Mesher order

[Cantsleep22]

I am aware I need to get legal advice and I will but just doing some research of my own first to help me decide if this is the route I want to go down

History - my husband left 3 years ago when dd was 3. At the time I was working part time, we weren’t married and had a joint mortgage. I had some legal advice and was told I could stay in the house, pay the bills and he couldn’t come off the mortgage without my say so. He objected this as he wanted to buy a property of his own but I argued it was for the stability of our daughter. Our mortgage at the time was less than any rental property would be. However after a couple of months he decided he wanted us to work things out and we got back together

3 years later..... we are now married, have an 8 month old dd. He wanted to move house. I was reluctant to but he persuaded me that financially it was the right thing to do. We have moved to a 4 bed detached house with a considerably larger mortgage. We have been living here for a year now. 2 weeks ago he decided he wanted to leave and is again pressuring me to sell the house and wants a divorce. I am currently on unpaid maternity leave with no income and not due to return to work until January.

Again I want stability for my children. My 6 year old had to move schools when we moved house so she has already been through a lot. I have heard of a Mesher order. Would anyone happen to know if I would likely be granted this? Also what happens if he opposes it? I have worked out all my income with universal credit, child maintenance, child benefit and wage and I can afford to stay here

If the house is deemed excessive for needs and to downsize would free him from the mortgage it’s possibly likely that would be awarded

4 beds for you and 1 child would be deemed not needed

Will depend on assets and money available to split etc which is why only solicitors will be able to guide you

Mesher orders are not favoured now by courts but are used usually where moving the children at a specific time would be particularly disruptive eg during GCSEs, your children are small so this would not be the case. The other consideration is whether you can purchase a suitable property (2 bed in your case) on your your salary plus maintenance - you could be awarded a larger share of the equity to help this process. If there's no way you can afford a place on your own then an order to stay put until your youngest is 3 (and qualifies for 30 hours free nursery) is a realistic request, no judge will order until the youngest is 18 in your circumstances. Your best option for a good settlement is to negotiate and explore every option - could you take over the mortgage if you got a lodger for instance?

I am going through this now, make sure you explore all viable opinions give the court facts the court look at the paramount needs of the children first, and how disruptive it would be. The courts are fair and they dont turn kids out onto the street if you have no other options for example if you can rehouse then they will make that a ruling if you cant then they will not expect you to go out onto the streets, or rent.