Divorce & Rapid House Sale

Marko61

I submitted an online divorce application via the government website recently after initial advice from a solicitor. My wife and I split several weeks ago, and after l left the marital home, she put the house up for sale. Immediately, an offer was made, which both of us accepted. I am aware that as one of the early stages of divorce, financial disclosure has to take place but if completion of the house sale goes through quickly, is it possible to agree a larger division of the proceeds (say 60/40%) go to my wife as a trade off that she receives nothing else in terms of savings, pension etc from me in lieu? This will allow her to move to a new property quickly without being made homeless. She is amenable to this. We have only been married for 4 years so the pension sharing arrangement figure would probably be a minimal amount if she got a share from me and she is willing to forgo this, as with a share of my savings . This would immediately enable cash to be freed up after completion, and allow her to confidently make an offer on a new home she has seen. We are both approaching retirement. Would just like advice if this is considered possible?

jackieblack

No-one can advise you without some idea of the sums involved but, as a general rule, if you can come to an amicable arrangement between the two of you, the court can usually be more flexible. You must both be shown to have taken legal advice on the agreement (which you are free to ignore, if desired) so neither can claim later that they weren’t aware of any unevenness.
For a short marriage without children, the courts generally aim for each party to be returned to their relative position before the marriage.

Marko61

Thabk you Jackieblack, that is useful information.

tightauldgit

Marko61 said:

I submitted an online divorce application via the government website recently after initial advice from a solicitor. My wife and I split several weeks ago, and after l left the marital home, she put the house up for sale. Immediately, an offer was made, which both of us accepted. I am aware that as one of the early stages of divorce, financial disclosure has to take place but if completion of the house sale goes through quickly, is it possible to agree a larger division of the proceeds (say 60/40%) go to my wife as a trade off that she receives nothing else in terms of savings, pension etc from me in lieu? This will allow her to move to a new property quickly without being made homeless. She is amenable to this. We have only been married for 4 years so the pension sharing arrangement figure would probably be a minimal amount if she got a share from me and she is willing to forgo this, as with a share of my savings . This would immediately enable cash to be freed up after completion, and allow her to confidently make an offer on a new home she has seen. We are both approaching retirement. Would just like advice if this is considered possible?

It's certainly possible if you are both in agreement. Just probably best to get a solicitor to draft up the order and get it in front of a judge to be signed off as a clean break settlement. It's important to get it formalised legally even if you are both in agreement.