Scotland - divorce/property/no kids

[DaisyMaisyJessicaEmily]

Hello I wonder if anyone can advise.

Scotland - two people want to divorce:

have been seperated coming up for 2 yrs
there are no children involved

the marital house is owned and in the name of the H only but when the house was bought they had to sign something acknowledging the law in Scotland and housing and marital breakdown

the W worked ft and contributed to the household income and while not directly paying the mortgage payments, the H did that while the W paid bills, food etc

house is worth 125k and the mortgage was for 85k as the H put in 40k from sale of older property

H is staying in the house no wish to sell

H and W were living in house together for 3 years before they seperated.

W left leaving all the household furniture/electricals bar a freezer and a bed.



Does W have any claim on any portion of the house and how would it all work/what is a fair amount for the W (if any)? W doesn't want anything to do with claiming his pension, just wants a little bit to enable her to get settled herself and use as a deposit on a house in the future.

They want to do a simple "DIY" divorce and sort out the financial stuff themselves before presenting it to court to A save money and B remain amicable.

Does anyone have any advice please?

[STIDW]

It's important to know if the intention when the property was originally bought was to provide a family home and to clarify exactly what was signed. Was it an acknowledgement of your home rights or was it an pre-nuptial type of agreement protecting your husband's investment in the matrimonial property?

Although you might not want to claim pension sharing it's important to know the value of of the pension apportioned to the years of marriage. There are fees involved and with a short marriage pension sharing is unlikely to be worth the cost, but the value may be offset against other assets.

[DaisyMaisyJessicaEmily]

No it wasn't a pre-nup agreement, it was the marital home and it's the standard thing that married people have to sign in Scotland when buying a house (sorry i don't know it's name)

[STIDW]

In Scotland the value of any assets accrued between the dates of marriage and separation forms the matrimonial property to be shared. The family home is generally considered matrimonial property regardless of where the money to purchase it originated from and whose name is on the deeds. The value of all the matrimonial property including any pensions, investments, savings and household goods held in joint or sole names is usually shared "fairly" ie 50:50.

However, as the marriage wasn't long I think the husband could claim his initial contribution to the purchase price was an exceptional circumstance justifying a larger share of the matrimonial assets. I'm not a solicitor and you would really need legal advice about how much more would be reasonable in the given circumstances. If you can then reach agreement it would be worth having it drafted into a separation agreement which is a form of contract so that neither party can resile.

When finances have been resolved you can apply for divorce using the simplified procedure. If you divorce using two years separation without consent your spouse will receive a copy of the application and if they lodge no objection the divorce can be granted. Forms and guidance are available on the Scottish courts website. Be aware that once you are divorced no financial claims can be made.