Sorting out finances on separation

newStart

Hope this is the right place to post. Just looking for some initial advice on sorting out finances when separating/divorcing, and what the first step to take is.

We have decided (amicably so far!) to separate after 11 years of marriage.

We have no children/other dependants or debts, we both work in comfortably-paid, professional jobs.

We have a joint mortgage on the house we live in, with around £200k equity.

I own another house which I use to live in, which is currently rented out.

I wish to move back into my old house, partner wishes to sell current house and buy elsewhere as we live in the centre of an expensive city largely at my wish, and he would rather move out to somewhere he can afford a better house. This is all perfectly feasible given our equity and salaries.

I put in 1/3rd of the deposit on our joint house. While living there (8 years) we have contributed almost 50:50 to the bills and mortgage (he has put more in than me as we did it in proportion to our salaries but it was never more that 45:55).

I'm not one for possessions so have nothing of any value other than the houses themselves, I would literally be packing my clothes/books/CDs into bags and getting on the bus back to my old house (it has some cheap furniture in which is 'mine' in the sense that I bought it).

What I would like to do for simplicity is:

- Keep my old house (it has only ever been in my name and paid for entirely by me)
- Get 1/3rd of the equity back from the joint house when it is sold (he would continue to live there until he has found somewhere else)

Am I being unrealistic to expect the division of finances to be this simple? My thinking was, he makes no claim on my old house as he's never paid for it, and I make no claim on what I have paid into the mortgage on the joint house, I just get my deposit back (plus any benefit from the increase in the house price, proportional to my deposit).

I have been making a small profit on the rental, which is all in a cash ISA in my name. I also have a fairly small amount in other savings in accounts in my own name, as does he, and we both have good employer pensions. Would this complicate things at all?

We haven't talked about money yet, although we did roughly agree on this course of action before we got married, should we split up (I'm aware this doesn't count for anything legally, but hopefully he will still feel the same!).

If we can agree on what we want between us, is it just a question of appointing solicitors and telling them what we want to do?

Many thanks for your advice.

RAS

Hi

If you can agree this and your ex is happy, fine.

If he disagrees, then the likely outcome is 50% of the equity in both houses and 50% of any savings and any debt to each party.

mortgagenomore_2

If (a) he agrees and (b) you have in writing re first house being yours before he came along and nothing to do with him in any shape of form then the answer is yes it will all be fair and amicable if you both agree!

newStart

Thanks. I guess there is a chance that he will be advised not to agree then as I have more in both savings and equity than he does so 50% will be a better outcome for him.

BitterAndTwisted

Both properties are an asset of the marriage so it doesn't matter now whether you owned one before you signed the marriage certificate and it doesn't matter who paid what as the deposit unless you had a Deed of Trust drawn up or what mortgage-contributions you made.

If the split of equity as you described it appears fair to both of you then all well and good. Get it drawn up as an agreement and happily go your separate ways

newStart

OK thanks, so does that apply to all our assets then, they all go into 1 pot which gets split 50/50 if we can't agree mutually?

I'm not sure exactly what counts as assets anyway (pensions, house contents...?) so I need to get some professional advice.

RAS

pensions, everything.

I would see a lawyer so you understand.