Advice needed

[ChristinaParsons]

Seeing my solicitor on Monday to put forward a counter offer along with court proceedings. The exs offer left me with £16.5k. There is a house valued £300k. I live in the house. Mortgage outstanding is £140k
He earns £150k per year
I earn £15k per year
We both work full time, he has his own business.
I have no debt. He has debt of £40k. I had no knowledge of this until he submitted his form E.
There are 2 children of the marriage
1 is 24 and disabled will never be able to live independently
The other is 17 and studying for A Levels. Hoping to go to university for a 7 year course.
Tried to settle through solicitor and mediation. Ex refusing to make full disclosure. He is living with his new partner who works full time.
He is highly qualified in his field and can obtain 2nd mortgage.
I cannot get a mortgage.
Children have not had any contact with him for 2 years.
According to CMS he earns £330 pounds per week and is paying £170 per month child maintenance.
According to form E he gives his sister 1k per month to help care for her sick child.
This leaves him £30 per month to live on.
In his latest claim he needed to buy a £750k house in London so he had rooms for the children. I was requested to sell my child's horse and my engagement ring in order to help fund this. My solicitor says adding up assets then subtracting debts a judge may say £16.5k for me is fair. Since his last offer he has decided to emigrate.

[Lovegaultier]

What do you think is fair?
What do you want?
What does your solicitor advise re your counter offer?

Based on what you say it doesn't sound like £16.5k is anywhere near fair. Why would your solicitor say that? Are there more debts? What about pensions etc? Do you trust your solicitor?

Sorry for all the questions but everybody's case is so different.

[QuiteLikely5]

If he has accrued that debt since the split then that may be ignored by a court.

See another solicitor

[ChristinaParsons]

I would like to have the equity of the house to be mortgage free. This would mean moving to a different area. He says his debt was accrued during the marriage. But has refused to provide evidence for this

[JK1773]

I'm a family lawyer. This doesn't sound right. There must be a LOT of joint debt for your solicitor to be advising that. This can't be a clean break with the difference in incomes. Are you sure his income is that?

[Lovegaultier]

Is he not declaring his real income?

[ChristinaParsons]

Hello I work in law too, not family law though. There is no joint debt apart from the mortgage. The only joint asset is the house. My parents bought my daughters horse and my engagement ring I assume is excluded as a gift? I have no debt except half the mortgage. £70k. He has his own business and declared £148k on his form E. But obviously pays himself minimum wage and then releases all other profit through dividends. We were married for 18 years during the last 10 years he frequently pointed out that he would refuse to get out of bed for less than £650 per day. Yes I am very sure that is his income at least. You work in law, I work in law, so does my solicitor. If it's a Friday afternoon when I am in court, the sun is shining and the golf course is beckoning you know as well as I do, that the judge will just sign it off

[AnnaNimmity]

my exh (also a lawyer) was very similar - he threatened to go bankrupt rather than support his children. (He was also self employed and refused to declare his income).

I agree this can't be right - my friend who has a disabled child got the house as part of the settlement - she had to buy her ex out of some of it but only around £100k (it's a london house)

[AnnaNimmity]

Have you got a good lawyer OP? mine wanted to get an investigator onto my exH when he was playing these games.

[ChristinaParsons]

Of course he isn't declaring his real income. His contact is for £148k per year, according to CMS he earns £17k per year. This is the income he declares for tax purposes. The rest is paid into an account on the Isle of Man

[ChristinaParsons]

I have a lot of his contact documentation going back several years.

[ChristinaParsons]

Please help