Pension vs House Equity

Hi everyone,

I've searched around and I can't seem to find any basic guidelines on how to come to an agreement over pension vs house equity in my divorce.

I am 50, have private pension pot (not final salary) worth £82K
House has equity of £210K (only £1K left on mortgage).

Due to wife being 55 (having no pension, being on P/T min wage I've been told to expect a 70/30% split in my wife's favour.

She wants more than that (out of the house equity) so I need to negotiate her having less of my pension. Am loathed to pay £1500-£2000 for pension advice if I am honest due to the small value of the pension.

We are due at mediation soon so any advice would be most appreciated as I am not sure how they will be able to advise either. Was thinking of knocking 1/3 off the value of my pension - not sure if this is reasonable?!

Thanks a lot.

70:30 pretty much gives her the house and you the pension.

Why does she work part time and what are her plans to get a full time job?

Who told you to expect a 70:30 split?

Hi WYSPECIAL,

She's got a few medical issues and is really playing on them. No way would she ever work full time.

Every solicitor I saw (for a few free consultations) plus one I am with now has said I'll only get 30%. TBH I'n not sure if they also meant she'd get 70% of my pension too though !

Oh yeah - they are saying we will need to be on an equal footing - so she gets a smaller house mortgage free and I get the chance to take out a 17 year mortgage and need to be in work for all that time.

What are your respective incomes? Are there any children to consider? How much would suitable alternative housing cost for each of you? Based on strict need that is a 1-2 bed property if there are no children.


Have you checked your reasonable mortgage capacity?

If there is not enough capital to house you both you may consider transferring pension to her to be converted immediately to cash as she is 55 to help with a house purchase so she can be mortgage free.

Hadenoughnow

Hi Hahenoughnow,

Me - £54K pa
Her £5.5Kpa but doubled with universal credit, plus money from PIP and child maintenance from me.

1 child - 13yrs old
We'd both be after a 2 bed house - circa £140K
My mortgage capability is about that but my job is not secure - if I lose it I will be looking at a 15K drop in wages and a lot further to travel.

She does not want my pension - she wants as much money out of the house as she can get.

You've clearly had legal advice from several professionals who have given the same opinion so you've got to expect that to be right. Your income is well above average and far in excess of hers.

70:30 would relate to the total pot, ie the house equity and the pension plus any other assets you have.

If she needs £140k for a mortgage free home then it puts you in a good position to have a decent size deposit.

You need to look at how a large cash lump sum would affect her benefits. There is no advantage in her having more money from the house if it means she will no longer be able to claim benefits until the money is exhausted