ancillary relief

hi everyone,

I'd appreciate some help with the following.
I received Decree Absolute in january 1999. At the time
neither myself nor my ex-spouse was interested in ancillary
relief. we were married for 10 years and have no children.

He was about to become homeless in 2002 and i took him
back. the relationship was not working and i asked him to
leave but he refused. i was studying for a PhD at the time and
did not have the strength to go to court and get him out as I
had to focus on my academic work.

I filed an occupation order in late 2005 and a judge put him
out of the flat in 2006.

Following his eviction, he got a solicitor and asked me for
ancillary relief. We have been negotiating informally, and have
also gone to mediation (which did not work). he has fallen on bad times, lost his job due to drunk driving and is unemployed. he is now taking me to court for
half the value of my flat, a flat we used to own in joint name
but was transferred to my name soley in 1997. i paid him a small sum for
his share and should have paid him more at the time of transfer of ownership.

We are due to exchange form E through our solicitors in November.
In the meantime I am talking to him again, and have suggested that
he consider the value of the flat at the time of our divorce in 1999
and that we can negotiate a settlement that is fair to us both
on that basis.

on this bare outline, are there any opinions out there? I want to come to
a negotiated settlement that is fair to both me and my ex-spouse.

I am 65 but still working, he is 54 and unemployed

Thank you
Warhol

I suspect what will happen is that you will produce a valuation and so will he. Then the easy outcome would be to deduct what you gave him when you divorced from the current 50% share of the equity. You dont have kids hence the 50/50 starting point. Not making any calls on if this is fair or not as you have been divorced for a long time. The setlement is always now. Not then. I know its a bit unfair but thats AR. If you know the value (do a zoopla.co.uk) to get the value. Deduct the mortage owed and the residual is the equity. Divide by 2 and deduct what you gave him and at least you have a max figure that you may have to hand over. Its all negotiated anyway. C