His assets total £1.2mil and he’s asking me for money!?

The FMH was purchased by me before we met for 297k I renovated it at a cost of 240k before we were engaged.

6 months after we married he sold his flat proceeds 171k he then moved into my house with me and my 2 kids.

Since he moved in we’ve both been paid into one joint current account that mortgage and all bills come out of.

The 30k to pay off the sub mortgage came from our joint savings.

Is it true that he has claim on m house yet I don’t have claim on the proceeds from his flat sale and the interest he’s had on that for last 5.5 years? Because that’s what he’s telling me?

His claim on the house is realistically limited to half of the increase in equity during the time that you shared the cost of the mortgage.

If it’s a repayment mortgage and with £30k paid off from joint resources the amount outstanding will have decreased plus house prices may have risen in that time too.

Even though his assets are 1.2mil and mine are c450k? I can’t see that he needs half of the increase in equity in my house to meet his housing and retirement needs?

Meanwhile I’m the main carer for 2 minors and have much less assets and pension than him? What would I be entitled to from him then?

I’ve earned more than him throughout the marriage so have contributed disproportionately to mortgage and bills too, so it’s not like he’s actually paid half the mortgage and bills over the course of the marriage anyway so to think that he can come away with more than he’s actually put in and him being a millionaire too is just nuts. Am I missing a trick here?

From the info you have provided your assets are worth far more than just the house equity as you also have savings and a pension.

All the assets he has he already had before he came into the relationship and you haven’t contributed towards them. One of yours, the FMH, has increased in value because of his contribution.

You could put forward an argument to have the increase in pensions during the time when you were together but by the sounds most of his pension contributions came from existing savings that he already had and simply moved across into a pensions wrapper.Plus, if you earned more or are in a different type of scheme your pension may have increased in value more than his.

If he didn’t contribute 50% of the mortgage argue that he should only benefit by the % he did contribute.

This isn’t a needs based case. You both have far more than you need so it will be hard for you to argue that something that was shared should now be only yours even if it has always been in your name.

As for tricks being missed the only way to avoid potential financial claims if a marriage or civil partnership ends is to not enter into them.

He didn’t already have the savings when we married though. Part of the reason he has the saving is because he sold his flat and moved into my house, part is inheritance. So his savings from his flat sale were a product of the marriage.

Does that mean I’m entitled to a share in the savings or at least in a share of the interest on them over the course of the marriage?

Because otherwise he gets to keep all the capital from his flat and the growth in it over the course of the marriage whereas I have to give him a portion of the growth in my property which doesn’t seem fair, especially since he’s a millionaire?

And yes the house is my main asset. My pension value is a third of his (approx 200k against his 600k) and my savings are 18k against his 600k.

As for the growth in my pension vs his he was paying an extra 900pm into additional voluntary contributions (from our joint finances and without my knowledge) which he wouldn’t have been able to afford without the marriage so his pension far growth outstrips mine. And yes he did stash some of what he got from the sale of his property (which he was able to sell as he moved in with me) into his pension so I would think that I’m entitled to a portion of the growth in his pension then?

It is all starting to seem like a story of ‘man moves in with woman and her kids hence allowing him to sell his property, increase his pension and keep his inheritance as savings as he doesn’t need to use any of the money on housing them all as he’s moved in with the wife. Woman gets used as a marital home and pension avc provider, he becomes a millionaire via his flat sale and inheritance and, thanks to dumb little wifey letting him move in to her home, keeps all his money since he now doesn’t have to spend a single penny on buying a house. Man emotionally abuses wife and kids, yet wife still has to pay him a settlement due to growth in her home and man walks away keeping all his 1.2mil asset pot. Wife is and kids are left with scars of his abuse and are financially poorer than at the start of the marriage. Seems like utter madness to me. I’m not a lawyer but I find it difficult to believe that I’d find one single judge in the entire country that would go for that?

How were the family finances run?
Did he pay a fixed amount each month that was to cover mortgage and household costs either directly to you or into a joint account that you both used for that purpose and then you each kept your own money separate?
Or did you pool your finances with income going into one joint account?
Paying £950 per month into a pension to avoid 40% tax if you have excess income isn’t unusual but if it was coming out of a joint bank account it’s rather different.
What are the household outgoings like? £9.5k a month net income is far more than most households but if you have high living costs with school fees etc it can all be accounted for with little to be saved.
What asset value did you each have at the start of the relationship?
How has he arrived at a figure of £40k that he wants? Could you come back with a lower figure that he would probably accept? How much time, money and emotional energy are you prepared to spend arguing over that amount of money?

It is a fairly short marriage. It sounds like a sharing case although if your housing situation could be compromised by sharing what's been built up in the marriage it could be a needs case where an unequal division of assets is possible.
If he has been able to load his pension and accrue interest on savings from the sale of his property it may be that his gains not too far off the increase in the house value.
You need full financial disclosure, an assessment of needs and if mediation fails to produce a settlement or he won't provide full disclosure, an application to court for financial remedy. You can still settle at any time but if but if you don't the court will eventually make a decision for you.

Hadenoughnow