My intro & a question or two

I am the Husband…..

Our respective ages; H 43–W 34

The number of children you have and their ages; 2 kids – 4 and 8

How many nights the children spend with each parent;

We are planning the following arrangement
4 with mum – 3 with dad

The length of your marriage and any period of pre marriage cohabitation;

marriage 11 yrs – cohabitation 3 yrs

Your respective incomes;

H £15000 p/y gross – W £27000 p/y gross

I also have a business on the side but it has made a loss for the last 2 years

W also gets child benefits and WFTC for a total of £900 net p/m and should increase to £1275 p/m net after separation

Our respective outgoings;

At the moment we are still living together but once we separate we estimate the following:

H £1235 per month
W £3220 per month

Your assets - both solely held and joint;

MH in both names valued at £215000 - with a £120000 mortgage
W – car £6000
H – Van £2000
H – Motorbike £2000

Our liabilities.
H & W – mortgage £120000 – Joint account overdraft £1000
W – store cards £1500 and overdraft £2000
H – overdraft £1000




H & W have initially agreed to the following:

An undefended divorce which I am the petitioner
Unlimited visitations of children with a minimum visitation of every other weekend

The sticking point - MH
Option 1- Transfer of MH to W & Trust when W says she won’t claim CM

This way W is not restricted to asking permission on any MH issues like moving/downsizing, new partner, upgrades etc & I can regain a life slowly and save towards owning my own property & have money to spend on children’s needs/entertainments.

Problem being who knows what the future holds out of need or greed W could claim for CM at any time, So I would like an option for a default in claiming CM to give me back some percentage of MH settlement somehow!

Option 2 – Pay SM or CM (possibly half of mortgage payments) – Have some kind of percentage from the sale of MH when youngest is 20 as described by W
(OPTION 2-settlement to H when youngest child is 20 years old of £28800** revalued at 2% p/y (£41400 in 2025 ) or 40% of property value at time of sale after outstanding mortgage as it was at time of separation and moving charges at time of sale, less £6000 maintenance cash settlement to 1st wife (which is a bit harsh seeing as 2nd W is cause of the end of marriage to 1st W) whichever is the lowest.

** calculated as follows

Value of the house as at Feb 09

£215000.00 less £120000 mortgage outstanding = £95000.00 less £8000.00 (this can change) moving fees = £87000.00 times 40% = 34800 less £6000 maintenance cash settlement to 1st wife (we had to remortgage the house for this) = £28800.)

Questions:
1. Any Options for recieving something if W claims CM after signing house over
1. Do I have to pay towards the mortgage after I have moved out in regards to Opt 2
2. Is W entitled to half of my pension even if it was accrued and I left the job before W came along
3. How do I prove to the court that we are separated when we still live under the same roof
4. Does the above seem fair to both of us & what kind of pitfalls am I heading for

Sorry for the waffling on

Many Thanks

Paul

Hi Paul

Sorry cannot help you with the 'sums' bumping this up in the hope that someone will be able to help you.

zara

Hi Paul

Just from a quick look at the figures your are talking about a near 50/50 split of child care (3 nights per week with you). Your wife will have a net income of £3220 per month to your £1235 and one of your main concerns is about her claiming child maintenance in the future?! Pardon my French, but WTF!!

The CSA determine the recipient of child maintenance based on who is named on the child benefit. In my opinion, the best thing to do is to get yourself named on the child benefit and then perhaps you claim child maintenance from her!

Afraid I can't help on the other questions

All the best

S

Ok sorry a bit mis-leading

All the above is what we would LIKE to happen in reality I should imagine that I will not have the kids 3 nights week unless I can get suitable council accommodation, so I am left with the option of giving W the house in full with the promise of not claiming CM (which is no guarantee what so ever)

Should I get council help then yes you are right the least of my worries will be W claiming CM but being able to afford paying towards the mortgage so at least I gain financial security a decade or two down the line!

All I'm looking for was a way of keeping things as simply as possible so the children don't become a game of pass the parcel, W & kids get the security of the roof over their heads and a chance for me to have a life I can build on.

Thanks for your comments and suggestion

Regards
P

There is one key issue with your planned arrangement.

Whilst it makes sense to you, there is unfortunately no 'Clean Break' from child maintenance.

So I do not think that she can sign away her future claim to child maintenance in return for the house.

I think you need to seriously consider things before entering into a rushed and unfair arrangement.

She is both younger than you and has a very good income.

If you went for 50:50 shared care then you have a case to get 50% of the equity in the house AND for her to pay you spousal maintenance.

It is in cases like yours where the system is seriously screwed up with the CTC, CB and CM are all payable to the one person - which in your case is the higher earner!

I am making this up on the spot but perhaps one inventive solution is to sign a Consent Order (giving her the house) but also stating that there are two maintenance elements:

1) You to pay her CM of £250 per month

AND

2) Her to pay you spousal maintenance of £250 per month
(due to her being the higher earner)

These 2 effectively cancel out but basically act to provide you with protection in case she later goes to the CSA to get CM - you can still keep claiming the SM from her.

The Cogs are whizzing around now.

Am I right in thinking the consent order can be sent off to court to have the judges stamp of approval?

As for the inventive solution part do you think he would be happy to give his blessing on it?

God...now I know I'm going to get a headache !!

Regards
P

A Quick Question

If I was to leave the MH before things were agreed to, initiated at the solicitors or filed at court would I be less entitled to anything opposed to still living at the MH.

Many Thanks
P