Partners having to find houses for each other?

[funnylittlefloozie]

Does anyone know anything about this? I am separated, gearing up to divorce my STBX-H. My friend at work is also going through a very nasty divorce, and she has told me that the court has ordered that she and her husband each have to find 5 houses that the other could potentially afford to buy. Is this a normal thing? Am i likely to be asked to do such a thing for my ex-h when we get round to divorcing?

Yep, at FDR stage at court you will do this

Yes, completely normal. One of the things you and the court have to figure out is how each of your housing needs can be met from the money that's available and any mortgage capacity you might have. A good way to illustrate that is for each of you to provide a few Rightmove printouts of properties suitable for yourselves and each other. If there's say £300k in the pot, and one of you wants a house worth £350k, that's clearly not going to happen, but if you can show that your housing needs (including any children) just can't be met for less than £200k, it's an argument in your favour for getting a higher share of the pot, especially if your ex is a higher earner and can plug the gap for his own needs by getting a mortgage or a bigger mortgage.

How does that work then? My partner lives alone, our daughter will stay with him occasionally, so he needs 2 beds. Why on earth do i need to tell him how much a 2 bed flat / house would cost??

Oh thank you, Squeaking, that makes much more sense!

If we are aiming for a straight 50/50 split when our daughter turns 18, would we still be expected to go through this stage?

As far as I'm aware, you'll only have to provide details of houses for each other if you go through the court process. If you are able to come to agreement on how finances should be split between the two of you, without the need to go to court, then you wouldn't need to provide details of housing for the other.

If you are in agreement you don't have to do this, it's for the judge at a financial court hearing to understand your housing needs.