Fair Settlement?

Vigorate wrote:

If the house value is 300k, she will have a deposit of 150k and will have to get a mortgage for the other 150k.

That may be a stumbling block.

A single applicant with three dependants may struggle to get a mortgage that big unless they have been in stable employment for some time with a higher than average salary.

Assuming she isn't in a position to do this in three years time how will the money be released? It is unlikely a court would allow an order that could potentially force a house sale involving three children.

Most orders similar to what you are suggesting run until youngest is 18.

Hi Wyspecial - thanks for your valuable comments.

The problem is that my ex will never be able to afford to pay the mortgage on the current property on her own (2,000 per month). If she could then no problem waiting until the youngest is 18 for release of my share of the money.

Do you think a judge would consider this when reviewing the Consent Order or making a decision on the matter if it goes that far?

If I decided to come back to the UK tomorrow the mortgage is no longer affordable because I would have my own living/housing costs to pay for myself on a much reduced salary.

In sum, the house sale in 2023 deal I am suggesting basically buys my ex more time to get back into full time work (all kids in senior school) and get an affordable mortgage in her own name.

Any further thoughts or suggestions on how to solve this conundrum?

How big is current house?

£2k per month mortgage suggests a big house or a mortgage over a short term.

Could she downsize now with the majority of the assets?

Most people would say that your best result would be to minimise spousal maintenance by giving up the majority of the assets as you'll be financially free to start again.

Spousal maintenance is based upon need and ability to pay. By paying what you have to date you have demonstrated that you can afford to pay and acknowledged that she has a need. If you get stuck with a high SM amount you may end up having to stay abroad in order to afford the payments or apply for a change to the order which may not be granted.

As it is she is living rent and mortgage free and has £4500 per month tax free to live on which must be very comfortable. It would be easy to see why she would be reluctant to change this voluntarily or quickly.

Hi Wyspecial - thanks for responding.

The house is 4 bedrooms in a nice area and there are three kids so pretty large I guess.

There are other 4 bedroom properties in a cheaper area of the same borough for 300k. The problem is that she will have no mortgage capacity until she gets back into full time work in 2023.

This seems to be the stumbling block for downsizing now, which should be less of a problem in 2023 if she is working full time and hopefully house prices will have gone up by then, which will give her more equity but who knows...

I guess I will have to put all this to my ex as a financial proposal and see what she says. I expect she will want the house till the youngest child is 18.

Then I will have to decide whether to extend mortgage payments (capital to be recovered when the house is sold) to when the youngest is maybe 14 or 16, or get it sorted out by a judge in court if we cannot agree.

That you have proven for 2 years your lifestyle and living standards aren’t impacted when paying her £6500 per month effectively weakens your position some what. If you give her all the equity and savings she still needs a mortgage of £120k. With the age of the kids she will likely be expected to retrain and get back into work but it seems likely that you will have to be covering her in the meantime. Being out of the country blurs it a bit I imagine but on the basis of you paying so much each month I can’t see why a court would not impose some sort of mesher order when she blatantly can’t rehouse In her current state and you can easily afford it

Thanks Rick. If I agreed to pay the mortgage (capital payments to be reimbursed) till the youngest is 18 and child maintenance would 50:50 or 80:20 in her favor on the house equity and 50:50 on savings with me keeping my pension likely be seen as reasonable if it went to court?

I don’t mind paying for a nice place for my kids to live and grow up (if I can afford it) but do not want to fund her choosing not to work - so she must retrain and get a job.

Is it normal for a 50:50 deal on the house equity after expiry of the mesher order as there would be no more dependants? It’s important for me to get capital repayments reimbursed as I could pay about 50% of the capital in 3 years to reduce the mortgage payments but would want that money back later!

Courts tend not to like Mesher type orders as all it really does is move the uncertainty forward.

Would you ex be able to house herself in 9 years time with what you are proposing? Unless you know exactly what is going to happen to house prices then you can't say.

You would do better to give up the majority, or all, of the house equity and savings now and try to minimise the amount and length of time for spousal maintenance.

Try to get something where what you pay goes down in stages so it can be seen to be supporting your ex re-training and returning to work. Whether or not she chooses to is then up to her.

Work out a realistic budget for her. Not many people live rent and mortgage free with £4500 plus whatever benefits she gets to live on. It's the equivalent of a £78k a year salary.

Does she really spend all of this money every month? She may well have savings or a pension to take into account.

On what basis do you currently pay?