Financial settlement in these circumstances?

[TwoRedCushions]

Have NC'd, for obvious reasons.

My marriage is all but over. No one is cheating or doing anything untoward. "Just" a deeply unfulfilling relationship that has been worn down to nothing. We've been married 4 years, have a 2 year old son. I appreciate I need to see a lawyer, but realistically while the Covid crisis is ongoing I won't be able to.

Here's our current setup - what could/would a settlement look like? Or, what other factors are relevant? I know that there are lots of other things to consider, but the financial side of things is keeping me awake at night.

We jointly own our own home, £400k mortgage on a house worth about £600k.

Him: employed, base salary of £95k/year, bonuses of around £20k/year
Owns about £200k in shares in listed company.
Some contributions in company pension.
Has a flat he rents out, brings in about £200 net a month.

Me: SAHM, 1-2 hours a day of freelance work around DD. Barely scratch the HMRC threshold for work.
No pension, or very little from previous career.
Own a BTL property that bring in around £1,000 p/m once expenses are covered.

Where do I start with all this?

How long were you cohabiting before marriage? You have a short marriage but a good as a result who will need providing for

I’m not a lawyer and you’ll need legal advice
Some general principles
It’s a short marriage
Generally clean breaks are preferred especially when parties are young
The aim is to become financially independent
It’s likely you will be expected to provide for yourself although interim spousal possible to enable you to get on your feet and seek employment
A mesher order is often not liked when the child is so young so If possible you should be thinking about your housing needs and how to achieve - selling, downsizing etc

You need to consider all assets including both other rental properties , shares and pensions.

Don’t automatically assume you’ll receive a higher % as you are SAHM- a short marriage may offset some of that
Settlements are based on needs not wants

You also need to consider child arrangements and where/ when your child will stay with each parent and of course child maintenance associated

You definitely need a solicitor
The additional challenge now is economic uncertainty, likely pressure on house prices and selling and of course fall in value of pensions and shares

Can anyone advise me how to make my own post?

Thanks milly. We were cohabitating for three years ahead of marriage.

I’m going to try find a solicitor who will have an initial meeting via phone / Zoom / whatever other distant medium.

Your case is not a straightforward one with shares and BTL assets involved. You definitely need a solicitor before making any offers,

You should think about the basic principals that Millmollly listed, and understand that the courts would look to divide assets equally unless there was a need not to.

What is the total value of all your assets? If you had 50% of that, could you be housed? Your mortgage capacity would be low (or non existent?) so perhaps you'd be looking for enough cash to buy outright.

What are your aims out of this? Do you have any understanding of what he wants to achieve? Could you settle without selling some assets, e.g. you stay in the home, he takes the flats and shares. How would the mortgage be paid in this scenario?

Don't forget about pension pots, theres probably a big disparity given his income. Rather than requesting a equalising transfer, it would probably be beneficial to argue for a greater share of the property assets and in return for leaving his pension.

Agree you need a solicitor
As the marriage is fairly short it might be that they look at assets earned during marriage eg what accrued of during those years for example
Realistically as above you need to plan for financial independence and a return to work in some form / assuming you are young , long term spousal unlikely

But you do need a solicitor

If the flats were bought before you married they are not matrimonial property so probably will not be included. I think that goes for the shares too but not 100%.

House equity will probably be split 50/50. With his pension you would only be entitled to a share for the time you were married. Because you’ve had such a short marriage then the Court will look for you to be independent as soon as possible. You’d be entitled to child maintenance but I don’t think you would get spousal maintenance for any period of time.

I’m not legally trained but in short you’re not going to come out of this with much and will need to get back to work ASAP I think.

Just to say consent orders are still going through. Got mine back today. Absolute here I come...

What was your career like before DC?

You have a short marriage and your husband has the resource to find a good solicitor. You really do need professional advise but i'm sure there are solicitors that will talk to you online. Good luck.

Newbie - lucrative.

How come you have no pension or little if your previous career was lucrative
It’s also important as you’ll likely assumed that you have a good earning potential going forward that you can do back to

How come you have no pension or little if your previous career was lucrative

I was a student for a long time, then went into a high-earning profession. I didn't stay in that profession for long, but was on a six-figure salary by about year 3 - hence the low pension. Being vague, but it's a profession that spans the full width of the salary spectrum. I wasn't particularly well-suited to it (yep, despite the salary) and would hate to do it again but could probably get a job in the field.

Courts will look not only at current earnings but also future earning potential on an effort to achieve a fair split and clean break. So you need to think about what work will will go back to and what earnings that gives you

I’m going to try find a solicitor who will have an initial meeting via phone / Zoom / whatever other distant medium

They seem to be all set up to work remotely now

@Otter71which court is this your consent order went through? PM is fine too if don't want to announce publicly. TY.

I never met my solicitor - did everything via phone and that was before this situation.

That should say @Otter71