Divorce questions

woodbutcher_2

My wife left me two years ago this coming tuesday(9th March) and i want to get a divorce.I know i can get one with her leaving the marital home 2 yrs ago but am i right in saying that i need her consent?She will not contest anything and the split was amicable.We have already split everthing to our mutual satisfaction;her taking the house we rented out and me keeping this one.We split everything else as best we could and she has moved away.The questions i have is:what is the easiest and cheapest way to go about it?Do i need to get solicitors involved?I was amazed to see companies advertising divorces over the internet for as little as £27.99,can this be done?Has anyone on here done their own divorce?Also,the house is still in joint names on the mortgage and when i enquired about getting her name removed,the mortgage company said i had to do a tranfer of equity and want an arm and a leg for doing it.Anyone know of a cheaper way?I am pretty sure my ex will go along with anything and sign whatever it takes to do this but unless i set the ball rolling,she never will.

Thanks for any advice.

mutley74

see if this thread helps

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=129792

BrokeBrunette

I can only offer you my opinion from personal experience and obviously everyone has differing opinions.

I split with my ex husband and we still remained friends. We made a verbal agreement regarding finances and I set the divorce in motion. (filing the papers etc is actually very easy to do yourself. I did and it saved me a fair bit in solicitors fees). However 5 months down the line he suddenly changed his mind. By this time I had a new mortgage agreed, had paid all divorce fees and thought it was going to be plain sailing. After 20 years together I had no reason to doubt his word. My solicitor later told me I was foolish to accept a verbal agreement and 15 months later we are still in a legal battle over finances.

I guess the point I am trying to make is don't assume that your ex will go along with it. Maybe he/she will and maybe they won't. The divorce part is the easy bit, but any good solicitor will ensure you don't finalise your divorce (decree absolute) until all finances have been fully settled. I would definitely enlist a solicitor to unravel the joint mortgage etc but that would also be for my peace of mind. At least you know it is done properly - even though you will be paying for the privilege. Save money where you can by doing your own divorce and filing the papers at court yourself, but make sure a solicitor unravels the legal/finance stuff is my advice. As I said previously I can only give you my personal opinion but I hope it helps.

Good luck

Doodles

Hi, yes you do need her consent at the 2 year mark - its only when you have been separated 5 years or more that consent is not needed by the other person. (obviously the rules are different when divorcing for violence, unreasonable behaviour etc etc, but that doesn't apply in your case from what you're saying)

My husband divorced me after 2 years - I gave my consent, it was amicable. We did not use solicitors, you can apply to the court and its a matter of both you and your wife filling out forms. There is a charge for this which you would have to pay. At the time my husband did it (5 years ago) I think it cost him about £150 in court fees. I didn't have to attend the court whatsoever.

Not sure I can give you any advice re. the mortgage. Me and my ex had a joint mortgage as well, and I wanted his name off the mortgage, but the mortgage lender wouldn't do that because my single income was less than than the 3.5x what the mortgage was at the time. I ended up selling the house, and giving my ex an agreed sum of money from the profit.

Hope it all works out for the best for both of you.

Bossyboots

You can do the actual divorce yourself. The most important thing though is that you MUST tie up the financial arrangements in a consent order approved by the court. This order mush contain a clause preventing each from claiming against the other later on.

The filing fee for a divorce petition is now £300 and the fee to apply for the decree absolute is £40. Only people on benefits/low income qualify for exemption so the firms charging £27.99 are charging to produced routine paperwork. The fees will be payable direct to the court on top of that.

There is little you can do about paying the mortgage company fees. They have you over a barrel. They simply won't allow a change to the mortgage status unless you pay for it and sometimes they refuse outright anyway.

mutley74

if you both agree to a divorce and yoru finances then dont waste money on solicitors. I have spent over £8k so far!

Bossyboots

atpug wrote:

if you both agree to a divorce and yoru finances then dont waste money on solicitors. I have spent over £8k so far!

You should not cut corners on the drafting of the consent order and get this done by a solicitor. If things are agreed then the details can be given to a solicitor to draft the deed. They will advise that full disclosure should be obtained and you will have to sign a disclaimer to say that you have received that advice and choose to ignore it. It is when couples cannot agree that big money can be spent and 8k is a figure at the tip of the iceberg.

Be aware that the court may ask the parties to attend to satisfy the Judge that the consent order is fair to both parties although he/she may accept a written details. This will only happen if on the face of it, it seems to favour one party at the expense of the other.

Be even more aware, that without this order either by consent or made by the court, future wealth is at risk of a claim by the ex spouse.

woodbutcher_2

Thanks for all the advice.I am almost certain that my wife won't come back for anything as she got a good dollop anyway and there is nothing to stop me going after that.We both have a lot to lose financially and nothing to gain.There is no animosity between us but i understand that it's probably best for all concerned if it is sorted out legally.
Thanks again.

Bossyboots

woodbutcher wrote:

Thanks for all the advice.I am almost certain that my wife won't come back for anything as she got a good dollop anyway and there is nothing to stop me going after that.We both have a lot to lose financially and nothing to gain.There is no animosity between us but i understand that it's probably best for all concerned if it is sorted out legally.
Thanks again.

Future inheritance, future lottery win, future accident compensation.

You'd be surprised how quickly people decide they would like a cut when these sorts of events happen.

woodbutcher_2

Yeah,i suppose you are right but isn't it difficult to believe that someone you once loved isn't to be trusted? Sad world.

BrokeBrunette

woodbutcher wrote:

Yeah,i suppose you are right but isn't it difficult to believe that someone you once loved isn't to be trusted? Sad world.

You're right, it is sad but it happens. I would make sure you have everything sorted legally and then you can put it behind you. That's exactly what I intend to do. Best of luck, hope it all gets sorted quickly, easily and cheaply for you