Advice for friend please!

BARGAINHUNTER!

Hi

Just after some advice for my friend.

He has recently seperated from his wife of 14 years, they have 2 children. He has moved out of family home, but is giving his ex the money to pay the mortgage with, plus other bits as and when required for the children (he is self employed).

He has always handed over the mortgage money to his ex telling her that it is for the mortgage, but she has recently turned round and said it isn't its child maintenance. I have told him that he needs to make it very clear its for the mortgage, as if not it would look like he had walked out and left her to pay the mortgage on her own, which wouldn't look good when it came to sharing out the house (he intends to pay mortgage until children have left full time education and wife and children continue to live there but hasn't seen solicitor yet as things are still a bit raw) Is there anyway that he can make it clear now that the money he is giving her is for the mortgage? What she has done is cancel dd from their joint account (before they closed it) and set it up again from her own account.

Also, do you know what % share of the house he would be entitled to in the future providing he carries on paying the mortgage in full? Is it 50%? Would this % share change if he only made 50% contribution to mortgage and said the other 50% was child maintenance (Is £600 a month paid to his ex a month - £300 for 50% of mortgage and £300 maintenance). My friend is finding finances extremely tight at the moment as he has had to rent somewhere else (caravan on caravan park as that was all he could afford) His ex works (bringing home approx £900 a month based on approx 35 hours a week) and claims tax credits and gets child benefit. She pays all houshold bills while my friend is continuing to pay mortgage in full. He sees the children regularly and has them stay over. His income is quite erratic as he self employed builder so not good at the moment!

Thanks!

mrcow

He absolutely has to go and see a solicitor asap.

Doing anything without one is really silly when there is so much at risk.

If he thinks he can't afford it, then he doens't have a proper grasp on the situation. He simply can't afford not to.

BARGAINHUNTER!

Im trying to get him to see one on a free half hour appt but they only been seperated just over a month and he thinks its too soon - i think at the back of his mind he thinks they going to get back together (I doubt this very much). From what he has told me I think she sees this as permanent - she has notified council tax and tax credits and she has said that she does not want him back. She has informed everone that they seperated. If worse did come to the worst i think he would be quite happy to wait 2 years to get divorced to make it cheaper - does he still need to see a solicitor now to sort out finances and access to children formally or can they do it informally? I think he just needs advice on what the best course of action would be to protect himself in the future. And he does not have any money right now for solicitors costs!

Cazza

BARGAINHUNTER! wrote: »

I think he just needs advice on what the best course of action would be to protect himself in the future.

This is why he needs to see a solicitor. Agreements are so specific to individual circumstances that no one here can really say what should and shouldn't be happening.

mookiandco

Just by paying the mortgage doesnt mean that his entitlement to the property will be any greater. Its a 50% start but there are various factors that have to be taken into account when deciding each parties share this includeds, earning capacity, age, length of marriage, income, capital, outgoings etc etc. No-one can say what he will be entitled to without the financial details of both the parties. Only a solicitor will be able to give him some idea and even then it wont be a definate percentage until all the information has been exchanged.

If he insists it is mortgage money then he may have to pay child support on top of this if she decides to make an application to the csa. Can i suggest he looks at the csa website to find out how much child support he should be paying. Technically she should be paying half of the mortgage after all she still lives there. If he pays her child support + his half of the mortgage and the ex decides to use this to pay her half then that will be a matter for her.