Realistic expectations on asset split....

[XXXMovingOnXXX]

Hi. Could someone give me an idea of what might be a realistic asset split, and at what point are children deemed no longer dependent?

Brief situation:
Separated 1 year, married 20. Children 2 (17&19). Assets - house equity £400k, car each (£15k total), less than £50k pensions.

My thinking is this looks like a typical 50/50, no reason to depart from that, especially once youngest is 18?

Is 50/50 a reasonable expectation? what might change that?

Thanks in advance

Earning power to raise a new mortgage on a suitable property.

Current ages of both parties- if one near retirement and the other 15 years to go etc

Current income and earning potential - if one in 100k and one on 10k unlikely to be 50:50 as their ability to raise mortgage etc not the same

If one party doesn’t work or didn’t for large part of marriage - likely to get higher split due to above

Children are deemed generally no longer dependent at 18 but some consent orders to build in maintenance until they’ve left tertiary education ( should the go)

@LemonTT

Earning power to raise a new mortgage on a suitable property.

Thanks. DW earns £60k DH earns £25k

So both could raise a fair mortgage plus the £200k each in equity. Do you know what the assessed needs would be though - 1 bed/3bed? Would it include housing the children? (Currently residing with DW)
Thanks

@millymolls

Current ages of both parties- if one near retirement and the other 15 years to go etc

Current income and earning potential - if one in 100k and one on 10k unlikely to be 50:50 as their ability to raise mortgage etc not the same

If one party doesn’t work or didn’t for large part of marriage - likely to get higher split due to above

Children are deemed generally no longer dependent at 18 but some consent orders to build in maintenance until they’ve left tertiary education ( should the go)

Interesting Both have 15+ year still retirement. Does it not come down to whether the needs of both are met with 50/50? No maintenance will be sought. Also, once DC are 18+, the area in which to buy a property can be more flexible. Until then, it would be difficult for either party to purchase an equivalent home (3bed).

It will be based on principles of needs and sharing

Primarily to ensure each parties needs are met, then to ensure assets are shared fairly

Fair doesn’t always mean the same

On the very limited info above, dh lower earning reduces his ability to raise a mortgage to the same value as dw so that might be a consideration

Thanks @millymolls
What other info would be useful to better understand?

How much would a 1 or 2 bed realistically be? When does the child turn 18? A 3 bed is probably not going to be seen as a need unless it's affordable within both your budgets and isn't going to be an issue to finance

@wobytide
You could get a 2 bed flat outright for £250k, lots of shared ownership 2 bed (high end) flats for £110k @25% share so i believe that is totally do-able. 3 bed houses are £350k min.
DC is 18 early next year, and will be off to Uni the following September

I don’t think courts would rule that one party gets a 25% shared ownership while the other gets bigger flat/house

It’s a long marriage. The aim will be to leave both on equal footing and same std of living

So as an example maybe dw takes 40% equity so £160k and mortgage of 90k whereas dh takes 60% of equity 240k needing just small mortgage as they earn much less so mortgage raising capacity lower. ( just as illustration). That may be deemed a fair outcome although I expect dw wouldn’t agree

What about the position on pensions? Do both partners to the marriage have equal pension provision?

Options for a mortgage will be limited if there are 'only' fifteen years to retirement

@millymolls the shared ownership thing was just a demonstration of the possibilities for both parties - even what could be achieved with just the equity!
Appreciate your view x

Shared ownership isn't the same though.

I would expect the slightly lower earning DH to get a slightly bigger slice of the house equity here.

House equity is £400k
Wife's mortgage raising capacity is approx £240k (4x salary. Could be lower due to 15 years from retirement and low pensions savings).
Husband's mortgage raising capability is £100k (4x salary. Again could be lower for same reasons).

If Husband had 65% - he'd have £100k mortgage + £260k equity = £360k house

Wife's 35% - £240k mortgage + £140k equity = £380k house

Could tweak the numbers slightly to make that bang on even. (So 67% to 33% or whatever).

You say a 3 bed is £350k, so both could be housed appropriately and fairly with a split like this.

However, couple of things. Will care of the 17 year old be split evenly, or will there be some child maintenance involved? Even though short lived, that can affect mortgage raising.

Also - why is husband's income lower? Both parties expected to maximise their incomes, so husband would struggle to justify such a departure from 50/50 if he was working part time through choice, for instance.

Those pensions seem worryingly low as well. Especially unusual for a 60k salary worker to have just £50k saved over a few decades of working.

Why is DH income lower. Did he compromise earning potential by being a sahd? If so this needs to be reflected.
If not then just do the math to split the equity so that with available mortgages you both get an equal size house. That would be fair

Appreciate the replies.
There are a few other details to it but it could be outing so hesitant to be too specific. There was no sahd or sahm situation, more to do with application of self and willingness/ambition.
In reality, DW did large majority of house managing/childcare/mental load while maintaining FT work and studying P/T. Not sure if that would need to be or could be proven though.
Pension pot is low as higher earner couldn't contribute due to needing to pay the bills until current salary was achieved in recent years.
I really do appreciate all your input, it's been helpful and I'll pass it all on to my friend.

I would be wary of assuming that the husband could get a mortgage on that salary. I had two lots of mortgage capacity reports (for court), and was told I couldn't raise a mortgage (similar earnings). I got more of the equity as a result, and bought my house outright. Has he approached any lenders?

@BatshitCrazyWoman

I would be wary of assuming that the husband could get a mortgage on that salary. I had two lots of mortgage capacity reports (for court), and was told I couldn't raise a mortgage (similar earnings). I got more of the equity as a result, and bought my house outright. Has he approached any lenders?

On £25k? He can definitely raise a small mortgage. Somewhere between £75k-£100k.

However, as outlined earlier I would expect an equity split in his favour to leave them on the same footing property wise.

@OnceUponAThread I didn't pass the affordability criteria - it depends on your outgoings (energy bills and commuting costs would probably account for a big proportion of that salary).

@BatshitCrazyWoman - affordability could play. But if he's got a £140k deposit, the LTV should work in his favour. He's not on a crazy low salary. But yes, could be a smaller mortgage which might tip equity a touch further towards him.

The husband is likely to get more equity based on those figures. The wife could also offer more equity in exchange for keeping the pensions.
Solicitor fees could really eat into the equity if the couple can’t agree - can be tens of thousands if drawn out. It’s far better to decide amongst themselves.