Overpayers beware!!!

matto

There may be advantage in having the mortgage in your name only. In the event of a divorce you won't have to worry about taking his name off the mortgage. But it is likely you'll have to remortgage anyway in order to buy him out.

You also want cash to pay his half of the equity if you do divorce. This would be best accumulated using an offset mortgage. The savings are offset against the mortgage reducing your interest repayments, much like normal overpayments but the overpayment is always there for you to take out.

He doesn't personally owe half the mortgage but in deciding what he gets out of a divorce the value of the equity is the value of the house minus the outstanding mortgage. He would also get half your savings including any that are in the offset part of the mortgage.

Bil2

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Divorce aims for a clean break (more so, if there are no children) - so it's unlikely he would contribute to the mortgage after divorce. Instead, the Courts would likely look to your joint net worth - total of your assets, his assets, joint assets... less your debts, his debts, joint debts.

Take the result - split it 50:50. If you are prepared to give some assets to him (e.g. cash) you might get to keep the house (would you want it?).

If you could not resolve all this (via the Financial Dispute Resolution process) then the Courts would probably arrive at this split. Either way, you get a Court Order stating what you've agreed. If he then refused to agree to the sale of the house, you will probably need to return to Court to have the Order enforced (as it will have stated that the matrimonial home is to be sold and the proceeds to be split x, y & z). So .. in conclusion, I really don't think he could block the sale of the house. And I think there's every chance you could stay there, but you'll probably have to part with some cash

Regards

I think you misunderstood. I don't want to sell the property, I was worried that he or the courts might be able to force a sale.

I understand now- basically all my assets will have the mortgage amount taken out. For e.g. (figures for calculation purposes only. p.s. I wish I had£150,000 in savings and non-property related assets!)

Savings and non-property related assets: £150,000
Mortgage debt: £100,000
Total assets owned= £50,000

Is this example calculation about right?

If so, it's not brilliant, but things are not as bleak as I'd originally thought.

Thanks so much for your help Debt-Free-Chick.

[Deleted User]

What make you so sure he will actually GET half?

He can claim what he likes but it's up to the Court to decide who gets what.

If you can show how much you have both contributed towards the items you have bought during your marriage and it shows you have contributed more - then why would you not get it more back?

Obviously other things can complicate how a Court would divide up the marital spoils - but if you have no children, I fail to see why things will not be divided up proportionately to what each person contributed.

Obviously contesting it costs both of you more in the end with the only winners being the solicitors.

If you really cannot make him see that he (and you) will lose out financially in a very big way to the solicitors, by not coming to some sort of voluntary agreement, then you need to weigh up how much you can afford to lose by contesting what he is claiming and if it is easier to just give him what he is asking in the first place.

Bil2

The thing that amuses me about all this is that if I followed my husband's lead (i.e. spend unnecessarily and hardly save), I'd be so much better off in the event of a divorce!

Right then! I'm gonna sell the property, cash in the equity and rent. The way I figure it is if I waste my money on loads of stuff like shoes, clothes and get regular expensive haircuts (i.e. stuff that he wouldn't/couldn't claim and stuff that has no real value) I'll be sorted.

See ya later folks- I'm off to call the estate agent to put the flat up for sale, then I'm I'm off shopping... Gucci, Armani, Prada (plus other expensive brands)... here I come!!!

Oh- I might pack in my job as well- may as well live off his earnings from now on seeing as we're married and supposed to share everything, anyway!

Bil2

(I'm only kidding by the way! I'm far too sensible... which is why I'm in the crappy position that I'm in!)

Bil2

Deleted_User wrote:

What make you so sure he will actually GET half?

He can claim what he likes but it's up to the Court to decide who gets what.

If you can show how much you have both contributed towards the items you have bought during your marriage and it shows you have contributed more - then why would you not get it more back?

AT LAST A SANE PERSON IS ON THIS THREAD!!! Thank you God!

That's exactly the way that it SHOULD be- but by law we're married, so the starting point will always be a 50-50 split. Even if my husband didn't want 50% of my assets, he would be legally advised to claim 50% and I don't know whether or not he would succumb to the temptation.

Debt_Free_Chick

Bil2 wrote:

Savings and non-property related assets: £150,000
Mortgage debt: £100,000
Total assets owned= £50,000

Is this example calculation about right?

Add the value of the property and his assets - less all debts. Balance is 50:50

It would then be up to you and your solicitor to argue that you are owed more e.g. because you own the majority of the assets and he owns the majority of the debt. If can both agree to a settlement, then you take that to Court and (in most cases) it gets approved.

If you can't agree, then you each present your case to the Court and the Judge agrees.

The vast majority of divorces are done on the basis of a split of assets that's agreed between the two parties. It's rare that an agreement cannot be reached and the Courts have to decide.

Debt_Free_Chick

Bil2 wrote:

AT LAST A SANE PERSON IS ON THIS THREAD!!! Thank you God!

That's exactly the way that it SHOULD be- but by law we're married, so the starting point will always be a 50-50 split. Even if my husband didn't want 50% of my assets, he would be legally advised to claim 50% and I don't know whether or not he would succumb to the temptation.

Spot on. But if you have a strong case to prove otherwise, your solicitor will put it to his solicitor and he may be advised to settle. It's only if the two of you cannot agree, that the Courts decide.

Rimo2021

Bil2 wrote:

In response to a similar post on the 'mortgages and endowments' board, this was my reply:

I've saved hard over the past few years (even taking on a weekend job on top of my full-time job) to save a for a deposit, regular overpayments and furniture/decoration for the apartment. While I'm happy to share my 'wealth' with my husband (who isn't particularly careful with his money and doesn't save very much) while we are together- if he were to up and leave me, I wouldn't exactly be overjoyed if he were to take my hard earned cash with him!

I totally see where you are coming from but the problem is a divorce court splitting up marital assets can only deal with facts for example if one partner's income increases during the marriage (generally the man's thanks to inequality) this may well be down to the fact that the other partner is playing a supportive role (perhaps running the home and most of the parenting) which enables this increase in salary/promotion possible. In my opinion this role entitles them to a share of the 'spoils' i.e equity.

Because marriage is a partnership you could compare it to a small company (with 2 directors) for the company to work and make a profit it would be sensible for the 2 directors to specialise e.g one concentrates on getting out there and selling their product while the other receives the cheques and logs and banks them. Just because one receives the actual money doesn't mean they haven't both earned it.

That's not a very good comparison but my main point is that it's difficult for both partners to both fully pursue their careers without the relationship/family suffering so often they specialise (one works full time while the other's career takes a bit of a back seat) but the resulting wealth belongs to both no matter whose name was on the pay slip (usually the man due to unequal pay/opportunities for women in the workplace) in the same way that the children belong to both equally even though (usually to woman!!) did most of the work involved in producing them..

tawnyowls

Bil2 wrote:

That's exactly the way that it SHOULD be- but by law we're married, so the starting point will always be a 50-50 split. Even if my husband didn't want 50% of my assets, he would be legally advised to claim 50% and I don't know whether or not he would succumb to the temptation.

FWIW, I agree with you that you should think about this seriously (and for the romantics on board, we've been together over 16 years; doesn't mean you shouldn't take off the rose-coloured specs every now and again and plan for the worst - it's no different to making a will). I find it interesting that those most against you being sensible appear to be men - it's an undeniable fact that in a divorce, the woman almost always comes off worst, so you are very wise to plan ahead.

In the meantime, though, calm down. As Deleted_User says, there is no reason that he will get half. Divorce does not start from an assumption of a 50:50 split; it never has in the UK. There are places where there is the concept of 'community property', such as California, for instance; that does not apply here. Divorce courts take many aspects of a relationship into account:

• Whose name is on the deeds? If just one, then that's straightforward; the house belongs to that person unless the other partner can show significant contribution. If both of you are on there, and you're down as joint tenants, then it is possible that there will be a 50:50 split, but other things get taken into consideration.
• Who has paid more? The assets will probably be split in that ratio unless the other partner can show a significant contribution (not just financial; several recent high-profile cases have settled a large proportion on SAHMs because (quite rightly) it was argued that them staying at home and raising a family contributed to the husband's ability to earn the money he did).
• Are there kids? Who is the custodial parent? That parent will probably have use of the house at least, until the kids are 18, even if they have to sell it later.

And so on. You really need legal advice to find out your exact position. This gives more info: http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-471.cfm

As for the mortgage, I don't think Matto's completely right to say that the debt is half your husband's; it used to be the case (as Moggins found out), but there was a change in the law, and it's now rare that a spouse can be held liable for the other's debt. If it was a joint mortgage, he would. Hence, the likelihood is that the value of the house would be its value minus the outstanding mortgage. Thus, as you say, the more you overpay, the higher your share of the assets within that marriage would be - if it is split 50:50, you'd lose out, but as I say, it's unlikely to be the case.

If you are worried about paying him in the event of a divorce, you should think about changing your mortgage to one that allows not only overpayments, but drawdowns (not necessarily an offset mortgage), so you can take that money back out again (up to the original mortgage amount agreed) - cheaper than remortgaging. You may well find your current mortgage holder allows that facility - it's on my list of necessities when overpaying; what if you needed money suddenly in an emergency?

In the meantime, I second Debt-free Chick - talk to him and find out what's in his head. Protect yourself as much as possible, but try not to let this take over your relationship.

Gingham_Ribbon

I've just seen this thread and think it's a fascinating and very important discussion. As we are all well aware of the divorce statistics, whether or not we hope or think it will never be us, it is just as sensible to consider how you'd manage if it was to happen as it is to consider what you would do on the death of your spouse. (Something we all KNOW is coming to all of us.)

So my request is that the replies given stick to the original point and don't stray into the realms of personal comments about the OP's commitment to her husband or how successful people think her marriage will be. Please.:)