as long as he is prepared to support his children - for 2 children it would be 20% of his net salary that he would need to pay her and she is not claiming benefits such as Income Support, then she can have a private agreement. If she is claiming IS then the CSA will automatically become involved and she will be given either the full maintenance but no means tested benefits or £10 of the maintenance and benefits. Maintenance is not taken into account when Working Tax Credits and Child tax credits are calculated.

Hope this makes things a little clearer.

loftus

Kimitatsu wrote: »

But dependant on the ages of the children, this years year 7 will have to stay in full time education until they are 18.

The way it usually works is that the house is split on a 50/50 basis and then what is taken into account are the other assets in the marriage, other property, pension etc. Also taken into account is the time she has taken away from employment to have the children and if that is why she is working part time that is taken into account to, as well as how well she has been able to provide a pension for herself up until now and will be able to do so into the future.

If she cannot afford to buy him out of the property once the split has been made then he can apply for a mesher order which allows her to stay in the property until her youngest child leaves full time education (not including University unless by agreement) and the house is then sold and the profits split as per the mesher order.

As for the CSA, as long as he is prepared to support his children - for 2 children it would be 20% of his net salary that he would need to pay her and she is not claiming benefits such as Income Support, then she can have a private agreement. If she is claiming IS then the CSA will automatically become involved and she will be given either the full maintenance but no means tested benefits or £10 of the maintenance and benefits. Maintenance is not taken into account when Working Tax Credits and Child tax credits are calculated.

Hope this makes things a little clearer.

The mesher order would only be agreed if she can afford to take on the mortgage payments from her income. It all depends on their financial situation at the time. it isn't a certainty.

Blakey1982

Just thought i'd throw in that when my brothers ex took him "to the cleaners" they worked out all of his outgoings etc and a fee of £7.50 per week for one child was deemed acceptable.

Needless to say the ex-girlfriend wasnt happy as she was previously getting £250 a month - It pays to be nice to each other.

My brother now pays her £7.50 a week direct debit and has the kids 2 or 3 nights a week and alternate weekends - he ensures he keeps a log of everything paid for and has done for 2 years. The children never go without including horse riding lessons for the girl and Karate (or whatever) for the boy, not to mention 2 savings accounts in there names currently stacked with £100 a month each.

The ex-girlfriend is still the local Spar's best client and white lightning is grateful!!