Family home/trading/gambling and divorce

[Waitthenwhat]

Finally starting the process of leaving my abusive/narcissistic husband. Over the last decade of marriage or so he lost at least £750k in trading (essentially gambling away all of our money). We now own a house together with a large mortgage. Will the financial misconduct be taken into account when splitting any assets (incl the house)? He is v secretive so not sure what else he has! The equity that I have in the house is the only money that’s kind of guaranteed for me and the kids as he is v capable of loosing everything again. I will just about be able to afford mortgage if maintenance payments are taken into account. Note that 2 of my DCs are autistic so stability/minimum change is the highest priority! Will the court take all of this into account? Any similar experiences?

Anyone?

You need proper legal advice, as it’s not as simple as just being able to afford the mortgage payments. If you want to break all financial ties with him, which is the wisest thing to do when it comes to a gambling addict, you’ll need to qualify for the mortgage on your own with your lender.

In some cases a court can make a Mesher Order, which would allow you to stay in the home until a given time; but frankly, I think it would be an absolute nightmare to take this option considering your STBXH’s financial situation and the liability he’s likely to be. You’d get far better security from a clean break, selling the house, and not ever having to worry about what he might do again.

Poor financial behaviour can certainly be taken into account in divorce selttlements (some phrase about behaviour it would be inequitable to ignore, in the law). But there's not much can be done once money is gone.

Thank you for the replies. I am meeting a family lawyer on Wed for an initial app so will def ask the question. A clean break is certainly what I want to achieve, but I also want him to pay the maintenance money (as long as possible since he is working and has a v good salary!) as it’s the kids right.