60/40 split?

Hello,

I’ve read a few threads re the calculator on the site not being legit and wanted some advice.

Married 13 years, 2 boys-9 and a non bio of 16.

House £85k equity. House worth £185k

Pensions his- not sure what CETV will show but both of his pots at £30k. Mine at £15k.

The calculator said it would be a 60/40 split and then child nsintenve. Why would it not be 50/50? Obviously I would be thrilled with a larger share but why is it like that?

Both earn £30k per annum.

Does anyone have any experience of if I will get a bigger share than 50/50?

Departures from 50/50 are based upon need.

Why would you need more than 50%?

Try to work out how much of the available resources you need and why rather than concentrating on percentages.

The priority will be housing everyone. How much will this cost and how big a deposit will you each need given your mortgage raising capacities?

Ignore what the calculator says. It is a pointless tool for a number of reasons, it doesn't take into account needs and gives false hope especially to those starting out.

Personally I think it's on the site to draw people in via search engines.

However the information available on the forums are worth finding yourself here.

The calculator is a blunt tool and it is true that every case is different.

How old are you both?

The pension pots are too small to share but cannot be converted to cash until you hit 55. At present the pension division is 80:20 to him.

His larger pension pot may be balanced against equity. It may not be unreasonable for you to have a share of 60:40 of the equity - or more to balance things. 40% of the equity is £34k. 30% is £25.5k.

He will still need somewhere to live - ideally with 2-3 bedrooms so the children can stay.

Would you be able to raise enough cash now to provide a deposit for him as well as taking on the mortgage? You need to check out your mortgage capacity.

Could you free up cash by moving to a cheaper property?

One option may be a deferred charge - where he gets all or some of his equity when the house is sold - say when the youngest reach 18. If he could have a small cash sum now, that would reduce the amount he gets in future. A clean beak now would be better if it can be achieved.



Hadenoughnow

Hello,

I’m hoping to keep the family home as it meets our needs but isn’t excessive.

We are 35 and 40- he’s taken the 10k cash savings so far. The reason I’m asking is ideally I don’t want to have to remortgage- I wanted to buy him off with cash, cars and pensions.

Why is the pension 80/20? I thought all assets were 50/50?

If I have to remortgage it will put me under further financial pressure however mortgage calculator are saving they will lend me the cash but like I said I would rather him have other assets if possible.

Thanks for your responses so far

He has 80% of the pensions you have between you at present. They are too small to share because of the costs of pension sharing.

To reach 50:50 of all assets, you can balance this inequity by having more of the cash assets. However, at the age you both are, you are a long way from being able to benefit from the pensions so they may not be counted on a £ for £ basis when offset against cash assets.

If there are other assets to consider, you need to add these to the equity before dividing the whole sum.

Hadenoughnow

Hello

Firstly, do not place any reliance on the calculator. If there was a hard and fast formula to all of this then divorcing couples wouldn't need to go to court to achieve financial settlement. When I first used the calculator it worked out 80:20 Clean Break in favour of my ex-wife. It gave me sleepless nights! We eventually settled on 52:48 clean break.

What hadenoughnow is saying is that currently your pension assets are £60k in his name and £15k in yours, so it's currently 80:20. You could try to negotiate that he keeps all of his pension pot in exchange for you having most of the equity in the house.

You need to work out each party's needs, giving priority to housing the children. If you both are prepared to be co-operative then mediation would be good, using a mediator that is or has been involved in family law.

Wheatnotthechaff