FInancial Settlement - how likely is it H will get a future share of the equity rather than a fixed sum?

[HenriettaBarnet]

H and I are having an acrimonious divorce. We have been together for many years and bought our first house 20 years ago. That said we haven't particularly benefitted from the property market and we bought a house last year and have 22 years left on the mortgage to run. There is about 200k in equity.

In 22 years, H reckons the house could be worth 2m (it is in London) so he wants half the equity in 22 years. He has said he will accept 1/3 of the equity. I do not want to give him this. I have to bring up the children (our youngest is 2) on my own for 22 years. he is adamant it is right he will get this. He has no pension.

My solicitor says I don't have to worry, he won't get the equity. But I am worried!

Can anyone advise on this? I suppose I am happy to give him a share of the equity at today's value (albeit in the future as I can't buy him out now).

Thanks!

Yes sorry, I wasn't meaning to imply that the OP was going to have to give him 50 percent of the value of the house. Just pointing out that currently he owns 50 percent or has joint ownership of 100 percent rather than "owning" 10 percent.

Yes I get understand that I just think it is unfair if he can live rent free and theoretically amass savings in that time which he couldn't have otherwise. It is a huge debt for one person which is why I suggested the possibility of extending the term

I am going through this at the moment. we both work I earn 50k and he 150k.

his solicitor has told him he has to provide a home for DD until she is 18/left FT education.

we have total equity of £480k. we are discussing share of equity at the moment and about to go to mediation as we cant agree.

we both have pensions but want to ignore them ie each keep our own.

my solicitor has said courts likely to award me 60%-70 % of equity as I earn less so cant get borrow as much as DH.

DH first offer is 55% of equity to me and a charge for 50K / one fifth of the equity. when DD is 18 he gets his share of equity when the house is sold.

lasvegas mine first wanted 50% of the equity and has now offered a 2/3 :1/3 split. I can't agree with him, but he's a litigator by profession and is too scary and intimidating for me to even contemplate mediation with.

He hasn't actually lived with me full time since mid 2011 - we've been breaking up all that time (slowed down by bereavements on my part, job moves etc). But he hasn't supported me or done anything like half the childcare or anything for 4 years. It's been an absolute nightmare.

he's lying to me about what he's earning, and has said that if he doesn't win, he'll simply stop working. He's putting himself before anything.

he doesn't have a pension - all I could give up in return for the equity is my entitlement to child maintenance. But I can't give it all up as I need some from him to provide for his children! I don't want them to have a miserable life because of my equity!

He is having a ball, living rent free in central london, in a fully furnished, portered block with his washing, cleaning etc all provided for. He eats out all the time, is seeing the children for maybe 6 hours a week (and then he kindly brings them back before tea for me to sort) and is refusing to help with holidays or anything. I am doing everything. oh and he's also cancelled his life assurance so that if he dies, the children are truly fucked.

In the meantime I've started looking for a job, but am discovering that it will be impossible to get out of the sector i'm in. This is lower paid than his by a huge margin. I am fucked by this marriage, exhausted with the responsibility, have no help, no support and am working full time on top. It would be hugely inequitable if he could gain/retain 50% of the house which we only bought last year and which he hasn't lived in. I have sod all chance of meeting another man, and I've got sneaking suspicion he's already moved on.

sorry rant over. It's a miserable experience.

babybarrister, I do have a solicitor! She is very good I think, but I need to complete the form E (and so does he) before she'll advise with any certainty. She has said I'm in a good position re: the house, although I'm not sure what that means. He did want me to have to sell up and split the proceeds now, but she's assured me that the court won't allow this.

She will know far more than we do over the internet OP. Ask her to clarify things for you again and explain why she has formed that opinion. Hopefully it will put your mind at rest a little.

henrietta

it is unfair that you are doing more for the kids than him. But it has always been thus, women left holding the baby. gender equality has done nothing to change this fact. A court cannot make an absent parent spend more time with their kids, or feed them healthy meals or do homework with them.

But the law can ensure he pays maintenance each month and provides a home until they are 18. Albeit this means that in years ahead the house is sold and he gets his share.

I am likely to end up with DH owning one fifth of a home I pay all the mortgage on. But without this silent investment I would have to move away from DD school and friends, so it is worth it to me.

Hang in there. Get on with your schedule E. He may well lie on his but there is nothing you can do about it. I think the court can ask for bank statements going back a few years as they are used to people suddenly withdrawing cash and giving it to someone else to look after.

My DH said he would sooner burn his savings rather than give me 50% of them even though i said I did not want to enforce all the solicitor had said I was entitled to. He also said to me if he had known he would be unahhapy 10 years after the marriage he would not have married me, so could we divide marital assets as though we had just been flat mates!

he's lying about his income too, but he only has informal arrangements with clients which he can avoid disclosing, and as the arrangement is new, there are no accounts yet.

He's saying to me that he's broke, but he isn't! I wonder how he could live with himself if he ends up with 50% of the house and paying me the minimum amount of maintenance and taking home shedloads of money.

lasvegas, how nice of your H to say he'd burn his savings rather than give them to you! Aren't you entitled to half of "his" savings? I think I would pursue them if I were you.

Henrietta - water off a ducks back. I don't engage in the threats. Your case worse than mine, as my DH is PAYE your's sounds self employed. Far easier to manipulate what he earns and as each month will be different that adds another layer of complexity.

how people can let their kids suffer is beyond me.

What about future inheritance would someone in the Ops situation be entitled to any of that as a substantial inheritance if they were still together could potentially have paid their mortgage off and made them debt free?

Actually I've had a thought - can we agree everything without going to court? It strikes me that H won't be very interested in disclosing his income in the Form E as I don't suppose he's registered for tax yet and I'm not sure how much he's going to disclose (I DO NOT agree with such behaviour by the way - this is one of my stated grounds for divorce in the petition, his repeated failure to deal with his tax).

how binding would an agreement between us be if we avoided the courts and the whole form E stuff?

Noddy, yes he stands to inherit quite a lot (including from his grandmother who is in her 90s now) whereas even if my mum hadn't disowned me (toxic like yours!), I would get virtually nothing. I assume I have no right to this and it isn't even included in the amounts, apart from everything else, it could be used up in care home fees etc?

so the court wouldn't see a form E in that case?

I am hopeful that we can reach an agreement (through solicitors, but without mediation) - would that be a situation when the form D81 can be used?