Advice needed Re divorce and property sale

Shortarmsdeeppockets_2

When we purchased out property 13 years ago we did so as joint tenants. My then partner, now husband, put down the money for the deposit on the purchase. Now we are going through divorce, he has calculated that the initial deposit was 6%, and now he wants an additional 6% of the value of the house on top of his 'share'.

Can he ask for this, or does the fact that we are now married make a difference?

Any advice or past experiences very much appreciated.

SADP

xylophone

Surely your solicitor is dealing with the division of the marital assets?

Shortarmsdeeppockets_2

We are going through mediation in a hope to keep costs down and are currently declaring financials. He brought this up at the end of the meeting along with some other issues (he's changed the locks, not paid maintenance etc) I'm trying to get some advice that will not cost me £200 per hour plus VAT so any help is appreciated. :-)

I also should mention I have 2 young children and we are currently not living in the family home.

bristol_pilot

Shortarmsdeeppockets wrote: »

he has calculated that the initial deposit was 6%, and now he wants an additional 6% of the value of the house on top of his 'share'.

He is sadly (for him) mistaken. 13 years will be considered a long marriage and what he put into the hosue will not be taken into account. Given that there are kids, you will be entitled to most of everything and him mostly nothing. Go and see a solicitor. Don't worry about costs because your husband will end up paying those too.

Shortarmsdeeppockets_2

Many thanks Bristol_pilot. May I ask if you know this from a personal or professional point of view? I'm going through a mediator who just wants us to agree financial between us. My solicitor is not overly positive so I can't help but feel that I am in a quite negative situation and maybe this is not quite the case? My soon to be Ex is very domineering and slippery. Maybe I need to change solicitors?

lizziebabe

Sorry to hear your news. I have been through this and also went to mediation first to keep costs down then to get the final settlement through a solicitor.
Are both of your names on the mortgage/deeds? If so, he can't change the locks and you do not need to leave the house. He can't make you sell the house until the children are 18, at least that is what is was when I went through my divorce. He also can't claim for his 'deposit' as over the years you have also made a contribution. running the house, looking after the children etc. Get good advice and don't be intimidated by him. IMO some men want a quickie divorce and don't want to pay out. You do not need to get divorced for 2 years and then you have to agree. I waited for 3 years until I was mentally ready and armed with good advice.
He can't kick you out of the house if you jointly own it - this is illegal!!
All the best , lb

Shortarmsdeeppockets_2

Hi LB, Many thanks for your reply. I left the house with my 2 children due to a situation that occurred, I'm now with my mum, and have not been back since. He is still in our, jointly owned on the deeds, 3 bed semi and has changed the locks. I'm of the opinion he does not want the divorce to go through as he may then need to leave the house, so he is stalling at all turns. I, on the other hand, just want the marriage to end on paper as soon as possible. I fear court may be the only way to go but am worried about the costs. I've not had a penny from him since we left! I don't particularly want to go back to the family home, I'd prefer to sell up and use the money to buy somewhere else. I hope your situation has had a good outcome. All the best.

lizziebabe

Hi again. I realise you don't want to go back to the house but by changing the locks he is breaking the law as the property is jointly yours. Go to the CAB and you can get advice about getting him out. Your solicitor should be giving you your advice and the mediator, who is also a solicitor. If you want to sell the house he will have to and you are entitled to get some of the stuff from the house, like kids beds etc. He must pay maintenance.

https://www.gov.uk/arranging-child-maintenance-yourself

He is trying to wriggle out of his responsibilities, What advice have you already been given? They seem to be dragging their heels.
Again - he cannot lock you out of the house, you can threaten to get the Police involved, even if you don't want to go back.

Best wishes - lb

Shortarmsdeeppockets_2

Hi again LB, thanks again for your reply. I have had some things from the house, pots and pans, lights etc, but I still have clothes and valuable jewellery that apparently he cannot find. I am tempted to force entry to get the last of my belongings but I'm not very brave! Re child support, he is self employed so I'll be lucky to get £10 a week for them both ;-) I just need to know if it is worth continuing with the mediator or should I just go to court. I don't know what divorce judges are like and the costs involved. My solicitor appears to be a bit inept I'm afraid and mostly concerned with billing me. Back to house issues, the deposit was one issue. I was also interested on the general opinion as to what % I would be entitled to. He thinks as he has been the main bread winner and still pays the mortgage, I should get around 40%, others say I'm entitled to up to 70% of the equity (of which there is a large amount) as I have to house myself and the children. So confused. :-(

Shortarmsdeeppockets_2

Oh and even though we have had 2 valuations from estate agents (and Zoopla!), he said there's no way the house is worth that and pitched it £20K lower, meaning he has to pay less to buy me out of course!!

zzzLazyDaisy

Okay, I am not a family lawyer, but I do have some experience of divorce law.

I can't advise you on your particular situation, obviously, but I can give you some pointers as to how the courts view these things.

First. It does not matter one jot who has paid what into the house. If the house is in joint names, then the law says that net equity must be split 50/50 unless a deed of trust was made when you bought the house and registered at the land registry showing what shares the house is held in. I am sure that did not happen, because you would remember this.

So that is the least you are entitled to. But from there the courts have the power to adjust shares according to what it just and equitable. So, if you are the parent with care of young children and have to adjust your working hours around them, or are unable to work because they are still very young, then you are likely to get a larger share of the house because you are the person responsible for putting a roof over their head. (Yes he could argue that he also needs to buy a house big enough to put a roof over their head when they visit him, but if there is not enough money to go round the law will come down on the side of the parent with care).

It is rare these days for the wife to get spousal maintenance, which generally now only happens where the ex is a high earner. But as a quid pro quo it is also much more likely that the parent with care of the children will get a bigger slice of the cake in recognition of their lower earning potential over the coming years.

It may be possible for you to negotiate to be able to stay in the house until your youngest child is 18. This depends on the financial circumstances. The court will only order this if the mortgage can be paid. So either he needs to earn enough to be able to pay the mortgage and house himself, or you need to be able to take over the mortgage, or something in between. Personally I couldn't bear to have an ex have that much control over me, and I wouldn;t want to live in a house with old memories, but everyone is different. That is certainly something you may wish to consider.

Also does he pay into a pension? If so the pension splitting laws on divorce come into play and depending on your own pension circumstances you are entitled to up to half his pension. Many ex wives give up this right in exchange for a larger share of the house, so if appropriate it is a negotiating tactic.

Also all assets, savings, investments etc are considered to be matrimonial assets and all fall into the joint pot. You both legally have to make a declaration of assets under oath on form E. Has that been done yet?

Anyway, at the minimum you are entitled to a 50% share of the joint assets.

Finally, have you made a claim to CSA yet? If not please do so as they can only backdate to the date you put your claim in. Child maintenance is a separate issue from the ancilliary relief proceedings (financial side of divorce) and you should not delay sorting that out just because you are in mediation about the other financial matters.

I hope this helps?

Good luck

Dx

EDIT re the valuation. Zoopla is unreliable and I would ignore it. Normal advice is to get three valuations. No matter, he has two valuations, so that is what you base your negotiations on. If he isn't willing to be sensible, and you end up having to go through solicitors, the court will order that the house be properly valued. Stick to your guns on that, your starting point on the house is that you are legally entitled to half the net equity based on the independent valuations, married or not. He can't (legally) insist that the negotiations start at some lower figure that he has plucked out of the air.