What happens to a joint family home during divorce

[Anormalbbb]

What if the proceeds of a house sale aren't sufficient for both parties to buy their own home? Two young children involved as well. The sale would generate about £300k but in London that isn't sufficent to buy two flats.
thanks

You rent and try to save until you can…that’s what I’m doing

Wouldn't I be allowed to say until the kids finish school?

It’s a decent deposit on a flat
you will need to move and get a do upper

Not anymore. Unless you and our ex come to an agreement.

I don’t think that’s the done thing anymore no

You need to look at your whole financial picture. What pension pots do you have? Other assets? What are your mutual earning and potential for earning?

Generally the money is split approximately 50/50, it may be skewed towards the main caregiver in some circumstances but unless the children are already 14+ (so already doing GCSEs) and there's no way of staying in the same area renting, it's unlikely to have a mesher order granted for their entire childhood.

It might be that you can reach an agreement. So many variables. We can recommend options if you share more.

• age of kids

-working status and salary balance of both individuals -custody arrangements -ability of both to raise a mortgage -other assets which could be divided differently allowing one person to 'buy' the other out -is the divorce cooperative or acrimonious. I.e is an agreement to stay until kids go to uni likely to be possible and would it be honored.

There’s no automatic right to stay until kids 18

usually happens only when that means one or two years while teens finish GCSEs or similar

if kids are young Very unlikely as you are trying up the other parties capital for decades

so you’ll need to work out a financial
split of all marital assets to get to an outcome and likely means selling house and splitting equity

you’ll need to consider both parties incomes/pensions/ ages/cms etc

if you were granted a mesher ( which is unlikely) you’d still be expected to pay all the mortgage and bills on it

One buys the other out, or you sell and split the proceeds accordingly

It depends on the specifics of the particular situation.

In an ideal world there would be enough money for both parents to buy a home large enough for the children can spend time with each. However that's not usually possible for most couples who aren't particularly wealthy.

When deciding how to balance things when that can't be achieved, both parents should be putting the children's best interests first, and then trying to achieve as close to equality as possible with whatever is available. Lots of people with children can't afford to buy even a small flat, and have to rent. It's not unusual.

If you can afford to buy out the other person you can do that and stay. Otherwise the proceeds get split by whatever agreement you come to. If you cannot agree then a judge will decide for you.
You will either need to rent or else get a property with a mortgage, if you can’t afford the same area then you have to move

The issue is that there is enough equity for you both to rent. There is no question of homelessness or a need to relocate.

Typical examples of situations where mesher orders are awarded are

• if there is very little equity, young children (pre school) and the resident parent is unable to work or earn very much. The order would provide some time for the resident parent to get back to work and to build enough equity to get a new home.
• a move will disrupt the children’s education, when they are taking it about to take exams.
• a child has specific needs that prohibit a move, specifically some form of disability and where the resident parent is a care giver.

You'd be best off buying a shared ownership then universal credit will help you pay the rent

If he is the father of the children then he needs to be able to provide a home for them as well.

There used to be something called a Mesher Order but that means one parent can’t buy until the children leave education and the other parent has to pay the full mortgage on their own, pay their ex 50% of the equity m and find new housing once the kids finish GCSEs or A-levels. Uni aged kids still need somewhere to go over the holidays and as they can’t afford to buy/rent either, you need the space to accommodate them as young adults.

Most people end up selling as they can’t afford to buy their ex out. Mums and dads are seen as equally important to child development so the courts won’t prioritise you over your ex.

The only way to buy some time is special circumstances like your child is y10-13 and studying for exams so you need maximum 18 months before you can move out but he could argue that you should move out while he stays during that time. Whether or not he was an involved parent won’t affect how much contact he gets and he could ask for up to 50%.

You haven't given enough information.

What other assets are there (including pensions)?
What do you do for a living and how much mortgage could you raise on your own - same for your husband.
How old are the kids, do they have SN.
How long was the marriage

All of this will be relevant but if you stay in the house, where does he live? And why are you assuming that you'll get to be the resident parent?

How old are the kids? If they are in the middle of their A Levels or GCSEs you might have a chance of negotiating a delay.

I have a Mesher Order, I keep the house until the youngest is 18 years old then we split the house. He is contributing to the mortgage until then in addition to spousal and child maintenance.

It means the children stay in their home whilst at school.

I got one in October, I don't think they are that difficult to come by in my experience. My youngest is 7 so I have 11 years in the house left. He also contributes towards the mortgage and house insurance.

How old are you children OP?

If they are teenagers there is every chance your ex will drag the divorce out for as long as possible so they are near adults by the time the divorce goes through

@ThisQuickPlumFinch thats quote unusual. Is he a v high earner ?

We have a low mortgage left, he isn't particularly a high earner, especially as he pays me 1/4 of that in child maintenance and expenses.

They are more common than perceived, I had no way of getting a mortgage so it was the only option on the table throughout the whole process.

I had a client who was put in a similar situation. He quickly realised there was no point working anymore, quit his job, moved in with his parents and now the ex is trying to get the payments enforced before the house is repossessed. He has no money so the legal action is a bit pointless.

The outcome was very unusual though, there were very specific circumstances in their case. Normally, the inability of the weaker party to get a mortgage is seen as a short term problem because quite quickly the lower earner is expected to work full time and combined with child maintenance they develop an earning capacity.

What's really odd about your circumstances though is that you got spousal maintenance as well. The reason that is so odd is that normally it's only those on universal credit who cannot get mortgages who can get Mesher Orders (and even then, they are normally expected to rent if they cannot buy). It makes more sense to order the payer to contribute to the mortgage because when paid as SM, it impacts on the universal credit received.

A mesher order is an option but it is not a favoured option because it perpetuates the financial tie of marriage. A divorce is the act to sever the financial tie, so the sooner that is done the better. But there are reasons why it can’t happen immediately or at all.

It’s not a good idea to be financially tied or reliant on another. Far far better to become financially independent. The courts and lawyers know this and will try to achieve this for the parties.