Help please with Consent Order

Your respective ages;
Him 55, Me 48

The number of children you have and their ages; None under 18

The length of your marriage and any period of pre marriage cohabitation;
23 years plus 1 year

Your respective incomes;
Him 18K self employed, Me £15K might be £20K soon as applying for new job

Your respective outgoings;
Him contributes £225 per week to bills, Me everything else then put into our savings

Your assets - both soley held and joint;
Family Home £200K with £46K mortgage
Rental 1 bed property £75K
Classic motorbike £13k
Classic car £10k
Classic car £8k
Van £3.5k
Car £1k
Car £500
Savings £5000

Your liabilities.
No debts other than mortgage

He has pension of around £100k
My pension £2.5k

I would welcome a 50/50 split.

The issues I have

He is adamant he is buying me out but can only get 76k total that includes the 46k On the FH so an extra £30k

The rental house it was agreed that it is split 3 ways with our 2 boys
They have 1/3 each and me & husband have 1/3 between us. This is only a verbal agreement as on paper it’s just me & husband. I intend to honour our agreement as if it wasn’t for our boys hard work doing this house up then we would have not been able to get this house. They also helped us out massively with finances.

I really don’t know how we can go about splitting this with the added complication of this rental. Any advise would be most gratefully received please. Thankyou

Just to add I’ve just read about what can be taken into account when a judge looks at the CO

......so wanted to add that I’ve suffer with a debilitating MH condition since childhood and I only managed to get out working from Sept 2015. Up to that point I lived on tax credits & my ex husbands maintenance payments with very little coming from current husbands self employed business as he mainly spent it on beer and cigarettes.

I also cared for husbands Mum 24/7 for 18 months until she died. We sold her house for £60K and we put that towards a suitable home for ourselves & her.

Please could anyone kindly offer any advise ? Thankyou in advance

Financial settlement on divorce is based on needs first. If there are no dependent children the strict need for each of you is a 1-2 bed place. How big is the FMH? How much would a suitable 1-2 bed property cost to buy?? What mortgage capacity do you have?
Are you confident his income is what he says it is?
What happens to the income from the BTL? How much do you get from it? Would it be suitable for either of you to live in??
Who do all the classic vehicles belong to?? Could they be sold to raise funds? Remember you are looking at 50% of the whole pot and they are all in the pot.
I appreciate that you want to share the BTL with the children but it is an asset of the marriage and giving a share to adult children is not going to work if there isn't enough to house you both without it.
You have to consider your needs for housing and income, now and in the future, first.

Hadenoughnow

Thankyou. I really appreciate your time to help me.

Family home is 3 bed. A suitable 2 bed would be £170k. Our rental is a one bed but my Son is staying with me for now.
I earn about £15k at minute but have applied for another job and if successful £20,500.
He is self employed & his books show £18k profit per year.
We get £485 pm for btl & it pays our mortgage.
Classic vehicles are joint assets.

How does this look for a 50/50 split please ?

He buys me out of family home with 77k funded by topping 46,000 mortgage up to 76k (which he has been told is his max mortgage borrowing) plus giving up his share of the rental property (£37,500) Any shortfall made up with his pension of which he can take 25% now.

HE is adamant he won’t sell the vehicles
Motorbike £12,000 He keeps
Classic Car £ 5,000 He keeps
Mini £10,000 He keeps
Van £3,000 He keeps
Toyota £ 500 He keeps
Mazda £1000 I keep
Furniture & white goods £3,000 He keeps

He has the classic vehicles to fall back on & sell should he struggle & he is happy with that & I have the rental.

We both agree on this split but he has no solicitor & mine has gone off radar since Covid. I needed to tell her husband was arrested for smashing family home up but she has still not replied to my message. Last I heard on 30th June was we were waiting for sealed petition back from the court.

There is circa £265k in cash assets. That is just over £130k each. Is the £18k profit what is left over after he has taken a salary? Have you seen the business accounts? There should be full financial disclosure before you agree anything.

He could keep the FMH but would have to sell some of the classic cars to do so. The classic vehicles are a want, not a need.

Or he could keep the btl and the vehicles and you could retain the FMH. Or it should be sold and the proceeds divided so you get the equivalent of £130k (which may include the btl which you could live in and choose what to do with the residue)

The pension pot would be split 5050.

It may be worth investing in a legal financial consultation. Give the helpline a call.

Hadenoughnow

Hi

I’ve had to re register as I forgot password and couldn’t get a reminder to my email for some reason.

Thanks for your reply. How would it be if we split the marital home into 2 dwellings with a stud wall (tenants in common), kept the rental as tenants in common and split everything else 50/50. We basically have been living in same house with only the kitchen as a communal area and this we are proposing to divide into 2 dwellings albeit not getting planning permission and going to expense of utilities split etc. We would just half bills. I realise the risk with debt secured on house etc. Separate entrances & separate gardens etc.

Update on pensions
His 105k
Mine 11k

Earnings me £25k inc weekend enhancements
Him shows18k profit on self employment accounts before he pays himself.

Him 56
Me 49 (50 in Jan)

Thankyou

The purpose of a divorce and financial settlement is to dissolve the marriage and separate your affairs so you can live independently of each other.

While the arrangement you are suggesting may seem an attractive option I cannot see it working long term or being agreed as part of a legally binding order.

Without an order pensions cannot be dealt with. A pension share can only happen as part of a legally binding order.

There are considerations around planning, council tax etc. I don't think you can just create two separate dwellings each with their own kitchens etc.

You also need to consider what would happen if one or both of you entered a new relationship. I cannot see a new partner being happy with this arrangement.

It is of course up to you how you arrange things but if you want full separation and s legally binding financial settlement I am afraid this isn't going to be a solution.

Hadenoughnow