thought on divorce and house/assets please

brians_daughter

Hi posting for my sister, she isnt a MSE member and is at work at the moment.

I will start by saying she is seeing a solicitor next week, but she is worried and cant get a 'general feeling' from anywhere

Her and hubby have just split (last week, she found him in their bed with another woman, no chance of salvaging the marriage shes made that clear)

She has concerns and i am trying to ease them a little

Situ is/was..when they met she had own home, he didnt. He moved in with her and they eventually put her house up for sale. In meantime saw home of their dreams so in order to secure it she took equity out of her home and they used that as the deposit.

As she already owned a home the mortgage for new house was in hubbies name only. They always meant to change this once house was sold and they changed mortgage deals but it never happened.

Anyway, she sold her house, 25k equity and they spent £10k of it on home improvements, plus she gave the £25k deposit out of her home as well, so in effect contributed £35k cash to the house,a s well as 1/2 the mortgage payments

Hubbie is telling her she must leave as its his house, but she doesnt want to uproot the kids (aged 5 and 10 months) Been together 12 years, married 2 if that helps any?

He has today told her she wont get anything as house is in his name only. Obviously she is now in a massive panic. I understand that he is probably trying to scare her into leaving, but surely she is entitled to something, or to stay in the house with the kids for a period of time?

She only works p/t due to age of kids but could just afford the mortgage payments if he paid 1/2 mortgage instead of child support (which would work out more or less the same)

Anyone know a general rule of thumb to what will happen?

As i say, she is seeking legal advice next week, and has app booked but i would hate to see her in the state she is in all weekend, so any info i can pass on ie, this is usually what happens, or this is what could happen would be fab and much apreciated

TIA

sorry for typos but on my mob internet and my keys are tiny lol

thorsoak

The fact that she has the two children will make it far more difficult - if not impossible - for him to force her out of the house - and there will be a paper trail as to where the deposit/improvements came from - he is definitely batting on a sticky wicket!

brians_daughter

yes there is a paper trail deffo. she was showing me last night statements from 2006 that show builder x £3000, plumber y £1500. The deposit money can obviously be traced as it went from mortgage co to her then to his account then to solicitor. He is saying that he will tell his solicitor the deposit was 'a gift' and as she doesnt have any documents to back that up they will believe him

floss2

brians_daughter wrote: »

yes there is a paper trail deffo. she was showing me last night statements from 2006 that show builder x £3000, plumber y £1500. The deposit money can obviously be traced as it went from mortgage co to her then to his account then to solicitor. He is saying that he will tell his solicitor the deposit was 'a gift' and as she doesnt have any documents to back that up they will believe him

But she has documents to show where the money came from to go into his account...does she have a copy of the purchase documents from when they bought the house to show that there was this £10k cash deposit? If not, can she get a copy from the solicitor or estate agent who handled the purchase?

She urgently needs to get copies of all financial papers and keep them somewhere safe out of the house - maybe store them at work, or with a trusted friend or family member. Things like copies of his pension statements, bank statements, life insurance policies, a recent payslip are all very useful when it comes to what looks like it may be a dirty and drawn-out battle over the property & finances.

brians_daughter

yes, she has all the documents showing where the money came from originally ie the re-mortgage of her own property. She also has the solicitors letters showing the release of money and the like. I have taken all her documents home last night with me. We have savings account details, mortgage statements, insurance docs etc. He doesnt have a pension. I will mention payslips to her as well, i never thought of that.

Her main concern is not uprooting the kids, they would end up with me and my family which isnt ideal as we have 2 kids and only 4 beds (not to mention 12 miles away from school/childminder) it would mean both sets of siblings sharing for a while but we have offered.

She said she knows if she leaves its more complex so is staying put in their home, which is difficult. when i went round yesterday her hubby is in the kitchen/diner with his new gf!!

thanks all for any imput

loftus

It's not his house, it's a marital asset. They have kids, and have a long standing relationship, so short marriage rules don't apply. I don't think she'll be the one leaving unless it's what she wants to do.
She needs a good solicitor though.

paddy's_mum

I can absolutely promise you that the husband is very shortly in for some extremely nasty shocks, not least that the "in sole name" business has no validity whatever when it comes to a divorce.

If he had any sense, instead of uttering threats and orders and simply inflaming the situation, he'd be doing everything he possibly could to try and get some commonsense discussion going, since even if the marriage is over, he is still a parent with rights and obligations.

He's talking balderdash and the sooner he gets himself off to a solicitor the better. I suspect that your sister will soon find that his caught-red-handed pompous balloon is p r i cked and that he'll drop his ludicrous demands in favour of salvaging all that he can.

You may find it useful to nip to your nearest good bookshop and buy a copy of say the Which Guide to Divorce, or similar. They're of value if only to familiarise yourself with the legal terminology.

brians_daughter

paddy's_mum wrote: »

You may find it useful to nip to your nearest good bookshop and buy a copy of say the Which Guide to Divorce, or similar. They're of value if only to familiarise yourself with the legal terminology.

Thanks. off to the library later - luckily its only across the road lol

neneromanova

I agree with Paddy's mum and loftus. He might find he is the one leaving, especially as the kids are so very young. When it comes down to it, if she doesn't want to stay in the house, she will still be awarded at least 50/50 share as she has a paper trail to show where it went into the house. I second the Pay slip as they will be needed for CSA. Good Luck

bertiebots

Just wanted to agree with everything other posters have said. Tell her not to worry as he is just trying to take back control.
The first line of defence for some people is attack (because he cannot defend what he has done) and it appears this is the route he has chosen. She has the upper hand regarding housing and finances because she is the mother of and main carer of their children. The man is an idiot and in for a nasty shock when she see's her solicitor!

paddy's_mum

I can't believe what I just read! I'm (for once!) nearly speechless.

This husband has his amoral friend actually in the house in front of the wife!!! If he's this in-your-face, your sister ought to be seriously thinking about getting her sexual health checked.

In your sister's shoes, I'd be calling the Police and saying that I want her out before a massive breach of the peace occurs ... or a murder or two!

You don't have much luck with your in-laws, do you, OP?