Housing options after divorce

[jumbojumbo]

Looking for some help getting my options clear. Been unhappy in my marriage for a long time, but stayed for the kids and financial security. I am now at the end of my tether and don't think I can take much more mentally, I want to get out but I'm so scared for the future.

House is owned jointly, and H is in a position to pay my share so I would get roughly 45k and house would then be in his name.

In the event of a divorce, the kids, 15 and 17 would live with H.

I've been a housewife for the last 9 years, due to home educating my children. So I'm concerned getting a job won't be easy after such a long gap. Prior to home educating I worked in banking.

So taking all that into account, am I correct in saying my only option for housing would be to rent? I'm worried that since the majority of (all?) landlords require you to be working that I would struggle to find somewhere and end up homeless. I'd also be really gutted to see the 45k that I worked hard for go down the drain on rent but I appreciate it's better than being homeless and it's a much better position to be in than others who have nothing.

Are there any other options I am missing?

Are you sure there is only £90k equity? What about savings, investments and pension pots?

I appreciate it won't be easy but are you able to go back to work now so you can get rental references before you leave the marital home? After a while you might be able to get a small mortgage and use that 45k as a deposit.

Thanks for the reply. Yes I'm sure about the 45k, I also have 5k in savings so I guess its 50k altogether.

If I could be sure of getting a job straight away I guess that would be a great solution but after 9 years I imagine I could be looking for work for months and months. I feel like if going to do this it needs to be now.

If you've been home educating, then you are in a great position to use the skills you've learnt to start working in a school or college. FE colleges will sometimes put you through an FE teaching qualification while you're actually teaching. Secondary schools often need cover supervisors, and you can also qualify to teach while you work.

Could you look at buying a shared ownership house with your equity? Then you don't lose your equity.

Thanks for your suggestions, I have a maths degree so will look into FE colleges.

I've heard of a lot of negative experiences re shared ownership but will explore this as an option.

They'll bite your arm off with a Maths degree!

Yes, worth exploring shared ownership definitely. Don't let hearsay put you off until you've researched it.

Neither of you has a pension? Pensions are often shared.

From where is STBEx finding the £45k to buy you out? If that is in savings, you are entitled to your share.
As PP, you are also entitled to a share of any pension, as he is of yours.

Do you have any friends/family you can stay with whilst you are house hunting?
For temporary accommodation try spareroom or look for long term lets on AirBnB.

If you have a Maths degree there will be loads of opportunities open up for you. Do you fancy teaching Maths? You could have a PGCE in about 9 months. Some will consider your experience of home schooling DC. Also have you included pension sharing because if your stbexh has been paying pension whilst you've been at home not having opportunity to pay any you can get a 50 percent of his pension pot and trade that against more equity in the house.

Why are the 15 and 17 staying living with him?
Also, you will have to pay maintenance for the DC, don't forget to factor that in.
Really advise seeing a solicitor even now, just to set out your options even if you do nothing.

I second checking if your husband has a company pension. This can now be shared by the wife in a divorce or traded by more equity in the house (it’s complicated so you need expert advice).

You can often get a free initial consultation with a solicitor. The website wikivorce is very good.

Ref renting. It often does feel like throwing money away to rent after having a mortgage. But many others have suggested you should be able to get a job fairly easily. Once you have a job, then next would be seeing if you can get a mortgage.

So renting could be fairly short term say 6 months. You could look at keeping this cost down by staying with friends or relatives, or sharing via Spareroom.com. Some people even use Trusted Housesitters to get free accommodation (though you would need a fall back for gaps in sitting jobs).

You're right that landlords are being ultra-cautious and choosy these days. In some areas, getting a flat is no longer a case of having a look and saying, "Yes please, I'll take it" and signing the contract once the landlord has done some credit checks on you. Renting a flat is often be more like applying for a job, and the landlord picks whoever they like best from among the many applicants. Someone who isn't yet employed won't get a look-in.

However, landlords don't need to be nearly as choosy when it comes to taking in lodgers. The law is different. It is far far easier for a landlord to evict a lodger. So you might consider putting most of your things in storage so you can lodge for a little while until you have a job and a reference from your previous landlord. Then you'll look more appealing to landlords who have an entire flat or house to rent out.