Hi all, hoping someone has some experience or knowledge of separation agreements that they would be happy to share please.
Long story short, we've not filed for divorce yet. Still in the same property together. No savings or kids. I work full-time, Husband is on sickness benefits. He is desperate to move out due to the effect everything is having on his mental health, but he can't currently afford it. I plan to remortgage and buy him out down the line.
A mortgage advisor has confirmed what I should be able to get a remortgage for. But he's also suggested waiting until we reach the financial consent order stage of the divorce process, in case I need to borrow more than we think to buy my Husband out (considering some debts we have plus current o/s mortgage).
My understanding is this stage of the divorce process, even if we started it today, will take around 20 weeks if not longer.
In the interim, as a temporary measure, my Dad has offered to "loan" my Husband £5k as part of a separation agreement. We think he should be entitled to around £15k from the property when I am able to buy him out. So this £5k would be a partial payment towards that.
I know a separation agreement is not legally binding but that it is a contract of sorts and I understand that the courts may look favourably on it if both parties have had some legal advice before signing.
Getting legal advice is something my Husband is reluctant to do, as he feels it will be a waste of money that we don't have, and he seems to think he will get screwed over somehow. I have verbally offered to pay for it (via a parental loan which will be paid back, along with the £5k, when I am able to remortgage) but he still seems unsure.
I guess my main question is, could we work out a separation agreement before applying for the divorce, but only have it relate to this £5k loan/down-payment/whatever you want to call it?
This would give him some money to get started with. I imagine he will struggle to rent privately as he is on benefits, but having a larger deposit will hopefully help things.
Once we apply for the divorce, can we then sort out the rest of the finances down the line eg. assets (not much really, just our small car); pensions (mine is probably worth more) & the remortgage/me buying him out.
I'm desperate to keep this fair and amicable but I seem to be falling at the first hurdle. I have been to get some advice from a Solicitor, who advised against giving him any money now, but I genuinely worry for his mental health if we wait much longer. He already has suicidal thoughts and this is clearly making it all worse.
I also can't afford the price the Solicitor quoted to deal with everything so am trying to keep costs as low as possible. The fee she quoted was a quarter of my annual salary and it's just not viable.
Thank you for reading if you got this far - if anyone has any questions please ask. I don't know what I'm doing and it's taking a toll on my own tricky mental health as well, so appreciate any insights. Thank you!