Equity split after divorce

cameron99999

Hi All,

quick question - please let me know if this is posted incorrectly and ill put it in correct location.

In the middle of a seperation. Only married 3 years however had the house/ morgage in both our names for 8 years.

At first we agreed to split everything 50/50 however more recently the wife is bringing into the conversation the fact she put in the deposit for the house.

I basically want to know where i stand legally? let say the deposit is for £20,000, the equity in the house in currenltly £40,000 can she legally deduct after 8 years living jointly together the deposit for £20,000 then share whats left so i would walk away with £10,000 or does the deposit not come in to it legally and it would be £20,000 each regardless.

Any advice would be helpful

Regards
Cameron

timbo58

As long as she can prove she brought the £20k into the house solely, then it's more than possible she can argue for this, and would personally say that this would be fairer.

I would suggest you both need legal advice however.

RAS

Do you have any children?

Pete9501

and pensions?

Pixie5740

It's not really that straightforward. A lot depends on what other savings, investments and pensions the two of you have. Whether or not there are children involved.


If there are no other assets and no children then your soon to be ex wife could claim back more equity due to putting in the deposit. I no legal expert though.

dodger1

cameron99999 wrote: »

Hi All,

quick question - please let me know if this is posted incorrectly and ill put it in correct location.

In the middle of a seperation. Only married 3 years however had the house/ morgage in both our names for 8 years.

At first we agreed to split everything 50/50 however more recently the wife is bringing into the conversation the fact she put in the deposit for the house.

I basically want to know where i stand legally? let say the deposit is for £20,000, the equity in the house in currenltly £40,000 can she legally deduct after 8 years living jointly together the deposit for £20,000 then share whats left so i would walk away with £10,000 or does the deposit not come in to it legally and it would be £20,000 each regardless.

Any advice would be helpful

Regards
Cameron

To be honest I have no idea, but morally I believe her £20,000 deposit should be removed from the equity equation. She may even be able to say that the deposit is now worth more than than the original £20,000 due to the rise in the value of the house, again legally I don't know though.

cameron99999

yes we do have pensions and children. Maintenance will be paid this has been agreed and pensions will be split, just waiting on statement to have this part completed failry.

tea-bag

Who earned more and paid more on the mortgage

booksurr

there are all sorts possibilities, one is the fair solution (but you won't like it) the remainder are less fair but each depends on various legalities which you have not explained:

"at first we agreed to split 50/50" ? Legally how is the house owned: joint tenants or tenants in common? If the latter what is your share and her share

was anything agreed in writing over how the 20k deposit would be treated?

fair solution: she put up 20k therefore owns more of the house than you do, so she should get back more than half of the equity since she owns more of the house. However, if there is nothing in writing regarding ownership shares and/or deposit treatment then it's down to negotiation as part of a divorce where she may be given preferential treatment given she has/will get the kids

Mojisola

cameron99999 wrote: »

In the middle of a seperation. Only married 3 years however had the house/ morgage in both our names for 8 years.

At first we agreed to split everything 50/50 however more recently the wife is bringing into the conversation the fact she put in the deposit for the house.

cameron99999 wrote: »

yes we do have pensions and children.

Usually, the parent who is going to be the 'parent with care' will be given a larger percentage of the marital assets.