Husband’s bonus

[StarlightSparkle]

My husband and I have separated but I haven’t yet filed for divorce. He is due a bonus in July so my question is, would that be split if we are still going through the process (which is most likely) or would income received after divorce has been initiated not count as a marital asset?

When I got divorced the advice I got was that normally the main carer gets about 60% equity, so both parties do a "full and frank disclosure" off all assets and debts. I couldn't afford to keep the house and pay him 40% as i was only working part time, he reluctantly settled for 35% and I waivered any right to his substantial pension. The courts try to prioritise keeping the kids in the home they are familiar too but it depends how much equity there is. It's gets more complicated if sharing custody 50/50. You need to discuss with solicitor and have a realistic chat about best and worst case settlement scenarios so you can get an idea of what to expect.

Also if my memory is correct.... I would have only been entitled to 50% of his pension from the point we were married up to getting divorced. So we were married 8 years (but lived together for 18 yrs)

How long have you been married?

They do look at need, Chuck in the pensions pots and 85% of the house equity may only be 60/70 % of the asset pot?

You need a SHL.

Definitely get a lawyer to get some decent advice before beginning negotiations. And get a robust mediator. Try very hard not to end up with a big % going to lawyers as you argue it out. Don’t try and “punish” him for his affair, just go for a fair outcome and you Will hopefully shorten the process considerably.

Married 7 years but my understanding is that in England you are entitled to 50% of pension in its entirety, not only from the start of the marriage.

I did meet with a solicitor last year but I don’t actually know how much he has in savings or what his pensions are worth as we’ve always kept our finances quite separate.

Is a pension valuation different from the transfer value?

Yes a pension valuation is different from the CETV. My ex had three big pensions and I had one tiny one. The actuarial report on our pensions worked out the percentage I needed to equalise pension income - which was much more than 50%. I also got more than 60% of equity in the house. I was married over 25 years, and living together before that for about 4 years - so a long relationship.

With regards to bonuses, I do know a friend of mine got some of her ex's yearly bonus for quite a few years. Nothing we say here can replace robust legal advice though!

2018anewstart

*Also for child maintenance calculations the bonus will be included**

Absolutely wrong.

OP there are no hard and fast rules. It is about what is fair and reasonable. So in my case I got 100% of equity because I then didn’t touch my ex husband’s pension, which was valued at almost same amount.

I receive CM until youngest 18. Works out to be about 30% of his take home.

Re bonus, I listed my percentages in an earlier post. This was “generous” according to my solicitor.

You will be required to list your forecast of monthly expenditures

Don’t forget about life and health insurances that you may get under your husbands work policy but you will no longer entitled to.

I am the RP
My ex has the children for about 4 nights a month

I was a sahm for 8 years. Returned to work three months ago

My friend got 100 per cent of equity in exchange for no pension but the pension and the equity were of equal value. The pension was a good plated RAF one so lots of certainty around value which made it an easier discussion.

Sorry but it is absolutely correct. Child maintenance is based on your partners previous years income including any bonuses. If you can prove his/her income in current year has risen by more than 25% you can request that CSA base child maintenance on current year. If you are not including your partners bonus in a child maintenance calculation you are being shortchanged. I know this is correct as I am currently dealing with this very issue with the CSA.

My above post is in relation Kiki post about child maintenance.

Incorrect

They don’t base on last years ewenjr. Have you actually been on the calculator? They ask for current earnings.
Think about it... how could they use last year’s earnings? What happens if currently unemployed but earned last year? Or pay has reduced due to change of role? And bonus is completely unknown. So they can’t fsctor in to monthly payments.

In my situation, we worked out child maintenance according to the calculator, which was based on my ex husband’s current earnings.

And the bonus we came to a separate agreement (40% year 1 20% year 2 10% year 3 and then 0 from then on)

They do indeed go with HMRCs figures for the last tax year. They will only deviate from those if the amount the paying parent now earns is 25% different to the HMRC amount.

Categorically not in my case

Right but you seemingly have a family based arrangement and therefore don’t actually use the CMS service apart from their calculator which isn’t accurate.

Why do you think you should get half his bonus after you split? If you won the lottery in July do you think he should be entitled to half?

How about because she’s been looking after his children thereby enabling him to earn that money?

The op doesn’t say she’ll use the cms service

As for your comment, the calculator isn’t correct

Both my sol and my ex sol based negotiations on it

The calculator is not always accurate. Roll your eyes all you like. It isn’t. Of course it can be used as a guide but if you use their service, they don’t always give the same figure as the calculator.

The OP wants some of her ex’s bonus. One way to achieve that is to use the CMS Direct Pay service if he won’t agree to pay it voluntarily. Direct Pay also means the OP isn’t relying on the ex’s honesty or good will.

It’s absolutely correct that if you use the CMS service then they base their calculation on the previous years earnings which they obtain from HMRC and DWP. The exception to this is if you have a substantial change in circumstances eg promotion or redundancy or something else that significantly affects the paying parents income then they will recalculate it if you have proof. At 12 month intervals the award is reviewed and any under payments from the previous year e.g from any undeclared bonus would be added into the current years award as arrears. I have direct experience of this with my ex. He failed to disclose his older daughter didn’t stay with us any more and that he had a change in pay and CMS added all the arrears onto this years payments.

Therefore if the bonus is shown on a payslip and CMS is used then this will be classed as income and included for CM purposes. However if the OP is looking more into getting a percentage as part of financial settlement then legal advice is required as he could say it’s post separation and he doesn’t want to share it.

Sorry Kiki your post is incorrect. It really concerns me when people post incorrect information on here as some people are relying on this information. As miss malice has said you have based your agreement ouside CMS hopefully it has worked in your favour but CMS will base it on last year's income including any bonus unless there has been a significant change in circumstances in the current year.

And personally Kiki I dont think you have got the best agreement as you would have been entitled to cms on your ex husbands bonus for each year he received a bonus for as long as he was paying child maintenance to you. I'd look into it if I was you.

The cms is not involved in earnings above £150k
My ex earns £152k before bonus.

The OP has made no mention whatsoever of CMS.

OP you’re situation sounded similar to mine. Just giving you my experience. All the best