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Divorce/separation

Here you'll find divorce help and support from other Mners. For legal advice, you may find Advice Now guides useful.

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Original poster

Selling the house and splitting the equity question

19 replies

Tryingmyhardesteveryday · 12/02/2022 10:30

Hi,

I am hoping someone can help hopefully it’s an easy question (I feel like I should know the answer)
Me and stbxh have just talked about splitting the house if sold 50/50.
Is the is worked out based on what we brought the house for and now what it’s worth or is this based on what the outstanding mortgage is and what it’s worth now? I’ll give an example as don’t think I’ve explained that very well!
So house was brought for £265k and now worth £340 so possibly £80k to share minus what ever costs for selling and all they or
The house was brought for £265 remaining mortgage is £200k and now worth £340 so there £140k to split less what ever costs?
I must say I am not on the mortgage but have contributed financially through out the marriage he earns double what I do and the house was brought while married. He paid the deposit so I’m aware that probably has to be taken in to account to! Just trying to get my head around what is fair.

OP posts:

millymolls · 12/02/2022 10:49

House sell value
Less mortgage
Less notional selling costs
Equals available to split

Then you can agree split

Are there children involved ?

Original poster

Tryingmyhardesteveryday · 12/02/2022 10:54

Thankyou @millymolls

I thought that was the case! He was doing it less what we paid for. Is it fair that he wants back what he paid for improvements on the house eg new bathroom these don’t increase the value of the house I though just saleability?

I have a child but from a previous relationship non between us.

OP posts:

thelonggame · 12/02/2022 10:58

my husband bought me out of ours by paying me 50% of valuation on an agreed date. We had no mortgage and husband agreed to pay the costs.

If there was a mortgage and we sold it then 50/50 split would be sale price, less any outstanding mortgage, less the sales costs and you split what is left over.

It's all down to negotiation though.

Original poster

Tryingmyhardesteveryday · 12/02/2022 11:06

@thelonggame thanks for your reply!

It’s so hard! He hasn’t mentioned savings or pensions which I am happy to leave out if we can agree on the house split! I have minimal savings and he has significantly more and pensions I probably had mine longer but his is probably worth more due to his salary.
I had to move out of the family home due to unreasonable behaviour and i just want to make sure me and my daughter are secure. I am not an unreasonable person just struggling with what to do for the best in a crap situation

OP posts:

frazzledasarock · 12/02/2022 11:34

Speak to a solicitor if you’re not able to do this amicably.

thelonggame · 12/02/2022 13:13

I'd be wary of leaving pensions out of it

My STBXH pension is worth more that double the value of our house
I sat down and listed every different asset we had, Car, House, Pensions, Possessions, Savings, Shares etc and asked for 50% of each part.
So the car was valued at that days resale value less outstanding finance.
Unless you have had a short marriage, where people often come out with what you went in with there is no reason your DH should have more savings or pension than you. Marriage is viewed as a partnership that you add equal value to, no matter who earns more money.

thelonggame · 12/02/2022 13:16

and no it's not fair that he wants back the cost of house improvements, thats part of the running cost of the house.
It's sounds like you may need a solicitor to navigate this for you if your DH is being unreasonable.

LemonTT · 12/02/2022 13:59

@thelonggame

and no it's not fair that he wants back the cost of house improvements, thats part of the running cost of the house. It's sounds like you may need a solicitor to navigate this for you if your DH is being unreasonable.

It might be fair and it might be an outcome.

We don’t know how long they were married for. If it was 12 months then he would be very fair and could well get to keep pre marital assets.

The length of the marriage and relationship is pertinent and makes a lot of difference when arguing to ring fence certain assets, including the pension.

Original poster

Tryingmyhardesteveryday · 12/02/2022 15:45

We have been married nearly 8yrs together 12.

OP posts:

thelonggame · 12/02/2022 15:59

LemonTT:

It might be fair and it might be an outcome.

We don’t know how long they were married for. If it was 12 months then he would be very fair and could well get to keep pre marital assets.

The length of the marriage and relationship is pertinent and makes a lot of difference when arguing to ring fence certain assets, including the pension.

If you read my posts I did say it's different if it's a very short marriage, but thanks for the unnecessary rudeness.

Jenjenn · 12/02/2022 16:55

How long into the marriage did you buy the house? He put the deposit down yes, but maybe he was only able to save it because you moved in together and started sharing bills? Unless his deposit was specifically protected at the time of purchase I would be looking for half of current sale price minus outstanding mortgage and selling expenses. I would ask for a portion of pension accumulated over the marriage years too as he was able to contribute more into it due to having a 2 income household.

Original poster

Tryingmyhardesteveryday · 13/02/2022 07:41

@Jenjenn our 1st house together was 2 years in to our relationship so so those were his savings

OP posts:

ivykaty44 · 13/02/2022 07:47

Is it fair that he wants back what he paid for improvements on the house

We’re the improvements done whilst you were married?

If that’s the case, no he doesn’t get his money back for the improvements as it was done whilst you were together married

Purplewithred · 13/02/2022 07:53

Definitely get legal advice, yours is quite a complicated situation. You are married, and equity has built during the marriage (house, pensions, savings probably) but not married for that long and there are no children from the marriage.

What would your situation be if you hadn't married him?

Original poster

Tryingmyhardesteveryday · 13/02/2022 08:15

@ivykaty44 yes done whilst married.

@purplewithred yes I will get some advice. I realise in the grand scheme of things we haven’t been married a long time and we have no children together.
So you mean if we weren’t together at all or just not married?

OP posts:

Purplewithred · 13/02/2022 08:25

I meant weren't together at all - I know it's impossible to answer that as anything could have happened, you could have met someone different and had more children. But in cases where women step back from their career to enable their spouse to earn more thats a consideration for the divorce settlement.

ivykaty44 · 13/02/2022 08:34

Legal advice is perhaps going to give a different outlook on the child you have, although your child is not from this marriage, they are part of the family and you may well find this has a bearing on the finances

I say this as a friend was in similar position as your stbex and the child did have a bearing on the split of finance even though the child wasn’t his child.

You’ll find out if that’s still the case when you seek legal advice

Original poster

Tryingmyhardesteveryday · 13/02/2022 08:40

@Purplewithred if we hadn’t of gotten together I would of probably gone further in my own career not to his level perhaps. While we don’t have children together I do feel that my career was put on hold so that he could achieve his and always supported him in his desire to get to where he is now.

@ivykaty44 thank you for that piece of information that’s interesting. Something I will ask about

OP posts:

PrincessPaws · 13/02/2022 08:50

While we don’t have children together I do feel that my career was put on hold so that he could achieve his and always supported him in his desire to get to where he is now.

How was your career put on hold to support his?

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