Fair Settlement?

Hi Wyspecial

Answers to the questions below:

1. In 9 years there will be no dependents and she will have minimum 150k for a deposit so should be able to house herself with a mortgage.

2. Giving up the house equity and savings now means selling the house - she has zero mortgage capacity until starting to work full time in 2023 so cannot rehouse herself until then.

3. The 4,500 a month deal was agreed in writing between us when we separated and expires this month after 2 years. No court or anyone else involved just a private deal. Basically its the same as what I was giving her before to look after the kids, expenses etc. when I was working away outside the UK anyway. She does not claim benefits at the moment. My plan going forward is to pay child maintenance and the mortgage - she can work part time and claim benefits. I can offer to pay "maintenance" for time not working during during a retraining period.

Are you suggesting a likely outcome (that could be endorsed by the courts if it went that far) could be giving up the house equity, savings, selling the house in 2023 (when she is working full time and has mortgage capacity) so she can get housed and possible paying spousal maintenance for a defined period of reducing payments after the house is sold in 2023 (e.g. 2 years) and I keep 100% of my pension?

I would rather avoid spousal maintenance completely and pay the mortgage for a bit longer, at least I would get my capital repayments back at some point and have the peace of mind knowing the kids are in decent accommodation.

This conundrum is driving me round the bend but I feel a reasonable solution that I can stick to in negotiations (and all the way to court if necessary) is getting closer!