Divorce squabbles

superflygal

Dear MSErs,

After 13 years of marriage, my husband and I are getting divorced.

We have 2 kids together aged 9&7. They are fine so no problem there.

However, the difficulty I'm having is getting ex to agree to financial arrangements.

The house we jointly own is worth about £400k. Ex has moved out and is renting. I suggested we draw up a contract to split equity in property at time of separation 50/50, Equity is £220k so £110k for him. But need to stay in house to get kids into the great local secondary school so can't sell it for few years. I said I would pay mortgage and all bills etc, all our joint account are closed, and would like to take mortgage on myself.

Ex thinks this is not "legal" and wants to see a solicitor (he's seen 2 apparentlying but they were rubbish).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, SFG x

JReacher1

What would you do if we had another housing crash and when you sold the house in a few years you had less than £220k equity in the house?

Kynthia

Best to both see a solicitor and get things sorted properly. You need to split all assets and debts, including the less obvious but substantial things like pensions. There will also be issues affecting your partner if he stays on the mortgage, as it will affect his affordability should he wish to buy elsewhere and he'll have to pay the higher rate of second home stamp duty. Plus if tge jointly owned home isn't sold for years he could end up being liable for capital gains tax on his share. Plus with a joint mortgage you remain financially linked with credit agencies so if one of you does something that damages your credit it will affect the other's credit rating too.

Those are just issues off the top of my head when I have no experience of divorce so there could be more.

FBaby

Of course it is legal and most likely what a judge would order anyway. Ideally you would be able to buy him out, but I assume that's not a possibility?

His concerns is that by remaining on the mortgage, he is dependent on you not defaulting. It also means that it will make it more difficult for him to buy another property. It is probably these concerns that makes him come up with some legal jargon. I expect the two he has seen have told him the above and it just wasn't what he wanted to hear.

Pollycat

superflygal wrote: »

Dear MSErs,

After 13 years of marriage, my husband and I are getting divorced.

We have 2 kids together aged 9&7. They are fine so no problem there.

However, the difficulty I'm having is getting ex to agree to financial arrangements.

The house we jointly own is worth about £400k. Ex has moved out and is renting. I suggested we draw up a contract to split equity in property at time of separation 50/50, Equity is £220k so £110k for him. But need to stay in house to get kids into the great local secondary school so can't sell it for few years. I said I would pay mortgage and all bills etc, all our joint account are closed, and would like to take mortgage on myself.

Ex thinks this is not "legal" and wants to see a solicitor (he's seen 2 apparentlying but they were rubbish).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, SFG x

Would you be able to get a mortgage in your name only from a financial perspective?

Even if you are paying the mortgage yourself now and can afford it, a mortgage lender may not be willing to lend.
That happened to a friend of mine.
In fact, when she sold up she was refused a mortgage on her new, smaller place (she only wanted about 15% as she had a fair bit of equity from the old house) but they did offer her a loan for the same amount - at treble the interest rate. :eek:

I too think you should see a solicitor.
Kynthia has mentioned pensions which should be put into the pot.
Is he paying the appropriate amount of child maintenance?

Guest101

superflygal wrote: »

Dear MSErs,

After 13 years of marriage, my husband and I are getting divorced.

We have 2 kids together aged 9&7. They are fine so no problem there.

However, the difficulty I'm having is getting ex to agree to financial arrangements.

The house we jointly own is worth about £400k. Ex has moved out and is renting. I suggested we draw up a contract to split equity in property at time of separation 50/50, Equity is £220k so £110k for him. But need to stay in house to get kids into the great local secondary school so can't sell it for few years. I said I would pay mortgage and all bills etc, all our joint account are closed, and would like to take mortgage on myself.

Ex thinks this is not "legal" and wants to see a solicitor (he's seen 2 apparentlying but they were rubbish).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, SFG x

Remember that he is unable to get his own mortgage or liquidate his assets. Basically you are asking for a £110,000 interest free loan, which wont even include inflation. He will literally be losing money on a daily basis.


He is paying rent, whilst you are using his money to increase your equity in the property.

Mojisola

It wouldn't be unusual for the PWC and the children to remain in the family home until the youngest child reaches 18 although it does disadvantage the other parent.

Get legal advice and get a proper financial settlement so that neither of you can start making more claims on the ex in years to come.

TBagpuss

Certainly a good idea to get proper advice. How do your incomes compare and are there any other assets such as pensions?

What mortgage capacity do you have in your own right, and could you re-house with £110K (or a little more) as a deposit, plus that mortgage?

It's fairly common to have an order where the sale of a house is delayed, in order to provide security for children, but it is normal for the payment to the person not remaining in the house to be a % of the value,not a fixed lump sum, as that means that you share the risk of the value falling , and share the benefits if it rises. As staying on the mortgage disadvantages the other spouse, (as it makes it harder for them to buy a new property) a court would probably ask whether it would be possible for you to rehouse yourself and the children, and if so, how much of the equity would you need to do so, taking into account your mortgage capacity, as this might be a fairer option as it potentially frees up a small deposit now for your ex, and means you are no longer both on the mortgage.

Bear in mind also that a 50/50 split may not be fair - if there are other assets, or if you husband earns more than you, it might be fair for you to have more than 50%.

If you have not yet seen a solicitor, you need to do so as a matter of urgency, so you have a clear idea of you options and can make an informed choice. And if, at the end of the day, you and your husband still want to do a deferred sale sale 50/50 split on sale, you can get that drawn up properly.