And so it begins

Hi All,

Latest participant in this wonderful ritual here.
stbx started it all off at end of Jan 09 by handing me a letter one night. I went off in a huff for the weekend to friends and she rang to say OK lets give it 6 months. 3 weeks later and mind is changed again. I was pretty distraught for a while but my mind was changed when stbx decided to take our son away for the w/e over Fathers Day and then again for the week over my birthday - this incensed me and now I am happy for her to go.
Just had first mediation session today and we can agree that our son (7) is top of the priority list. However, on the financials side I am happy that she has fair share of everything we have had together and there is about 200K equity in the main home. I have a house that was my home before we got together and I have rented out for not much return over the years. I had a separate account for it until 2 years ago when I closed all my other accounts for ease of maintenance and moved the btl mortgage and income to the joint account. Now stbx wants a share of this because it has been through the joint account. Can she do this, am I being unreasonable wanting this set aside? I did want to keep it as an inheritance for my boy but that is looking unlikely.
Any advice welcome. Trying to remain positive - but I don't really know why!

ninja

welcome to wiki.

It is good that you are in agreement over your child's welfare. If you are able to agree the finances amicably and get a Consent Order rather than battling through the courts it will benefit everyone.

As far as the finances go, everything you own in sole and joint names goes into the assets pot for division. How it is divided depends on a range of factors including length of marriage, respective incomes, children etc.

Look at www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Divorce-Financ...to-calculate-a-fair- financial-settlement.html

This sets out what is considered when assets are divided on divorce.

You can use the on site Divorce Calculator for guidance or if you want wikipeeps to give you a view, you need to provide the following information:

Ages
Length of marriage + pre marriage cohab
Children - ages, genders and arrangements for them (nights with each parent)
Incomes (inc Tax credits etc if applicable)
FMH Value and outstanding mortgage + size of FMH
Value of other assets in sole of joint names - savings, shares, endowments
Pensions - CETVS
Liabilities in sole or joint names - loans, debts etc

Hadenoughnow