Settlement..eventually !

FarmerJones

My ex-wife & I split up in Dec 2005 and divorced in Jan / Feb 2007. When we got divorced my ex-wife refused to communicate, except for money, and refused a settlement.

Over the period of Dec 2005 until Oct 2012 I paid a total of around £85K (you read that correctly) in maintenance for our daughter & mortgage. I have receipts and bank statements to substantiate that.The mortgage was paid out of the maintenance, although not directly from my bank account.

My ex wife has only (in the last year or so) got a part time job, and for the most part of the time not worked.

My ex wife now wants to sell the house, which I am a Joint Tennant of, and named on the deeds from the land registry. The equity in the house is around £150K.

I have taken advice, and the solicitor acting for me, has advised that I should change the Joint Tenancy situation (I am doing that) and that I should be demanding at least 50% of the equity in the property, if not more.

I am not sure about this, and would appreciate any experiences others may have similar to my situation.

Cheers

FJ

BitterAndTwisted

Change the joint-tenancy situation to what? While you are the joint-owner the property cannot be sold without your agreement. How would changing the joint-tenancy situation change that?

To be honest, any spouse who agrees to a divorce without agreeing the financials beforehand is a ruddy fool. Like the one who has contributed £85k in seven years.

double_mummy

what was 15% of your income over the last 7 years? anything above this i would be asking for in equity

how long had you owned the house and paid the mortgage together before you split?

while you were together did she work or was she a SAHM?

how often do you have daughter? and how often have you had her over the past 7 years?

January20

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Change the joint-tenancy situation to what? While you are the joint-owner the property cannot be sold without your agreement. How would changing the joint-tenancy situation change that?

To be honest, any spouse who agrees to a divorce without agreeing the financials beforehand is a ruddy fool. Like the one who has contributed £85k in seven years.

Would you have thought him a better man had he paid nothing towards his home and his daughter's upkeep?

Calling him a fool for doing what he probably thought was best at the time is not helpful, especially as not everybody is knowledgeable enough to know what to do for the best in a divorce situation!

Amanda65

That works out at just over £1100 per month so depending on the mortgage repayments and your income OP it may not be as high as it seems. I do however think it fair that you should receive an equal split on the property if your daughter is now of an age where you are not expected to provide a home for her.

FarmerJones

Thank you for you considered replies, helpful and not so helpful.

I have consulted a solicitor, and the situation is as follows:

Joint Tenancy: This needs to be changed to a Tenants -in-Common position. The reason for this, is that currently, should I die, my ex-wife gets my share, irrespective of what my will states, and should she die, I get her share, irrespective of what her will states. Changing to Tenants-in-Common protects either share from going to the wrong beneficiary, and prevents siginficant trouble for the remaining ex-spouse. It doesn't change the percentage of share either has in the property.

Share of the Property & Equity: As I am named on the property deeds, and there is no share stated on the deeds, then I have an equal share with my ex-wife.

As my daughter is over the age of 18, and not in full time education, and there are no dependents living at the property, it can be sold.

I have been advised that as I have paid a considerable amount in maintenance, (and can prove that) then I should be looking for at least 50% of the equity in the property. Indeed, it could be argued that I should be considering more than this.

I have been advised that I should:

1. Sever the joint tenancy. If the ex disagrees, this can be forced on her, by serving notice. This is in progress.

2. Sell the property amicably. If she diagrees to an amicable sale, I can obtain a Court Order to do so. She or a court cannot stop me from doing this.

3. Obtain a seperate household Bricks & Mortar policy, as it is be doubtful if I am named on any existing policy, should it even exist.

I am in a very difficult situation. I wanted to agree a settlement and move on, 7 years or so ago. Despite repeated attempts to do so, my ex-wife refused to enter into any discussions (she refused to pay her solicitors bill which was part of the problem).

I paid maintenance for my daughter as I did not want her to go without. My ex-wife used the maintenance money to financially support the local pubs, and in the mean time my daughter came home to an empty fridge & no school clothes. Despite all efforts, this situation could not be changed.

Now I am in position that the ex wife wants to sell the house, and wants all the money out of it. Given the chance, she would have the shirt of my back. All I want is whats fair, and think the best way ahead would be to let a judge decide, based upon the facts in front of him / her.

In the mean time, my ex (and by influence, my daughter) are trying to guilt trip me, laying on the "we'll be destitute" routine, when neither of them are prepared to work other than for a few hours a week, and consider that the world owes them an income, and by the way, its always somebody else's fault.

FJ

FBaby

I don't get the reason to severe the joint tenancy if you intentions are to sale the house. At the moment, you can claim 50% of the equity, if you change the ownership to a tenants in common, you could go for more, but all this will need to be sorted before you even sale the house, so delay even more the process and I can't see how you could really justify a higher percentage of ownership.

One you need to do is go back to what you have paid through the years and separate what could have been considered maintenance and what would have been payments towards the mortgage. If you want to claim that you have paid both out of the amount you paid, it would help if the total amount equals half of the total mortgage payment + 15% of your income or more. If it doesn't, that will be more difficult as your ex could debate that you didn't pay your half of the mortgage and therefore you are not entitled to half. She could also try to say that the maintenance you paid was more than 15% of your salary as that 15% is only a guide, it doesn't mean you couldn't have agreed to pay more.

If she doesn't want to sale or you can't agree on how to divide the equity and you need to take her to court, don't forget that a huge chunk of your equity is likely to go in solicitor fees...

quidsy

50% is equal & fair, you paid 1k a month for the upkeep f your daughters home & living expenses, this sounds like a reasonable amount. Why should you getmore now?

Sell the house take half & be happy.

Or are you now disputing th 1k a month you have paid towards your childs living expenses & to keep a roof over head since you split from your wife?

Lunar_Eclipse

The tenancy change will have no bearing on how any equity will be divided. The change makes sense, but might not be deemed worth the time or money. Perhaps a formal 'intent to change' could be held with both solicitors as interim protection.

In terms of the equity split, we cannot comment on whether 50% is fair or not, because it all depends on what percentage of your income you have paid in maintenance and the percentage of the mortgage that you have paid. A judge will also consider upkeep of the property (in terms of time and money) and depending on the structure of your payments to her over the past 7 years, whether to look at all the equity or just the change in equity between when you left the property and the house is sold (if it could be argued your payments were not for the house at all.)

Do you have written agreement as evidence of how your payments to your ex were broken down? Could she argue all of it was child/spousal maintenance?

LannieDuck

FarmerJones wrote: »

I have been advised that as I have paid a considerable amount in maintenance, (and can prove that) then I should be looking for at least 50% of the equity in the property. Indeed, it could be argued that I should be considering more than this.

Be very careful how you word this. Maintenance has nothing to do with the mortgage. You would have been expected to pay maintenance even if your ex owned her house outright. What you probably intended to say was:

"I have been advised that as I have paid a considerable amount in maintenance and to cover the mortgage payments, (and can prove that) then I should be looking for at least 50% of the equity in the property."

As others have said, this one is relatively easy to work out. Do a quick calculation of 15% of your salary for the last x number of years (however long you've been paying your ex), and see how close that is to £85k. Your solicitor should be able to argue that the difference is what you've effectively paid into the mortgage.

FarmerJones wrote: »

I paid maintenance for my daughter as I did not want her to go without. My ex-wife used the maintenance money to financially support the local pubs, and in the mean time my daughter came home to an empty fridge & no school clothes. Despite all efforts, this situation could not be changed.

This is somewhat off topic and you don't have to answer, but if things were so bad for your daughter, why didn't you sue for custody?