To ask how you actually navigate divorce under these circumstances

[pattye]

Asking for a friend.

She has told her husband she wants a divorce. She lives with him and their 3 kids but the house belongs to his Aunt (they own another house in a different part of the UK which will need to be sold).

Does she have home rights on the house they both live in?

What does she need to do? She doesn't know where to start. He is very well off financially but she doesn't even know what he earns. She works part time as young children. They own a home and are 50/50 on that.

Can he ask her to leave?
How does she start legal proceedings and what would she be entitled to in terms of maintenance?

We literally know nothing so all advice welcomed.

Do they have a tenancy agreement with the aunt? Is it in joint names or just the husband's?

You probably need to seek.legal advice tbh

I dont think she would have the right to remain in the house owned by the aunt. And what is the agreement with the aunt. Do they pay rent. She will be entitled to maintenance for the children.

No they don't pay rent and there is no tenancy agreement. They are just living there 'temporarily' but it's been over two years now.

Complex situation I know.

She will get legal advice Monday but is concerned he could lock her out over this weekend if she leaves, and she doesn't want to be separated from her children.

Someone I know had a similar situation housing wise. Married couple but lived in a house owned by wife’s DM, she (wife) wanted to split, husband had no claim on house as his MIL was the owner and they paid rent. They didn’t have any other properties though. Wife carried on living there and he had to leave.

Interesting thanks @SecretVictoria

I don't believe she has any rights.

I wonder how quickly the CSA can set up maintenance payments.

Would a court take in to account if he is 'gifted' large monthly sums by his family? Every month, regular payments.

He has said he will pay half the school bills, pay child maintenance and 50% of the house proceeds will be hers but otherwise she's on her own.

Seems so unfair.

I believe she could apply for an order under section 37 of the Family Law Act 1996. It would be for an occupation order against her husband if he ousted her. S37 covers the situation where neither party has a formal right to occupy but a property is the matrimonial home.

P.s it's not a long term solution but will help if he turfs her out

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/27/section/37

“He has said he will pay half the school bills, pay child maintenance and 50% of the house proceeds will be hers but otherwise she's on her own.

Seems so unfair.”

This seems quite fair to me? If the kids are young she hasn’t been out of full time work for long and she’ll have to go back if she needs the money same as everyone else. I know this isn’t a popular view on Mumsnet but the decision to give up/reduce work has consequences (as obviously does the decision to keep going full time).

Sorry, also forgot to mention there were no DC, not sure if that would have made a difference though.

@LauraIAm

I guess you're right.

He is extremely, extremely wealthy (family money) so won't suffer from this situation at all.

But I guess fair is fair and the courts will decide what that is eventually!

@NoInvitesEver thank you for this. I'll tell her to chat over with solicitor Monday

Could the aunt evict her?

Legally he can’t be ‘gifted’ large amounts of money by his family without paying tax on it. There is a limit of 3k per year that a parent can gift a child tax free, if he’s being ‘gifted’ large amounts monthly then both he and his parents could be in for a sticky situation and he could be in for a hefty back dated tax bill…

Not quite true ... you can make gifts of any amount of money on a regular basis as long as it's from income, not disposal of assets. And it would be the parents liability for tax if any is due (ie it is from assets) or rather their estate as inheritance tax is the only one that's relevant.

The gifts would be tax free in the hands of the receiver

Really interesting to read all this. Thanks everyone

She'll have to get used to time without the children, i would assume he'll have joint custody?

If I were her and that worried about being locked out then I wouldn’t go anywhere without the children over the weekend.

Solicitor (decent one) first thing Monday - am sure people here will have recommendations.

Doubt she needs to worry too much about what HE says she will get in a divorce. It’s a complex area of law and if he’s wealthy and, say, doesn’t need the money from the house sale to house himself, or he can raise a big mortgage, then she should be entitled to more of the proceeds than him.

Just remind her to be non committal in conversation about what might happen, and not agree to/sign anything until she’s got a good solicitor on board.

If she does not have a large income even on full time wages, she should point out that there will be no school fees, as she won't be able to afford "the other half", so the children will need to go to a State (non-fee paying) school.

If he wants them in private school, he may need to pay full school fees

@ancientgran I'm not 100% but as far as I know you can't just evict someone even where there's no tenancy. There's laws to protect unlawful evictions. If the aunt went through the courts I don't imagine she'd get a possession order in the circumstances esp if she was letting the DH stay.
S37 orders can only last 6 months but can be renewed. It gives time to sort something out.

I think time to sort it out is fair but I also think it is fair for the aunt to be able to get her house back if she doesn't want to house her nephew's ex for free, not without reasonable notice obviously.