Ex husband worth a million and offered me only £7000 financial claim

[AmyJahabee]

Hi all,

I made a financial claim against my ex husband and he offered me £5000 and he is worth almost a million. Is this suppose to be a joke.

we were married for 7 years I was not working at the time so he pay for everything whilst I look after the house, no children involved in the marriage. Is that all I get because I didn’t contribute financially? It’s been 3years since the divorce, he has put in so much lies about me towards his statement. I’m going to decline the offer.

can I just decline or ask for a reasonable amount?

Yes, of course you can simply decline and say you won't negotiate until he comes up with a reasonable offer. If he is worth almost a million and your net worth is low, you are entitled to much more than that. Ignore those posters who say otherwise. They don't know what they are talking about. The starting point is a 50/50 split of all assets

Given the amount of money involved, you can't afford not to have a solicitor. Ring round local solicitors. They may be willing to wait for payment until you've reached a settlement. Alternatively, you may be able to get an order forcing your ex to pay your legal costs until there is a settlement.

Ignore his lies. Anything he says about your behaviour is irrelevant unless it is directly related to the finances.

At first you said you weren't working and then you said you were working part time. So which is it?

If people were saying this, they would be showing their ignorance of the law.

People are not being sexist. They are explaining how these things work.

Unless it is a short marriage (this wasn't), the starting point for a financial settlement is that assets should be split 50/50. The fact that one partner earned all the money whilst the other studied is irrelevant.

You need to get legal advice. Start by Citizen's Advice Bureau.
This is the number for England: 0800 144 8848
If you can't afford legal advice you will should have access to free legal action.

His offer is not a joke, it is beyond it. It is an insult of the highest order.

I don't know the Law of the UK, but where I originally come from you are entitled to 50% of the wealth of the couple when you divorce.
Even here in the UK people have rights.

I would say get legal information, but I would be inclined not to accept those £7000 - they are nothing after all, as that could stop you to from receiving your fair amount down the line - but this is my opinion, not legally informed.

I would recomend that you pop over to Youtube, to HG Tudors channel and check if you think that your ex is a narcissist. You have said two things that raise the flag for me. If he is, it is a totally different kettle of fish that you are dealing with, you must gather strenth! And that would totally justify your position now.

You are lucky there are no children - makes the matter much simpler.

You have given you 7 years of your like to be a home maker, to be his wife.
You have given up your financial and personal independance, your professional status, you trusted him to earn the money, to look after your family's patrimony. He let you down badly. You are due a suitable divorce settlement, and is not £7000 - that is ridiculous beyond measure. He would pay more than that in two months for a nanny's wage if he had children. Let us not mention the private schools fees.

I have read some very dim comments regarding why you didn't work.
You don't have to work, some couples chose to have a stay at home wife.
People who don't understand that are just plain stupid.

Gather yourself together, fight for your rights, you were not his prostitue nor his slave - and he would pay a lot more for the services of a prostitute!

My mother has never worked, she is a stay at home wife. It doesn't make her lazy or stupid. She has been a very kind and generous person who dedicated her life to make the happiness and comfort of others.

Look up for charities and information on getting support:

https://www.money.co.uk/guides/how-to-get-a-fair-financial-divorce-settlement

Good Luck,
You seem to have lost a lously husband. It will only get better from now!

How about because the law says she is entitled. That is what marriage means legally. If OP takes this to court, the starting point will be that she is entitled to 50% of the assets. It sounds like she is the weaker party financially. If that is the case, she may well be entitled to more than 50%.

This!

7 years is in no way a "short marriage".

7 years isn’t short though. I got divorced after 9 which isn’t much different, and this was broadly how it was approached.

We did both work throughout and had children but this is the basic premise, unless a classed as a short marriage or a pre nup to take into account (even though not binding).

Who says it was care free though?

You can't afford not to go to a solicitor. Talk to them about whether they can take payment out of any settlement you get.

Because they were married so she is entitled to a fair share of the assets.

If you studied and worked part time but only enough to buy some food, he actually supported you to do that. Why are you due more? You would have had to house and pay your own bills for those 7 years. If it enabled you to get a better job, then you have benefited. You are not the mother of his child, why are you due anymore.

He ought to fight this….I would say this if roles reversed…

@NannyAnabela

have you stepped back into the 1950s today?

And she's gone…...

And women rarely get that when there are no children.

The law might say the starting point is 50/50 but once they've factored in who paid the mortgage, bills, holiday, new clothes etc...it's gonna work out that OP gets (and deserves) diddly squat. I've seen this happen before and the sponge usually ends up having to cover solicitors costs after they've challenged what was a reasonable offer.

Tbh IO sounds money grabbing. She had seven years paid for. And SKG is right - if the roles were reversed...everyone would be on the ex's side. It is sexism.

To find good solicitors, Chambers ' Guide is a good starting point - https://chambers.com/legal-guide/uk-1 - you'll need to fill it in to show you're looking for family/matrimonial solicitors and the geographical area in question.

Same happened to a colleague. Married six years was awarded 6k by the courts. She hadn't contributed bar food either.

THIS

Correction - women often get that when there are no children. They often get more than that when there are children.

Who paid the mortgage, bills, holiday, new clothes, etc. is completely irrelevant for the financial settlement for an unmarried couple.

@Devilshands You're making a lot of assumptions.

English is clearly not the OP's first language.
We don't know if she's in the UK but could assume she is.

There are some cultures where the men don't want their wives to work, or have any life outside of the home.
She may be in a forced/arranged marriage.
Or married to someone much older who controls her.

Without knowing more details, no one can condemn her for not working.

I also think that she isn't clear on the process of divorce (or her language skills are letting her down explaining this.) She says they divorced 3 years ago but is now querying the settlement.

She doesn't know how to find a solicitor, so it appears she's not very well educated or doesn't know how the law works in the UK.

And the £million could be tied up as the value of a business, not money in the bank.

Too much we don't know.

In this kind of scenario what would be considered “fair”?

say he’s got a bog standard 3 bed in zone2, which could easily be where his “worth” of 1m+ is, could he be forced to sell to pay her half? Would it be different if the 1m was from investments pre marriage?

It literally is not. As a country we do not have spousal maintenance as a rule.

The starting point where there are no children is put parties back to where they started, there would potentially be a claim for post marital assets but she didn’t work - student? - so even then it’s unlikely. That offer sounds like one with advice that’s basically I would spend this on legal fees so may as well offer it.

In order to qualify she would need to demonstrate history of independence, etc etc. I married a rich guy and now I want some money won’t cut it.

At 7 years it isn’t considered a long marriage so likely a judge will say you both keep what you had before the marriage, and split what came into the marriage during the marriage only. It’s really not as simple as start at 50 50 when it’s a relatively short marriage.

How can it be three years since you divorced? How are you divorced without a financial settlement?