Divorce - Finances and Division of Assets

marc.faulkner

Hi There,

Would appreciate some advice on behalf of my partner, who is currently going through a divorce (and in all honesty, is struggling to get any meaningful advice from her solicitors).


It's the finances/division of assets which seems rather unclear at the moment!


Assets

House - Valued at £125k, mortgage of £90k (Owned in my partners name only, mortgage in her name, ex has contributed towards mortgage for past 8 years approx) House currently occupied by my partner, myself and her son - we pay the mortgage between us.

Touring Caravan - Valued at £6.5k, owned outright, in my Partner's name

Car - Valued at £8.5k, £3k finance remaining, in ex's name

Cash - £3k in cash, joint savings, in ex's account

Ex's pensions - Approx £30k in money purchase plans

Partners pensions - approx £8k in money purchase plans


My partner has debts of approximately £22k, her ex has debts of approx £5k. (Both debts were incurred whilst married, but are in sole names)


They were together for 10 years, living together for 8 and married for 3.


Would apprecaite any thoughts you could share...even just best/worst case scenario's.


My Partner's suggestion was that she kept the house and caravan, but he kept the car, cash and all interest in his pensions. Not sure whether this is a realistic expectation though?


Cheers

19lottie82

That sounds fair enough to me, if they want to do things amicably and quickly, tho I'm no expert (don't think she could go after this pensions anyway, after only 3 years of marraige).

You mention "her son", is that her ex'es son too?

marc.faulkner

Thanks.

She wants to be as amicable as possible, her ex is after the lot - he has applied to the land registry to stop her doing anything with the house (not that she wants to), and is insisting she puts the caravan up for sale - although he has no intention of selling the car.

Her son is not her partner's son.

Cheers,

NAR

You also need to take into consideration current salaries.

Unless the debts can be proved, ie with receipts, to be for the benefit for both parties during marriage they may be ignored.

The split suggested is a reasonable starting point, but I expect he will want more.

marc.faulkner

Current salaries - her ex is on approx £30k, my partner approx £20k

His small debt was a personal loan to buy a previous car.

My partner's debts were often for general living expenses - credit card statements show this (paying for shopping, fuel, household items, items for the caravan etc.)

Appreciate your thoughts and input...it's more than the solicitor has given in 4 months!

Cheers,

Land_Registry

Although you have not stated what he has applied for to 'stop her doing anything with the house' it is possible that he is or has considering an application in relation to the Family Law Act. Our online Public Guide 4 provides some guidance on the topic which may be of interest/use.

As the guide states it is not intended to be a full statement of the law relating to matrimonial or civil partnership property and, if you need further advice or help, you should contact a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau.

If this is not relevant to his application to which you refer then do you know what he has applied for?

As you appear to appreciate any application to register his 'interest' in the property is most likely to simply act as an indication for prospective buyers, lenders etc that someone else may have an interest/share in the property rather than forcs your partner to do anything.

Any forced action is only likely to come about as a result of court proceedings.

Gigglepig

Sinc they have heen together quite a long time I'd suggest adding it all up and dividing by two...

What was their financial positions when they got together?
Are bothbin good health and with the same earningpower?
How old is the son, and if the ex is his father, how much time and money does he contribute?

Thegirl

Deal with the length of marriage first. They were living together for eight years, married for three. They will be classed as married for eight years as the time cohabiting before marriage is included in the marriage term when divorcing.

Equity - £35K
Caravan - £6.5k
Car - £5.5k
Cash - £3k
His pension - £30k
Her pension - £8k

Debts are trickier to divide up. In his name and in her name is how they will remain unless a court decides differently.

I think your partner's offer is perfectly reasonable and probably around what would be settled on via court. Possibly slightly more in her favour due to her child. If they included her debt in the marital pot too then he would end up well and truly out of pocket from the offer she's made. Trouble is you cannot make her ex see that. If he wants to be vindictive then he can push for court, although I would suggest any solicitor would tell him not to bother

Taking this court will cost at least £10k.

A little advice I read on www.wikivorce.com (a site I suggest you and your partner become well aquainted with) badly paraphrased I might add:

At the start of a divorce you and your soon to be ex spouse should drive to a lovely car showroom. You should look at a beautiful car in the window and ask yourselves this question - in a years time would I like to be driving that car or would I like my solicitor to be driving that car?
That is how much pushing for court can cost. Avoid it at all costs.