Can my husband take half?

[MelissaStrawberry1]

please help me!
currently with husband and I’m sick to my stomach of his attitude, laziness and this joke that we call a marriage.
he does absolutely nothing and has the nerve to criticise everything I do and nothing good enough for him.
I do not want to be with him at all, but it gets tricky?
he is off sick, and won’t be returning to work ever I do not think.
Due to this i have a mortgage on my own in my name and we have 2 children.
I want to divorce him but is he entitled to half?
he is the spiteful type that would take half of everything, and if he can, I can’t leave him as i can’t afford to remortgage or sell my house, it’s my home with the kids.

in begging for nice answers, no judgement etc, I’m aware of how shit the situation is etc so please I’m just asking for advice.

The 'owned pre wedding bit' is true. Ex and I took out of the pot all assets from before we started living together.

That's not law. That's done as part of the agreement between the two of you. Once your married all assets are joint.

OP how long have you been married? Perhaps not long considering the age of your little one. Short marriage/relationship may alter the split of assets I think

The longer you take to act, the longer his entitlement is potentially building.

Even if you separate, everything you save, everything you pay off the mortgage will remain a marital asset right up to the day the financial order is signed. So get cracking!

The starting position for splits is always 50%. Then your solicitor negotiates but it has to be fair.

Why don’t people realise this before getting married? Is general knowledge really so low when divorce rates are quite high?

its no substitute for your own solicitor, but I think The Legal Queen on Facebook has some quite helpful shorts. They’re never going to exactly reflect your situation, but it might give you some things to think on OP

You need legal advice from a solicitor.

The longer you leave it, the harder it will be to unravel. You know you want a divorce, so make it as a clean a break as possible, as soon as you can.

You will probably need to suck up the cost of childcare for the baby so you can prove you are the primary caregiver.

He is 100% not automatically entitied to half of everything. I really wish people would not give out incorrect information

everything is considered jointly owned inc assets held in individual names. However, these need to be split fairly - and fair in the eyes of the law does not automatically mean 50:50

there are a number of factors to consider including but not limited to:

ages
earnings and potential to earn
length of marriage
needs
housing of minor children
etc etc

providing fir children will always be priority and assets often follow them in needs base cases where there are not enough assets to fulfil each parties needs

there are also a range of outcomes

so, no one on here can say what he’d get but he is entitled to a fair share - which could be 50%. It could also be more than 50% or less than

OP seek some legal
advice and they can guide you on some possible outcomes

And pre marital assets can and frequently are, be included in the marital pot, especially when it’s a needs base case !

It doesn't matter if the mortgage is in just your name, the question is do you have any equity in your home or any savings. If you have very little or no equity in your home and no savings then there's nothing for him to take. If you have some equity or savings then you may need to buy him out, but a solicitor will help you determine how much you would need to pay him.

So just to clarify.
I would keep the kids with me, so I would like to think that I could remain in the house.
I know he wouldn’t want the baby with him, when we’ve argued before, he hasn’t hesitated in leaving and staying else where with absolutely no intention of taking the baby and without thinking the kids stay with me in his eyes. Like I said, useless lazy man, considering he doesn’t work.
I really appreciate all the info and comments, so thank you all so much.
minds all over the place, but want to keep my house that I pay for and I forked out the deposit for.
we have only been married for over a year but together for 3, obviously he wasn’t this shit when we first got together and was amazing with my daughter and I stupidly assumed he would be amazing with our own baby, but I’ve been proven massively wrong!!

As others have said, please get legal advice. You will get people giving you their opinion as though it’s fact and they might be completely wrong.

Depends on length of marriage and situation both now and what you both brought into relationship. The fact the mortgage is solely in your name is positive but doesn't necessarily mean he has no claim on the property. Will he leave and go into rented? As he is unemployed he might get help with rent

A short marriage is greatly to your benefit OP.

The quicker you can move on this the more likely you will get a favourable settlement.

It is good that you have only been married for one year and that he is recently unemployed. You don't have a history of providing for him. Also, your daughter is not his and you have provided her with a home that you will want/need to conserve. Get moving quickly.

You will likely have to give him something but the short marriage and relationship overall being less than 5 years is good for you. I think you need to see a solicitor asap in order to ascertain what the situation is. The worst thing would be to do nothing until the marriage is longer and he's potentially entitled to more ££s.

This.

Please act now.

You need to act quickly. You are in a shit, but good position. Bear in mind at 14 your daughter only has another 4 years of being considered a dependent. Don't let this drag on. Now scoot and get a solicitor 😏

Best of luck op with your new life free of this man child x

Agree with PPs to get legal advice quickly. And before your baby son gets older. Once he moves on to toddler stage and out of nappies you may find your ‘D’H becomes more attached and involved with him.

Think of it from the other way round. If the circumstances were the same but he had bought the house and it was in his name only, what would your position be if you wanted to divorce him and wanted the children to live with you?

Would you say "it's his house so I should walk away with nothing" or would you think you should be entitled to up to half of the combined assets of the marriage?

The starting point is 50/50. Provision can be made to prevent the children being made homeless but basically it's 50/50. The quicker you divorce him the less equity you have in the property and the less you will have to pay him.

You could get a valuation of the property and equity at this point and offer half of that when the property is ever sold in the future once the children have finished higher education?

Half of the equity only to confirm, but only paid when the house is sold and that that can not be forced before dc finish higher education.

As you are married the house is half his and mesher a orders are very rare.

Starting point is 50:50. But they look at all sorts. How long you were married, How long you lived together before, how the financial split will impact each persons ability to house themselves and children.

They do also look at future earning potential. If he it’s deemed he will never be able to work, that may impact it too.

Missed that it’s a short marriage.

Get it sorted sooner rather than later. So t let it stray into long marriage territory