Missingu
Can I please start with one or two statements that may seem obvious, but they need to be said. The first is that divorce, almost without exception, involves a reduction in lifestyle and fairness demands that the reduction is borne proportionately and does not fall entirely on one party. The second is that, sooner or later, child support drops off.
The thing that strikes me about what you say is that it leaves one pretty basic question unanswered. That is, what happens to the
marital home when the children are off your hands.
I'm not clear whether the figure of 2800 per month is what he gets before he pays the maintenance. You really have to look at your relative positions once the maintenance has been paid. I'm afraid you will need to be a little more precise. If you have not looked at your position in relation to tax credits, may I suggest you do so.
You see, your husband seems to be accepting that you and the children can stay in the marital home while they are dependent and is prepared to offer you financial support to do that. He knows, and may well have had legal advice, that he can't realistically hope to force a sale before then - not to mention the current state of the housing market. Now I don't want to comment on the fairness of this offer, save to say that, on a back of the envelope calculation, he will have to pay you 560 per month in child support, which is, as near as dammit, what he is offering. So he is left with 2240 per month, out of which he has to pay his housing costs. You have 2160, near enough, and have two extra mouths to feed, and your mortgage costs, but no doubt a better house.
So, sooner or later, you must decide what to do with the marital home.
I think the most probable outcome is a sale and division of the proceeds. When the children grow up you will both be single people and will probably need two bedroomed accommodation. My guess is that you would get 55-65% of the proceeds of sale because he is the higher earner and can afford a larger mortgage. But I think your husband is playing a very cute game here and is doing exactly what I would do in his position. As an interim arrangement, while the children are still dependent, it looks to me that it is at least within the parameters of what is possible. He is only offering what he has to pay anyway, and you might possibly get slightly more on a short term basis. But in four years' time, I think a
Clean Break is possible and achievable. You should certainly take legal advice, but try and resolve this by
mediation if you can. It sounds to me as though in your case it stands a good chance of success.
Mike
