Advice needed on where to start

[Zeebs27]

I am planning on leaving my wife after years of problems we have had together. We are no longer happy and she has voiced on many occasions that she would like a divorce.

I don’t know where to start with finances. Should I look in to this before broaching the subject of separation/divorce with her?

I am currently working but a retired police officer in receipt of a monthly pension and I don’t know where I will stand with my pension. What will she be entitled to of my lump sum (which is in the bank in both names) and my monthly pension? She also has a pension but is not in receipt of this.

I want her to keep our house, and I don’t know where to start with signing it over to her if she agrees.

Any guidance on who to speak to/where to get advice would be much appreciated

Look at somewhere like wikivorce, get as much of your financial information together so you know what you both have as assets and then arrange a free meeting with a solicitor or potentially pay for a longer appointment if you have more complex affairs. Assuming there are no under 18s in the marriage it then comes down to giving you both somewhere to live, money to live on now and money to live on in retirement for both of you. Choosing to give houses may not be an option and depending on what her earnings are and your respective pensions then there may need to be some sharing of them. If there is sufficient money then potentially your lump sum may be to house you if she is keeping the existing property but we don't have enough details

Thanks for your response.

The existing property is worth around £200k with a mortgage of around £70k outstanding. Remaining lump sum (which is in both names) is around £100k. When you say depending on her earnings, she earns £35k a year and would be able to afford mortgage payments on her salary. Our daughter is 19 and still lives at home.

My main concern is my wife being entitled to a share of my monthly pension, when she will one day have her own.

I will look in to a solicitor and will look further online

So house equity and lump sum are broadly equal. The 19 year old in theory doesn't count in the legal definitions so it's a moral thing. If your wife has her own pension and is still able to earn so you would both have a similar amount in retirement then there may be no need to share, but if your pension is a lot better then sharing is likely given the length of marriage/relationship

She does have her own pension and will still be able to earn however her pension isn’t/won’t be worth as much as mine. So it looks like I will need to share. Would I need to share a certain % to make her up to what she would have if we were still together (this wouldn’t be as much as 50% of my pension)? Or would she be entitled to 50%?

I am also going to buy a new home as I don’t want to rent. I wonder if it would be possible to use, say, £20k of my lump sum towards a deposit. I would be wanting to do this ASAP after leaving the family home rather than wait for a financial settlement to be agreed. Is this possible or is all money unable to be touched until it’s sorted?

Sorry for the silly questions, I really have no idea! Thanks again

Sharing pensions tends to be about pensions BEFORE you start receiving them. Once they are in payment, then they are an income, and it is unusual to share incomes unless one person has a very high income.
And the lump sum is now just savings.

So ... with a long marriage, and her earnings quite good (above average), I think the outline of a settlement would be to share the assets (lump sum, equity) in some way. Her pension is part of that, of course. And probably not to have any payment from your pension to her, nor from her earnings to you. There is scope to agree other things, or to do things in a time-limited way (e.g. some ongoing payment from you for a transition period).

How about - you get most/all of the £100k, she gets the equity, pensions remain with each person.
Or: you share the £100k, she remains in the house for an agreed time (a few years) after which it is sold and you split the equity.

Other factors to consider -- your ages, duration of marriage, ability of each of you to own and borrow.

Basically you can make an agreement if you can manage to amicably (maybe with mediation, or through solicitors). But if you cannot agree you could spend thousands on solicitors.

Good luck.