Divorce settlement

Mrs_Fatso

Hi, currently at early stages of divorce and trying to agree finances. What would you consider fair for a clean break?

Two kids - 17 and 15, both live me and do not stay overnight with father at all ( a whole other thread!!)

I work full time, earn 22k
He works full time earn 52k, pays minimum maintenance

My pension 25k , his 115k

Joint house worth 290k, no mortgage, no other assets

He has debts of 19k

My career took a real hit to support his and I did all the childcare.

I was thinking 65/35 split of house. He really doesn’t want to pension share or pay spousal maintenance

I don’t want to screw him over but want what's fair. Wikivorce came out at 70/30 split.

I want to sort this out between us or with mediation rather than court but I don’t think he’s being realistic, but then again am I?!

Comms69

Mrs_Fatso wrote: »

Hi, currently at early stages of divorce and trying to agree finances. What would you consider fair for a clean break?

Two kids - 17 and 15, both live me and do not stay overnight with father at all ( a whole other thread!!)

I work full time, earn 22k
He works full time earn 52k, pays minimum maintenance

My pension 25k , his 115k

Joint house worth 290k, no mortgage, no other assets

He has debts of 19k

My career took a real hit to support his and I did all the childcare.

I was thinking 65/35 split of house. He really doesn’t want to pension share or pay spousal maintenance

I don’t want to screw him over but want what's fair. Wikivorce came out at 70/30 split.

I want to sort this out between us or with mediation rather than court but I don’t think he’s being realistic, but then again am I?!

Spousal maintenance is quite rare and certainly as someone working full time you are very unlikely to get that anyway.


The split of the house seems almost fair - though there is his debts to consider too.


starting point is 50:50


so that's: 205,500 each.


in your scenario you would have 213,500; whilst he would have 197,500


if you split the debt you're pretty much there.


He may pay minimum maintenance, but you're still getting more than most single parents.

TBagpuss

Start point is 50/0, it would be reasonable to adjust that in your favour given his much higher income.
Anything from 60-70 would fall within the range of fair outcomes.

I would suggest that you look into your own mortgage capacity and take some advice about pension. It may well be that he would prefer not to have a pension share but you need to consider what will be best for you - it may be better for you to have a pension share and a small mortgage than to have the house mortgage free but no pension.

Spousal maintenance is highly unlikely to be appropriate.

If his debts were built up during the marriage for the benefit of the family then they need to be taken into account, If they were built up since separation or for his sole benefit then it would be more reasonable to disregard them.

Comms69

TBagpuss wrote: »

Start point is 50/0, it would be reasonable to adjust that in your favour given his much higher income.
Anything from 60-70 would fall within the range of fair outcomes. - whilst that's true, there is a moral argument that he paid more during the relationship for the property.

I would suggest that you look into your own mortgage capacity and take some advice about pension. It may well be that he would prefer not to have a pension share but you need to consider what will be best for you - it may be better for you to have a pension share and a small mortgage than to have the house mortgage free but no pension.

Spousal maintenance is highly unlikely to be appropriate.

If his debts were built up during the marriage for the benefit of the family then they need to be taken into account, If they were built up since separation or for his sole benefit then it would be more reasonable to disregard them.

It's refreshing to see OPs with fairly reasonable starting points on here though

davidwood681

His debts could be your debts.

TBagpuss

Comms69 wrote: »

- whilst that's true, there is a moral argument that he paid more during the relationship for the property.

If you want to go down that route you would also have to factor in the value of the work she did - for instance in child care , housekeeping etc. You cannot, morally or in fairness, chose to assign value to some types of work / contribution and not others.

It's why the courts start with the presumption that in a marriage, the parties have worked in partnership and have split the differing roles (working in the home, working outside the how and building a career) in a way which works for them and that it is fair to treat them as having made contributions which were equally valuable to the wellbeing of the family, whether they had identical financial value or not.

of course, even if the wife in this case has 65-70% of the assets now, the likelihood is that she will still be worse off in the longer term.

Comms69

TBagpuss wrote: »

If you want to go down that route you would also have to factor in the value of the work she did - for instance in child care , housekeeping etc. You cannot, morally or in fairness, chose to assign value to some types of work / contribution and not others. - indeed, I meant more recently where they have clearly both been working. That said a very fair point.

It's why the courts start with the presumption that in a marriage, the parties have worked in partnership and have split the differing roles (working in the home, working outside the how and building a career) in a way which works for them and that it is fair to treat them as having made contributions which were equally valuable to the wellbeing of the family, whether they had identical financial value or not.

of course, even if the wife in this case has 65-70% of the assets now, the likelihood is that she will still be worse off in the longer term.

Who knows, kids are getting older, may want to move out soon. 200k can buy a very nice 2 bed with money left over.

BAFE

How old are you both? Pensions are worth more the close you get to retirement age.


Spousal support not likely to be ordered if he's only earning £52k.

Would a 50/50 split enable you to house yourself and your children?

Mrs_Fatso

Thanks everyone. Nice to know I m not a million miles away in my thinking. I m 46 hes 47 and to be honest I would rather have a small mortgage and a better pension although I am now trying to up my contributions to my current one. And yes I realise that the debts could be matrimonial but I knew nothing of them until recently. He couldnt have got as far as he has in his career if I hadnt worked around the children and Ben there while he worked abroad etc.
It was my solicitor who suggested spousal support, I dont intend on perusing that though. I m more concerned about my long term situation. Ideally I dont want to sell the house but realise that I may have to.

Comms69

Mrs_Fatso wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Nice to know I m not a million miles away in my thinking. I m 46 hes 47 and to be honest I would rather have a small mortgage and a better pension although I am now trying to up my contributions to my current one. And yes I realise that the debts could be matrimonial but I knew nothing of them until recently. He couldnt have got as far as he has in his career if I hadnt worked around the children and Ben there while he worked abroad etc.
It was my solicitor who suggested spousal support, I dont intend on perusing that though. I m more concerned about my long term situation. Ideally I dont want to sell the house but realise that I may have to.

Could you afford to mortgage the property? Certainly the affordability is close

tacpot12

I think you should be looking for between 70% and 75% of the house depending on when his debt was acquired - 70% if acquired before separation and 75% if acquired after separation. This represents a 50/50 split of resources. You could try to push for more than this, because he has a greater capacity to make up any shortfall due to his earnings.

Can you afford the mortgage payments if you only get 70% and don't secure any spousal/child maintenance? The payments will be about £400 per calendar month.

Zero spousal maintenance, but some child maintenance (until the children finish college) would be appropriate. The Child Maintenance Calculator (https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance) suggests a figure of £667 per calendar month (£154 per week).