Divorce and property

ABFG

As everyone has said really and given your follow up comments, you will all need legal advice and with luck an easy agreement can be reached. Neither side should fall into the thought process of 50/50 on the house and that's all to be considered. Hopefully it will be amicable for everyone and it works out well.

Aggie23

He's not interested in the money side of it, as in gaining anything. He just doesn't want to be forced out of where he has lived for a long time. You are right. He should get all the finances looked at. Maybe then she may not push for the house and let him live his life out there. 

Aggie23

Thank you everyone for your advise and opinions. It is really appreciated. Given us some things to think about and consider. 

Lavendyr

Get legal advice right now. Has he a will? If not and he dies intestate then all passes to her. If he does and it hasn't been updated since their separation then that could also be a problem. How do they own the house? If joint tenants, then regardless of any will, on death the property will pass to her. 

You are in a vulnerable position,. @Aggie23 - and frankly this needs to be sorted PDQ. By leaving it this long things have become that much more complicated. 

pinkshoes

As they both get on well then I would suggest some sort of financial mediator where they can sit down and work out an agreement.

It doesn't matter who paid what when married. My DH pays most the bills as I have sacrificed career and higher wage for raising our kids. 

He also needs to stop this "I don't want her pension" nonsense. It's a marital asset.

And don't forget she has had to cough up rent for a long time while he lived in the mortgage free home. He should have been paying some sort of rent on her half.

I suggest rewinding time to when they separated, looking at the snapshot of ALL finances at that point and decide what is fair. Write a list of who had what at the time then start with 50-50.

Then add/deduct things that seem fair e.g. his rent he should have been paying on her half of the house, him having perhaps paid more.

Ultimately, unless her pension is HUGE and worth as much as the house, then he is going to have to sell the house if you cannot remortgage or borrow.

TBagpuss

Aggie23 said:

Hi, sorry very long-winded. 

Background: I live with partner of about 4 years (lived together 1 years now, in his house, plus with one of my grown up children). He is a couple years off retirement age.  Me a while yet (about 15 years). Both of us are in low paid jobs. He was made redundant from his job of about 30 years about 10 years ago. Age against him, so took minimum wage job. Only job he could  get. How we met.

His house is co owned with his wife.  Married (inc time separated) about 38 years. Mortgage was paid off about 10 years ago. They separated about 13/14 years ago. She's been living with her new partner for maybe 8/10 years (rented). They rent a very nice house,  not bottom of ladder one. She is in a good job had been for past 25 years. She is about 10 years off retirement age. Her partner is in a good job too. She left her husband (my partner). No arguments/fights etc. There's been no animosity between them. Grown up kids (both in 30s). 

Throughout their marriage. My partner paid for all the bills, mortgage, etc. Even when she got a decent full-time job. Both always worked. She was p/t when kids were little.

At times he struggled with the upkeep of bills etc but being traditional, man/provider, etc. Her money was hers. She did pay for things she wanted like a conservatory, etc, and stuff for their kids. 

She now wants a divorce and from what one of his kids said, half of the house. House  worth about £120/130k.
If he had the money he would just give her it but he doesn't. Between us we only bring home about £1.8k per month. Before car payments and debts (on my part) I was left in it a bit of a mess from my ex, not married. All my earnings, are paying off debts and supporting a child at uni, etc, my ex (their dad) doesn't contribute,  never did (different story).
Neither of us are in a position to really get a mortgage to pay her off. He is retirement age in just over 2 years. With not a great private pension. Her  pension is much better (company pension scheme, long established company).

1. Do you think she would be able to kick him out of the house? He is really worried about this. As we can ill afford current rents, etc. Especially, when his retirement kicks in.
I was hoping to maybe go back to school for a couple of years, to hopefully be in a position to get a better job when he retires.

2. Do you think she would automatically get half?

I suggested maybe paying a little bit from what he can access from his pension (about £20k) and paying her so much per month for so many years until rest paid off. Not sure if that would be allowed, if it went to court.
What do you lovely people think might be the outcome of divorce for him?

He needs to get some proper legal advice, sooner rather than later. 
It would probably have been better for him to have got a divorce sorted earlier, but its something he should sort out now.

Shot term, he should sever the joint tenancy so that if he dies, the house doesn't automatically go to her, and should make a will. He should also make sure that his details with his pension are up to date - at present, it's possible that any death in service benefits or widows pension would automatically go to her.

In terms of a financial settlement, the over-riding aim is  to come up with a settlement which is fair to them both, taking into account all the circumstances. 

The usual start point is 50/50 (which includes not only the house, but also other assets such as pensions) . However, because the aim is to be fair, often 50/50 is not the finals outcome - it may be fair for the person with the higher income ./ earning capacity to have less than 50% because they will need less, and will have higher borrowing capacity so be able to rehouse with a smaller deposit, for example.

A court will look at the value of the assets as they are a the time they are making the decision, but can take into account the length of any separation and the extent to which assets have been built up outside the marriage.

It sounds from what you are saying that his wife is 8 years younger than him and that she is now the higher earner - both of those things are relevant and may mean that a court would see  it as fair that he had a bit more than half, as they mean that she is likely to be able to get a larger mortgage.

It's also possible that he might be entitled to a share of her pension( this would depend to some extent on how it compares with his, and what proportions of each were built up when) . So it's possible that he might be able to come to an agreement with her that she retains the whole of her pension and he gets a larger share of the house in return.

It's also relvant to look at what his housing needs are - obviously in an ideal world he might prefer to stay in the current house, but it's also worth looking at other options. For instance, if the house is worth £130,000, his half share might be £65K . If he was able to negotiate for a 60/40 split he might end up with £78K from the house, so he could look at what his mortgage capacity might be with that kind of deposit, and what the costs of (say) 1-2 bed flats in your area are.

You say he is 2 years from retirement age which I assume means he is in his early 60s. With most pensions, it is possible to draw down a lump sum once you pass 55, so even if he has not yet retired, be may be able to draw a lump sum which again, is potentially relevant to what he may be able to afford in terms of  rehousing.

Obviously drawing a lump sum reduces the amount of income you get from the pension and he'd need to get advice about what was best for him.  

His (And your joint) mortgage capacity will be affected by his age, but a good mortgage broken can talk you through the options available. 

You could also look into whether it would be feasible for you to get a mortgage in your sole name, and to combine this with having a declaration of trust to protect his interest in any property  that the two of you might buy.
 

He and his wife can agree any terms they want. It would be unusual for a court to say that he could buy her out by installments - they would be much more likely to order that the house be sold, particularly as there don't appear to be any minor children and she is already renting so there';s no real reason why he should not fo the dame, if hecan't affod to buy he out.

Markneath

If I was your partner I would be going for half her pension, women do it to men constantly its no different in this case.

The house, pensions anything else they own is a marital asset. 

pxxls51

they just have to sit and talk about all the options and also ask a lawyer for help