Financial advice when ending a marriage

[RainRainGoGoAway]

Hi, Mumsnet is full of threads similar to the one I’m writing but I can’t find any advice to do with my situation so looking for a bit of guidance as I’m clueless. Marriage is over - have been married for 10 years, together for 20. We have a joint mortgage which is nearly paid for. DH put a huge deposit down on the house when we bought it (before we got married) and within the legal papers it was declared that should we split up I wouldn’t stake a claim on the deposit paid - obviously we have since married and have 2 young children who I gave up work to look after. I have zero money of my own because of not working. I guess my question is do I have any claim on the sake of the house? I paid half of the mortgage up until 7 years ago. And does the legal document still now stand even though we are now married and have children. Do we have to sell the house? And am I entitled to any financial help? I’m worried sick and suffer with bad anxiety which isn’t helped with all this stress - I just don’t know what to do :-(

Well it really depends on the legal document protecting his deposit and what it is? I doubt that by being married now that it overrules it.
How much are we talking about here? What is the equity in the home? And how old are you children?

The expectation is that you will have to find work and will most likely have to accept a change of living and lifestyle

As for selling the house depends on the numbers but he could offer to buy you out a share and him keep living in it. Sounds like you would need to take a significant mortgage on to buy him out of it's nearly paid off and that would be unlikely if you aren't really working

Assuming that the document you signed before marriage was a standard declaration of trust (stating what shares you owned the property in), and not a pre-nup, your subsequent marriage will have rendered it of little relevance to the division of capital on divorce, because assets are split according to needs, so unless you have more than enough money between you to meet both your needs for re-housing etc., a court would simply look at your needs, his needs, your respective earning capacities, the fact that it has been a long marriage, and determine the capital split.

Agree with @Elektra1

you will be expected to work
whether the house needs to be sold will depend on its value ( equity available, ability to afford to keep it AND ensure both parties are adequately housed, your ability to pay ongoing bills etc, any other assets available to share etc

there is a lot of online help and guides available so you can educate yourself on the principles of what a split could be

No it's irrelevant if it isn't a pre nup. I'm almost divorced - had a declaration of trust from just a few year ago pre- marriage (married less than two years) and it was still deemed irrelevant.

Thank you for the replies they are very helpful. Yes I think it was a declaration of trust I signed with the solicitor when we bought the house and my DH put down a deposit of 80k although I have contributed largely towards the mortgage when I was working.