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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.

Original poster

Do i have to declare this in consent order?

49 replies

CoralOrca · 17/02/2024 15:18

Myself and dh have agreed that he will sign the house over to me. In order for me to be able to get a mortgage I will need to pay off some of the mortgage. We had around £40k in savings which I have now put into my son's name for tax reasons. He has said I can have his share to pay off some of the mortgage which will then enable me to transfer the house to my name and take out a small mortgage.

There is around £150k of equity in the house. He is therefore only coming out of this with his pensions which are worth about £30k and his car which is worth about £10k.

I realise this is heavily weighed in my favour and I'm worried a judge won't agree to it. Therefore I'm wondering if I need to mention the savings at all on the consent order as they are in my son's name now? Can I just ignore that and put that the only asset I'm receiving is the equity in the house?

Before anyone says how unfair this is on my dh, he has done something so terrible to me that he wants to do this to make up in part for what he's done. We have had many conversations about this and he is adamant this is what he wants.

OP posts:
Yewdontknowme · 17/02/2024 15:40

You’re hiding money for tax reasons? This is going to work out well for you.

Original poster
CoralOrca · 17/02/2024 15:48

Yewdontknowme · 17/02/2024 15:40

You’re hiding money for tax reasons? This is going to work out well for you.

I'm not trying to hide it. I didn't know what to do with it so I put it into my son's name as he already had an account set up. I believe you have to pay tax on savings interest of more than £1k a year so it made sense to put it there. I didn't think this was illegal?

Once the divorce is done the money will be used to pay down the mortgage so this is only temporary.

OP posts:
millymollymoomoo · 17/02/2024 16:03

has your husband had legal advice? If not the consent order is unlikely to be approved as it’s so weighted in your favour, regardless of what it is your dh has done

and temporarily moving your joint assets to your child, then moving it back to yourself looks like fraud to me

surely a judge ( and mortgage co) will want to know how you will fund the pay down of the mortgage and provide evidence of where the money comes from

Jenny876 · 17/02/2024 17:39

I agree with the other posters
on the consent order you need to disclose all assets between you and it is very heavily weighted towards you. The judge will want to do what’s considered fair on both parties and a house is the biggest asset so is unlikely to sign off as is, especially if he hasn’t had legal advice.

the movement of money, which I can understand your intentions to use it for, wasn’t the best move to make. From the outside perspective it looks like trying to hide assets and that is a big no no. Move it back and keep it where it was. Put it in the D81 form and seek legal advice on how best to split the assets and what the judge may consider a fair split.

that’s the best advice I can give you.

all the best 😊

Original poster
CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 14:07

My dh hasn't had legal advice but he is happy to take it and say he is agreeable if this will help.

I had a free 1 hour session with a solicitor and she said she will put a note in with the consent order explaining what he has done so he understands why he wants to do this. She didn't seem to think it would be an issue.

As it's not advisable to leave the money in my son's account can I just take it out now, give half back to dh and then we both pay off some of of the mortgagee with it? The other problem is it was both our money but i think more may have been in his name. We shared finances and it was all equal to us so it never made a difference whose name it was in. Do I have to put it back exactly as it was? If I do this the judge may see it as even more unfair because the savings were in his name but technically they were both of ours.

OP posts:
Jenny876 · 18/02/2024 15:24

CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 14:07

My dh hasn't had legal advice but he is happy to take it and say he is agreeable if this will help.

I had a free 1 hour session with a solicitor and she said she will put a note in with the consent order explaining what he has done so he understands why he wants to do this. She didn't seem to think it would be an issue.

As it's not advisable to leave the money in my son's account can I just take it out now, give half back to dh and then we both pay off some of of the mortgagee with it? The other problem is it was both our money but i think more may have been in his name. We shared finances and it was all equal to us so it never made a difference whose name it was in. Do I have to put it back exactly as it was? If I do this the judge may see it as even more unfair because the savings were in his name but technically they were both of ours.

You are both being a bit naive with this and both need to seek proper legal advice on this- a one hour session won’t cover it. They can tell you whatever you like coz you haven’t hired them and they don’t need to deal with the fall out.

generally speaking Judges will not sign off on consent orders if they are very heavily weighted in one persons favour. The reason for divorce generally isn’t taken into account as we now have no fault divorces (there are exceptions am sure).

I will give you an example if my situation - I left an abusive marriage after 13 years and 2 young kids- I was homeless for a short while then secured a rented flat. I had to borrow money for furniture etc so I have debts. I was a stay at home mum ( no savings and very small pension, my name is not on mortgage), my ex is a professional (decent size bank account, house in his name and massive pension). We agreed he would give me 50/50 with bank account and house but he will not give me any pension. My solicitor said judge prob won’t sign off on it even though we are both represented by solicitors and we have stated the reason for the split of assets on the D81 form and I’ve said am ok with it coz I want closure.

so, if it’s possible mine won’t be signed off on, am sorry but yours prob won’t either.

dont pay off mortgage etc until you got all financial stuff sorted, it will likely just cause more confusion.

I really stress you need proper legal advice on this

all the best 😊

Flowerfairie · 18/02/2024 15:32

Is your son a minor? If so any money in his account counts as your money (unless it’s in trust until of age).

Gymmum82 · 18/02/2024 15:38

In my experience a judge won’t agree to it. Friend bought house before marriage. Paid everything in the house. Ex said she could keep house. Judge ordered house to be split 50/50 even tho the ex said he didn’t want any of the house. Can’t see a judge letting you keep all the house and savings. They usually want it to be an equal split

MrsTerryPratchett · 18/02/2024 15:41

Not sure I want to advise someone who is happy to dodge taxes. It's scummy.

NervousNortherner · 18/02/2024 15:42

Moving money for tax reasons is fraud
Why would you even think it's ok?

Jenny876 · 18/02/2024 15:43

CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 14:07

My dh hasn't had legal advice but he is happy to take it and say he is agreeable if this will help.

I had a free 1 hour session with a solicitor and she said she will put a note in with the consent order explaining what he has done so he understands why he wants to do this. She didn't seem to think it would be an issue.

As it's not advisable to leave the money in my son's account can I just take it out now, give half back to dh and then we both pay off some of of the mortgagee with it? The other problem is it was both our money but i think more may have been in his name. We shared finances and it was all equal to us so it never made a difference whose name it was in. Do I have to put it back exactly as it was? If I do this the judge may see it as even more unfair because the savings were in his name but technically they were both of ours.

Other things judge will want to know is how you both are going to support yourselves? You have the house and savings and he has a pension and a car- just will want to know his living situation.
Judge will want to know who has the higher earning capacity as well.
judge for sure won’t sign it off if he can’t provide evidence he has had legal advice on it
plus you say he is agreeable now, and he may well be but sounds like out of guilt for whatever he has done, but there for sure is no guarantee he will continue to be especially if the judge won’t sign off on your planned consent order and they may stipulate a different and more fair split of assets. Also if you take over the mortgage on the house, you need to make sure you inform land registry as your husband has rights to live in the house until final order is done and dusted.

please, both of you need to get more legal advice

all the best 😊

Hellandbackand · 18/02/2024 15:45

For various reasons we had a very 1 sided split where ex got the cars and the family home which were worth quite a bit all together. The judge didn't bat an eyelid.
If you both agree and both have solicitor advice then I think it will go through

Original poster
CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 15:48

Hellandbackand · 18/02/2024 15:45

For various reasons we had a very 1 sided split where ex got the cars and the family home which were worth quite a bit all together. The judge didn't bat an eyelid.
If you both agree and both have solicitor advice then I think it will go through

That's good to know. This is what my solicitor seemed to think too so i'm hopeful it won't be an issue.

OP posts:
LemmysBullet · 18/02/2024 15:51

What's he done that's so terrible?

Original poster
CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 15:51

MrsTerryPratchett · 18/02/2024 15:41

Not sure I want to advise someone who is happy to dodge taxes. It's scummy.

It's not really dodging any taxes. I could have put it in premium bonds or an ISA and I still wouldn't pay tax. It was just convenient to do it this way as my son had the account and I didn't want to leave it sat in my account.

OP posts:
Original poster
CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 15:54

So maybe in the meantime I should see if he can sign the house over to me and change it at the land registry. I understand I will need a solicitor for this. Then the house will already been mine so what can the judge do in that situation? Surely they can't order that I change it?

OP posts:
Original poster
CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 15:58

He has higher earning capacity and also wants to pay my bills and mortgage for the considerable future. The solicitor did say the judge wouldn't agree this as it's a large percentage of his income. This is something he wants to do privately and so we won't include it in the consent order. Will this cause any issues?

OP posts:
LemonTT · 18/02/2024 16:05

CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 15:58

He has higher earning capacity and also wants to pay my bills and mortgage for the considerable future. The solicitor did say the judge wouldn't agree this as it's a large percentage of his income. This is something he wants to do privately and so we won't include it in the consent order. Will this cause any issues?

You could always say no to this ridiculous level of generosity, pay some tax and contribute to your own life costs instead of being dependent on a man.

millymollymoomoo · 18/02/2024 16:13

CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 15:54

So maybe in the meantime I should see if he can sign the house over to me and change it at the land registry. I understand I will need a solicitor for this. Then the house will already been mine so what can the judge do in that situation? Surely they can't order that I change it?

The judge can order it to be sold and split with your husband …..

your dh is sounding more naive and gullible with every post you make. A judge with any clout shouldn’t sign it off !

Meadowflower2023 · 18/02/2024 16:20

It could well go through but if for any reason the judge doesn't seem to agree with your idea of fair then they could ask for a full disclosure of finances, I think they would note and question the moving about of the £40k and it wouldn't go in your favour given the amount and the fact 'your son already had an account open'

If your soon to be ex is happy to pay your mortgage and bills through a separate private transaction which wasn't ever going on the financial order, could you not have sorted the £40k this way too, then it wouldn't matter a jot what you put down. Seems a little salty to me how you've gone about this.

Gymmum82 · 18/02/2024 16:29

CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 15:54

So maybe in the meantime I should see if he can sign the house over to me and change it at the land registry. I understand I will need a solicitor for this. Then the house will already been mine so what can the judge do in that situation? Surely they can't order that I change it?

They can. It’s a marital asset. It will be distributed fairly however you try and fudge the system

Floopani · 18/02/2024 16:42

I can think of very little your ex could have done that's worthy of giving away 95k in penitence.

Stop trying to take advantage of the systems and your ex.

Blushingm · 18/02/2024 16:42

My DPs divorce went in front of the judge 3 times as the financial order was heavily weighted in her favour - he agreed to it as she threatened to take the dc to the other side of the country as she said she couldn't afford to stay in the city

The judge wanted to make sure DP understood that it was possibly unfair.

Jenny876 · 18/02/2024 17:12

CoralOrca · 18/02/2024 15:58

He has higher earning capacity and also wants to pay my bills and mortgage for the considerable future. The solicitor did say the judge wouldn't agree this as it's a large percentage of his income. This is something he wants to do privately and so we won't include it in the consent order. Will this cause any issues?

You need to both come up with a better asset split.
husband may be also agreeing to anything you want now but trust me it won’t last. No one is that generous to give you house, savings and pay bills for you

MyGooseisTotallyLoose · 18/02/2024 17:17

Jenny876 · 18/02/2024 17:12

You need to both come up with a better asset split.
husband may be also agreeing to anything you want now but trust me it won’t last. No one is that generous to give you house, savings and pay bills for you

Show quote history

Quite and if he's actually done something this heinous to have to pay penance to you to this level, why on earth would you want someone so awful funding your life?