I want half in the divorce. Am I likely to get it.

[Divorcein40swoman]

Posted here for traffic ..

Just looking for some legal advice.
Married 6 years . Together 15
I left him... moved out the house when he was away .. tod him afterwards
No children
He put down £200k for the house which came from the sale of a flat he owned I his name before we married.
Joint mortgage each paying half.
I continued to pay after I left which was last year
I want the divorce
I have no savings ... he has savings in an account in his name around 30k
He has an isa opened in his name after we married
We each have a pension. He can take his pension 10 years earlier than me as he's older
I earn slightly more than him and will be at work longer than him due to our ages

I want 50/50 of everything. The savings. The ISA and especially the house.
He's upset as he's not going to get a decent mortgage at his age . He also wants the £200k he put it to be given back. Us clear the mortgage and come away with about 50k each. I want half !!
What's likely to happen

You keep saying you paid half…..but you didn’t, you paid half after he paid the large deposit. Legal fees are a killer and mount up very quickly.

If you have only been married 6 years and have no dc you probably won’t get 50:50…sorry. I mean you’ll come out better than marriage an he’ll come out slightly worse but I doubt given length of marriage and the fact that neither of you need to house children you will get 50;50. Get a solicitor and expect to pay at least 10k.

OP, assuming you are 42 or 43, you have a full 25 years until retirement and earn more than him. You can get a full mortgage. With a £50k deposit, you will be able to buy a decent flat.

He has 10 years less time, and the £200k was his from the beginning. There are no children to consider. You haven't sacrificed your career. He will likely keep his deposit and most of his pension.

You both need legal advice but he would be crazy not to use a solicitor.

But it won't be considered a short marriage. The 15 years living together prior to marriage will be taken into account.

yes but it’s a moot point as she didn’t change work pattern…stay home with dc or help to save towards the house. She was just…there…

Ignore most people on here who have no idea how family law works in the UK. The first thing a family lawyer will say is that morals and exact calculations who put each penny in are totally irrelevant. This is a law that works to prevent both of you from becoming precarious private renters, to avoid you being potentially homeless and a massive burden on the taxpayer in the future. You each need to get what you need to rehouse yourselves as securely as possible. That is considered fair and reasonable in the 21st country, not “I put in exactly x so I get exactly that back” which makes a mockery of the essence of marriage which is a joint endeavour and fusing of resources

From what I understand, any assets he was in possession of prior to meeting you will not count as marital assets. Similarly, anything either of you acquired after the date deemed to be the separation date won’t count either. I’m not a lawyer though

Clearly YANAL as both your statements are wrong. Marriage means all money and property are joint assets up until a financial order has been granted in the divorce. If OP's husband didn't want that, he shouldn't have married her.

Those saying 6 years is a short marriage, the 9 years of cohabitation will also be taken into account. Financial negotiations will start from the basis of 50/50 split and then look at needs. The £200k and ISA will be in the pot - they belong to husband and wife.

Morality doesn't come into it.

Your taking the absolute piss if you think your entitled to half of everything he put 200k down for the house so he gets that back and then you split whatever is left between you both because if he hadn’t decided to sell his flat you wouldn’t have the house to argue over because you wouldn’t be entitled to any of his flat. Stop being a greedy gold digger.

Oh I hope he rinses you in court for your pension and everything else you have. You are nothing but a money grabber.

Agree, totally unreasonable.

You sound like you are trying to grab far more than your fair share of marital assets as you contributed significantly less than he did.

Being married to someone for a few years doesn’t give you the right to asset-strip them in the divorce just because you’ve led a spendthrift life.

No children to consider is a massive factor here

But you shouldnt get half.
He should keep the £200k he put in first
He should keep his own ISA
He should keep his own savings.

Why do you think you deserve it?

I agree – it must be a reverse.

Wow, this greed & exploitation is why so many men don’t want to get married - and makes their fears seem entirely rational and well-founded. I really hope my sons never make the mistake of marrying anyone who wants to shake them down in this way; & that the courts don’t give a legal veneer to what morally speaking is no more than extortion.
Poor man. Hope it is made up/a reverse.

It goes on length of marriage.....you aren't going g to get 50%. And that 200k will be seen as a premarital asset.

Are you a judge, or is there some other basis for your legal pronouncement?

Legally yes you can take half. Morally, i’d give him back his 200k. That’s what I did and we had 2 kids. Yes it meant I have had to rent for 15yrs and this year I can finally buy again. Morally, i’d never have taken the money my ex saved before he met me but that’s me.

How much is the marital home worth?

Scotland may have different rules (not sure it does on this though) but otherwise we don’t have different rules in different counties like the US does with states. OP is being greedy and unfair.

My divorce solicitor advised me to reach a financial agreement first with my ex using an intermediary, rather than go through the court which takes more time and racks up legal fees.

This. As someone who has been through trhe divorce process Yabvu unless you have left any info out? Do you have children? Is there any loss of earnings whilst you stayed home/changed your working hours to work around kids which benefited his career? It’s very unlikely you will get half and he is well within his right to fight you every step of the way.

I don’t think you’d get half as you don’t have children and the £200k was put in before you got married and your marriage is short.

If you had children then the lifelong hit to your earnings as a result of being pregnant, giving birth and taking maternity leave, along with the ongoing needs and caring responsibilities of children would probably result in you getting half or more than half despite the money going in before marriage. This is to compensate you for the uneven cost to you of having children relative to him within a marriage and make it fair.

You have faced no such penalty so what would the justification be? Did you make career or earnings sacrifices to help enable his career?

That’s magnanimous but I think you did yourself as a disservice as the cost to women of having children is really much much greater than to men, unless you get a surrogate that is biological reality.

You have had a very short marriage, and you had no children together.

You are younger than your DH so you have a longer time to build your assets, in the context of your eventual split and your life potential after.

The court will look at both your needs, not your wants. They will ensure the split of assets takes account of what you each bought into your short marriage of only 6 years. They will also protect both sides from attempting to clean out the other side of their assets and ensure each is protected. They may well consider his proposal and agree that it's a fair division of the assets you amassed as a couple during the 6 years.

you have the ability to ring fence any assets that you brought into the marriage the same as he can, As you do not have children there will be no need to consider any dependents' needs such as the primary caregiver keeping the marital home for the stability of the children.

you need to seek legal advice and you definitely need to change your attitude to how you are seeing the split of assets. If the marriage was 30 years and you had taken time out of your career to bring up children, then that would be a completely different matter.

You cannot count the time you were living together. The court will only consider the legal status of marriage. What you negotiate financially outside the court process is different. You just have to agree as the two people in the marriage how things will be split. If you can't agree, then you have to each put forward a proposal and the court will rubber-stamp the final decision according to a 'formula' so it is equitable and consistent with each party's circumstances.

That won't buy me anywhere though.

Then you will have to rent using the £50K. The court isn't there to help you buy a house. They are there to ensure you aren't homeless, so they will see your DHs proposal as the solution to that as the money gives you enough to put down a deposit and 3 months' rent. They will look at your employment status and be satisfied that you have earning potential and years into the future to continue to have stable employment to put a roof over your own head.