First post and introduction

I'm happy to keep answering questions

Did either of you contribute a significant lump sum to the purchase of the current FMH or any other property you bought during marriage?
I had £20k to contribute to our first house, which we bought in joint names and we sold that to buy our second house.
She had nothing

How big is the FMH? How many bedrooms? 3 bed detached house with garage and front-rear gardens. Single big reception room, downstairs toilet, upstairs bathroom.

How much would a 3 bed house cost where she is?
Prices in the area vary a lot, within a 2 mile radius a 3 bed property will vary from 3 bed terrace for £170k to £1M
Ours is currently valued at approx £250k

Has she worked at all since having the children?
Only worked for 18 months of her life, never worked since having the children

What are her longer term housing plans??
She is unclear. I have tried to work with her to understand her options based on her being alone, i.e. renting, buying, mortgage affordability etc. She has a boyfriend with his own property, they've been together for approx 18 months but she claims they would not live together. I understand right now that might feel too fast for her but longer term I do not understand why she will not acknowledge that it might be an option.

I am slightly surprised she is not paying tax if she is claiming the rental income... she should certainly be declaring it - and it could well affect benefits etc depending on what she is claiming ...
It adds up to more than 13k a year - and even with tax (given that there would be lots of deductions possible) would still be at least 11.5k.
Yes I agree - I've suggested she use the CAB or similar to ensure she's not going to get in trouble down the line.

I don't think your pension is significant - given your ages and how much is in it ...
Good

Really the only thing to divide is the FMH ... and whether or not you get a lump sum (or have to have a charge on the property) will depend on lots of factors .. most importantly how and where the children are going to be housed and funded.
I am assuming that I will have to accept a charge on the property to allow her the best chance of buying something new.
Renting might seem wiser at present but she is determined to buy and I am happy to try and support her choice.
The root of my query is should I expect to have to accept only getting a 25% charge on the property.

She would retain the car, her jewellery, full contents of house, 100% equity from FMH at present and I would keep my pension and a 25% charge on the new property while continuing to pay 25% of my salary as child support.

The root of my query is should I expect to have to accept only getting a 25% charge on the property.

Soren,

It is going to be very difficult (if not impossible) to maintain a property for each of you and support the children on your income alone.

If she is not working then Spousal Maintenance may be an issue - but frankly there is just not enough money there for you to fund anything significant and pay your costs - especially given that access to the children is going to be so expensive .

You could find yourself in a situation where you have to accept a smaller charge of the property - in the order of 25-30% and not pay SM ... or pay it only for a very short time until she is able to work part time.

But the problem is that there is only 120 equity (tops) and the cheapest 3 bed place will be 170k ... so even if she did have all the equity, she would need to borrow 50k. If she has no "income" then that is just not going to happen.

You may have to find ways to be creative here.

I don't know if this is a daft suggestion ... but would it make sense for the rental income to be yours .... and for you to pay SM - because that then does not affect tax credits and she could claim those as well as using the SM to help pay rental on a smaller property? You could work out a fair percentage split of the equity to be divided as and when the property is sold (I would suggest this should be more than 25%).

Or she could look at shared ownership properties?

Or is it possible her parents could help - either lending money or acting as guarantors. They too could have a charge on the property possibly. I think you definitely need to find out what the mortgage options are asap.

If you did agree a charge of any sort, cohabitation or remarriage would be one of the triggers. It sounds like this is a possibility - and it would be very frustrating to find you have agreed to a small share of the property if she does cohabit fairly soon ... not sure how you get round that one ... but I think 25% is probably not enough and in any case the chances of her being able to buy anything suitable are very iffy ....

This is not an easy one soren - you are going to have to do some hard talking ... and keep this one away from the courts so you don't add legal fees to your problems .

Hadenoughnow

I do not expect to buy something for myself.
I would like to of course but I understand that first provision is for the children and that's something I accepted a long time ago.

She has looked into mortgages and can apparently get a mortgage for sufficient to allow her to buy a new place providing she uses the equity as deposit. (I haven't seen the figures).
If she can do that then great - she gets a house, the kids are provided for and all is good.

If that happens why 25%.... what would the logic, or law, be that ends in the situation that I get a 25% charge given the history. Worst case for me is that I don't get to realise that for another 15 years given the age of the kids but 25% just feels low?

I appreciate your well structured replies and that's what I'm looking for really. I don't want to adopt a position which is unrealistic or unlikely to happen.
I do have a solicitor which I am using but the costs since this started have risen over £4k so we have an understanding now to keep them to a minimum which means doing nothing while waiting and now that we're about to enter another round of letters and comments I wanted to get as much info up front as I could

/soren

soren

It is brilliant that you are putting your children first in all this. I wish everyone who was divorcing did the same.

I think what the 25% hinges on is whether or not you have to pay Spousal Maintenance.

You could find yourself in a situation where you have to accept a smaller charge of the property - in the order of 25-30% and not pay SM ... or pay it only for a very short time until she is able to work part time.

If you are able to get a Clean Break settlement then it would appear to be reasonable for you to have a smaller percentage of the equity. It is impossible to say how much this would save you in hard cash in the long term ... but if it is the equivalent of 30k now (ie 25% of 120k equity) - in the long run it could turn out to be a bargain.

Look at what you could stand to gain by going through the courts.
The very best case scenario would be 50% - but this is VERY unlikely and you would probably end up with an SM order.

So, you could spend 30k in legal fees (that was what mine were) going to a Final Hearing and in the course of this destroy any chance of a sensible relationship with your ex and possibly your children (speaking from experience on this one too ). Of course she would have legal costs too - even if she could get Legal Aid which she may well not given the equity in the FMH and the rental income. My ex was on Legal Aid and his bill was 20k - which will be a charge on his property at 8% interest.

Even IF you got half the equity as a charge on the house .... there would be no gain .. and a lot of loss .

My suggestion would be that you start with an offer of say 35% or even 30% and negotiate towards 25% with that as your end point. You are only talking about a difference of £12k between 35% and 25%. This would be conditional on NO SM.

Look at it this way ... if you could negotiate no SM - and have it as a legal Consent Order - you would be free to enjoy your future earnings as you wish - because you have effectively capitalised any claim by giving over a bigger share of the equity.


Hadenoughnow