Recently separated, advise needed

esquiremd

My wife and I are recently separated, her choice. I work full time have a well paid job and have always paid all the mortgage and bills, cars, everything. My wife has never worked. I want her to be ok from the possible divorce and want to split as easy as possible. We have good savings and I have a good pension. My ideal solution would be to remain on the mortgage and pay half each, both holding 50/50 until she ever sells the house. I would buy another home that I could live in. And split the rest 50/50, savings, pensions, cars etc. Does this sound reasonable? She would have to work I expect, but would I need to pay spousal maintenance? I've not reached out for any formal advice yet and just testing the water before we talk any more about the separation.

Jude57

That sounds more than reasonable but it's not me you have to convince. Your estranged wife will have her opinion on whether what you're suggesting is acceptable to her, but don't be in too much of a hurry to agree anything. For a start, would you be able to get a further mortgage on a separate property? Would your estranged wife be able to pay Council Tax, utilities and maintenance costs for the former matrimonial home? Would you be so willing to fund her lifestyle if/when she finds a new partner and moves them in? Would she be happy knowing that, as long as you remain an owner of the property, technically, you could move back in at any time - possibly with your own new partner?

A lot of other variables come into play, such as whether there are any minor children, the ages of any children, the age of you and your estranged wife. In terms of spousal support, that's not always ordered, but a woman of, say, 35 is capable of training and achieving a well-paid career and establishing her own pension in a way a woman of, say 62 is unlikely to be able to do. In the case of the younger woman, spousal support might be payable for a specified period, to enable her to find work but isn't likely to be payable indefinitely. Even where there are minor children, there's no reason the woman couldn't work, millions do. For an older woman with limited earning capability, spousal support could be payable for an indefinite period, particularly in the absence of any pension provision.

But before you can make any binding decisions, please seek legal advice. A good family law solicitor can look at your entire situation and advise how best to proceed. It's always better to have a financial separation at the point of divorce, rather than being financially linked because, believe me, people can change and what starts out as an amicable agreement ends up a bitter, protracted fight. Far better to have a Clean Break agreement at the earliest point possible so that there are no issues years from now.

I'm sure others will be along with further points but I hope my post gives you some idea of the things you really should consider. 

TBagpuss

How old are each of you? How long have you been together? Do you have any children and if so, how old are they? 

Generally speaking, it is appropriate to try for a clean break, so you are not financially linked. If you remained on the house and mortgage then this has implications - for instance, you would pay higher stamp duty on buying a new property as it would be a second home, you are likely to have a CGT liability on your share of the equity when the family home is eventually sold, you and she will be linked financially so the financial actions of one could have an impact on the credit record of the other, and so forth.

For that reason, it may well make much more sense to look at either selling the current house and both of you buying something smaller (it may be that this would need to involve her having a larger share of the equity / savings  if you are the higher earner) 

It would be possible to have an order the provided for a sale of the house but with a built in delay - e.g. for the house to be put on the market in 12 months time, to allow her time to find a job and start to build up credit and employment history.

unless she has the capacity to be able to get a job with similar earning capacity to yours then it's likely that an unequal split in her favour will be fair, if you are the higher earner than you will have higher mortgage capacity, likely higher capacity to build savings and pension etc, so she would be likely to need more 'up front' in order to achieve a fair outcome. So one big question is what is your income and earning capacity, and what are hers? 

Spousal maintenance is rare nowadays as a court generally prefers to provide for a clean break and to adjust the split of capital to achieve a fair outcome, rather than having maintenance tying you together , it can be reasonable for there to be short term maintenance where it is needed to allow the weaker financial party to make the transition to financial independence . The classic situation is where a stay-at-home parents needs support until the child is able to start school / nursery, or to bridge the gap between being dependent on benefits and moving to employment. If your wife has not worked for a long period of time them it may be that it would be reasonable for you to pay maintenance on a short term basis and perhaps for this to taper - e.g. £1,000 a month for 6 months, then £750  a month for 6 months,. then £500 then nothing (or whatever numbers make sense in the context of your respective incomes, housing and other costs)

MobileSaver

esquiremd said:

My wife and I are recently separated, her choice. ... I want her to be ok from the possible divorce and want to split as easy as possible. ... My ideal solution would be to remain on the mortgage and pay half each, both holding 50/50 until she ever sells the house.

How would you feel about paying half the mortgage if or when your wife moves a new partner in?

Stateofart

Clean break is always the best, even though it's a difficult thing to navigate, it's well worth doing sooner rather than later.  Spousal maintenance is not really a thing in the UK, so don't feel you're obliged to do this.  Best thing, all assets in a pot, take half. Simple.

london21

You are been reasonable but will have to be agreed by the both of you.

She might have to get a job with the increase in costs of everything.

Depends on the circumstances if you both had children , their age, childcare etc also.