Making a claim

Welcome to wikivorce. Yours is a long marriage so the start point for division of assets would be 50:50 of all assets including pensions. That may not be how it ends up - especially if you are a lower earner and have little or no pension provision of your own.

Although you have already sorted out the property, you are still married so technically both properties count as marital assets. Having said that, if you can present a clear paper trail of the agreement you made (or have a Separation Agreement drawn up after legal advice) you could argue that it is just the pensions to consider at this stage.
You say your son is on the mortgage. Is he also on the deeds of the property? This will make a difference to the value of your share - if he is one the deeds and there is no deed of trust to apportion shares, your son will be considered as owning 50% of your house.

You cannot have a legally binding financial settlement until you have a Decree Nisi in place. It is a very good idea to get this sorted as, if you don't, you will both be able to claim against the other in future.

It may be worth you having a look at the services offered by this site - and perhaps give the helpline a call for further advice?

Hadenoughnow

You don't need a solicitor to get a full disclosure. You can do the paperwork yourself - and, if you want, could explore using one of services that support litigants in person. These include a legal financial consultation to set out your options once you have disclosure.

As far as your son being on the deeds goes, if you are joint tenants and there is no deed of trust setting out his share, you and your son own 50% of the property each. This, in effect, reduces the equity you have. It also means you could not be forced to sell the property as you are not the sole owner.

If you are going to divorce on the grounds of two years' separation with consent, it would be reasonable to share the costs. You may want to consider being the petitioner and using one of our solicitor managed services to keep costs down. Give the helpline a call to discuss your options.


Hadenoughnow

Hi
Thanks - I thought i needed a solicitor re full disclosure?...I have a lot to learn!!

So i can go ahead be the petitioner - get the decree nisi - then tell him my expectations/ reasoning.
Then contact wiki solicitor re financial disclosure - then they will support fair outcome for us both?

We can manage the divorce and support you with the finances.

Best thing is to call the helpline for a chat.

Thank-you for your advice x