Divorce options, just agreed to 50/50 split from house sale not savings help?

Wilkesy91

Hi me and my wife have agreed to split up after been married for a two years. We’ve lived in our own home for 6 years. We have agreed to live in house together whilst we sell it. There’s is zero animosity and we’ve broken up an amicable way. We’ve just agreed to split the house sale 50/50 and this no savings involved from either is us so a financial order isn’t necessary. Iv noticed you can do everything directly through .gov website for £600 and you don’t solicitors to be involved and again we don’t feel the need at the moment as again we’re getting on. 

We can’t afford a divorce until we sell the house. So as soon as we get the money we’re splitting it down the middle from what we’ve made then we can go through with the divorce. Is there any forms or letters that we can to sign to agree that we are only splitting the house sale and that’s it so not including saving accounts ect… as a financial order seems to want everything or is a financial order based around what we’ve discussed if we get a solicitor involved to do everything ? I received a bonus from work and she’s already said she doesn’t want a penny of it but if we did a financial order won’t she get 50% of that or again can we tailor a financial order ? 

RAS

You both need a divorce, the cost of which you can share, and a financial settlement. You can DIY the basics and I'd suggest you both look at wikidivorce. As long as your settlement is reasonable, the courts should agree it.

Why bother?  Posters on this forum have had financial issues round divorce raised a decade or two after they agreed the deal. The DWP aren't always obligingly when they discover that a claimant is still listed as joint owner of a property, nor are potential beneficiaries.

It costs now but is a lot cheaper than sorting out the mess a decade or two down the line

DullGreyGuy

Wilkesy91 said:

Hi me and my wife have agreed to split up after been married for a two years. We’ve lived in our own home for 6 years. We have agreed to live in house together whilst we sell it. There’s is zero animosity and we’ve broken up an amicable way. We’ve just agreed to split the house sale 50/50 and this no savings involved from either is us so a financial order isn’t necessary. Iv noticed you can do everything directly through .gov website for £600 and you don’t solicitors to be involved and again we don’t feel the need at the moment as again we’re getting on. 

We can’t afford a divorce until we sell the house. So as soon as we get the money we’re splitting it down the middle from what we’ve made then we can go through with the divorce. Is there any forms or letters that we can to sign to agree that we are only splitting the house sale and that’s it so not including saving accounts ect… as a financial order seems to want everything or is a financial order based around what we’ve discussed if we get a solicitor involved to do everything ? I received a bonus from work and she’s already said she doesn’t want a penny of it but if we did a financial order won’t she get 50% of that or again can we tailor a financial order ? 

Its amicable now, will it still be amicable when your to be ex-wife comes home with another guy/gal? Or you do the same? Or they start lavishing gifts on either of you whereas the others having a hard time?

Plenty of people get divorced without a financial order, amicably or not, and simply go their separate ways. It's not hard to do, I've helped a couple of people fill in the forms, all was simple and straightforward process. 

The problem of not having a financial order is that an ex can come out the woodwork at a later date and suddenly demand half the pension or such. You may decide it's worth the risk to avoid the costs of a solicitor to draw up the order but at least do so educated on the risk you are taking. 

The friends I've helped, to date, are all ok however one of them has done well for themselves since, remarried into money. His ex did briefly resurface, she has been in bad health, lost her job, at 55 had to move into a HMO and "reminded" him it was her support that got him onto his career path. Thankfully nothing more came of it but in principle she could have caused complexity had she wanted to.

Wilkesy91

Is there an order we can draft up to agree to that there’s no coming back after the divorce for more ? Or is financial order the only way? Just thought once we sell the house and get half of the money (if it’s still amicable) they’ll be no assets to split anyway but the potential to take savings is still there though afterwards. 

elsien

The financial order doesn’t have to split everything 50-50 if the two of you don’t want to do that. The judge will look at it and consider whether it is equitable or not in terms of earning potential,  health et cetera, but if you’re both working walking away with enough for your needs then the court can just rubber stamp what you’ve agreed, 

Don’t forget, it’s not just savings. It’s pensions as well. But if one of you has a bigger pension pot and the other has more savings then it may well just equal out. It gets more complicated for a children, but I’m presuming that there aren’t?

Peter999_2

elsien said:

The financial order doesn’t have to split everything 50-50 if the two of you don’t want to do that. The judge will look at it and consider whether it is equitable or not in terms of earning potential,  health et cetera, but if you’re both working walking away with enough for your needs then the court can just rubber stamp what you’ve agreed, 

Don’t forget, it’s not just savings. It’s pensions as well. But if one of you has a bigger pension pot and the other has more savings then it may well just equal out. It gets more complicated for a children, but I’m presuming that there aren’t?

It is also worth knowing that a judge cannot reject a financial order even if they think it's unfair.   They can ask for more details etc.   but if you go back and both agree that it is what you want then the judge has to grant it - it is seen as you are both adults who can make up their own minds.

VyEu

Wilkesy91 said:

Is there an order we can draft up to agree to that there’s no coming back after the divorce for more ? Or is financial order the only way? Just thought once we sell the house and get half of the money (if it’s still amicable) they’ll be no assets to split anyway but the potential to take savings is still there though afterwards. 

Financial order is the only way.

Do get one. Sure it'll cost money but I have clients dealing with spouse 10+ years after a split, so it's definitely worth it. You need a draft consent order and a d81 form (statement of financial information)

Also a judge can reject an order if it's too heavily weighted in one person's favour. Sure at the first instance they'll ask questions and even list it for a hearing if the answers received aren't sufficient, but you cannot oust the courts discretion to grant the order. To say they 'cannot reject' it is fundamentally wrong.
Note however that it is highly unlikely they will reject on order freely entered into when both sides have the benefit of legal advice. 

And as another commenter said, pensions! Don't forget the pensions!

Wilkesy91

VyEu said:

Wilkesy91 said:

Is there an order we can draft up to agree to that there’s no coming back after the divorce for more ? Or is financial order the only way? Just thought once we sell the house and get half of the money (if it’s still amicable) they’ll be no assets to split anyway but the potential to take savings is still there though afterwards. 

Financial order is the only way.

Do get one. Sure it'll cost money but I have clients dealing with spouse 10+ years after a split, so it's definitely worth it. You need a draft consent order and a d81 form (statement of financial information)

Also a judge can reject an order if it's too heavily weighted in one person's favour. Sure at the first instance they'll ask questions and even list it for a hearing if the answers received aren't sufficient, but you cannot oust the courts discretion to grant the order. To say they 'cannot reject' it is fundamentally wrong.
Note however that it is highly unlikely they will reject on order freely entered into when both sides have the benefit of legal advice. 

And as another commenter said, pensions! Don't forget the pensions!

Right so we don’t have to do a consent order we could just dian financial order in stead and just agree to split the house money using that? As the consent order requires d81 and form a too. I know we can’t do anything u til we start the divorce but the house will split already before we even start the divorce 

VyEu

Wilkesy91 said:

VyEu said:

Wilkesy91 said:

Is there an order we can draft up to agree to that there’s no coming back after the divorce for more ? Or is financial order the only way? Just thought once we sell the house and get half of the money (if it’s still amicable) they’ll be no assets to split anyway but the potential to take savings is still there though afterwards. 

Financial order is the only way.

Do get one. Sure it'll cost money but I have clients dealing with spouse 10+ years after a split, so it's definitely worth it. You need a draft consent order and a d81 form (statement of financial information)

Also a judge can reject an order if it's too heavily weighted in one person's favour. Sure at the first instance they'll ask questions and even list it for a hearing if the answers received aren't sufficient, but you cannot oust the courts discretion to grant the order. To say they 'cannot reject' it is fundamentally wrong.
Note however that it is highly unlikely they will reject on order freely entered into when both sides have the benefit of legal advice. 

And as another commenter said, pensions! Don't forget the pensions!

Right so we don’t have to do a consent order we could just dian financial order in stead and just agree to split the house money using that? As the consent order requires d81 and form a too. I know we can’t do anything u til we start the divorce but the house will split already before we even start the divorce 

The financial order would be made by consent, so it's a consent order (i.e. they're the same thing). Regardless of what you want to call it, you'd need to submit a draft order to the court and the D81 form. They're two separate documents.