Suggest Financial Split?

[AnonymousAdvice91]

Looking for some guidance on a financial settlement following a divorce.

Hoping to keep things amicable but want to understand my position.

• Together for 12 years: cohabited for 3, married for 5. No children.
• Property owned as tenants in common: I own 70%, they own 30%. This was set up because I contributed a significantly larger sum toward the deposit before marriage. I know marriage can significantly weaken this, but legally, the split remains.
• I earn £56k, they earn £38k and receive work benefits, including a fully expensed vehicle and a bonus.
• I have a substantial public sector pension since 2008, along with a private pension I’ve had since childhood (no contributions since 2000). They have a workplace pension since 2018 and an older private pension they stopped contributing to over a decade ago, despite having the means to do so.
• Minimal savings, two cars with a £4,000 difference in value, both owned outright.
• £22,000 debt in my name, taken out to fund home improvements – I have full proof that this was for the property.

Would really appreciate any insights on how this might be divided or what to expect.

I’ve had an offer from their solicitor which has surprised me, I also have my own solicitor so have legal advice but interested to see what people would expect if they were in this situation!

well fair would be

honour 70:30 split in house
both parties keep their own pensions
debt shared

i expect you’ve been told to get nearer to 50:50

i would fight this in this case based on no children and neither party sacrificing for that - you’re just 2 adults who happen to earn different

@millymollymoomoo exactly that. They are asking for slightly more than 50% equity of the house, with everything else split 50/50.

Was wondering if I was being completely unreasonable by thinking that wasn’t fair…

It’s not fair.
and I would absolutely fight that

I suppose that the 70/30 split in the house is not ringfenced and therefore is still all counts as a marrital asset? it was a bit pointless doing that and then getting married.

I would say 50/50 in everything is fair enough. There are no children but its a long mariage and being wed means signing up to be one finanacially.

If you can negotiate 50/50 without including pensions OR the house considering the different contributions that i would count that as a really good deal.

@Cerialkiller No, it is ring fenced with a declaration of trust on the property. Still stands even though we’re married, however a court can decide to overrule it to achieve a fair split. Hadn’t planned to get married when buying the house, and its also increased in value after buying it too - also didn’t plan to divorce so never really considered it…

Marriage is not counted as long either, short-medium according to both solicitors.

I’m not looking to keep the 70/30 on the house as I think morally it’s not fair and happy to come down, however I think the starting point being 50/50 is also unfair - that’s why I’m trying to see what others think and to see if I’m being unreasonable.

It sounds like you're in a strong position, given the tenants in common but marriage can override ownerships splits especially since the other party is pushing for an equal split.

The 70/30 split should in theory still stand. But other party can argue this due to length of marriage. If they're seeking a larger share their contribution both financial and non financial would need to justify it.

In regards to the debt. Since you can prove it was for home improvements you have a strong case for it to be factored into the settlement.

Your pensions are most likely the biggest asset as pensions are normally split in divorces. Given that yours is more substantial and ex may push. However I'd argue that they stopped their own pension 10 years ago and hence weakens their claim that they have less due to marriage.

Your salary may be higher but given their work benefits and no children to support it weakens their claim for any spousal support.

I'd understand a 50/50 split if your ex made substantial non financial contributions such as sacrificing career opportunities to look after kids but since that didn't happen I'd push back on tenants in common agreement. Also highlight your greater financial input. Also since they have a salary and benefits and their own pension they don't have a strong needs argument.

Out of curiosity what has your solicitor said.

@minimama2boys She said very similar to you, but I know ex will push for every penny they can get, and essentially it’ll come down to how much I/we want to keep it out of court.

We’re not talking massive amounts of money, but enough to care about. Both early 30s and the difference in settlement we’d get would be wiped out by going to court, feels like it’ll become a game of chicken, which I’d rather avoid.

I would fight it out of principle !

he’s taking the piss

I decided to come back and update! In case it would be helpful for others in the future.

my (now!) ex husband was a pain for the entire process, refused to engage, refused to mediate. He took me to court over our financial dispute, he was asking for 50:50 on the house and my pension, and that I retained all debt.

The judge initially saw our barristers and their stance was H was entirely unreasonable, and that we should be returned to our financial positions pre marriage. This was mainly due to our ages (early 30s) and short marriage.

The final outcome was to retain our separate initial house deposits and split remaining equity 50/50, I kept my entire pension pot (175k+) intact and offset our marital part by paying him an additional £16.5k on top of the house equity. All debt was shared equally between us.

This ended up on paper as our house sale being split 60/40, my pension stayed mine and I repaid debt from my 60% share.

Annoyingly for me, I offered him a very similar scenario when we separated, 60/40 house + my smaller pension pot (CETV 30k) and marital debt repaid. So court ended up a better outcome for me, but came with £20k of legal fees.

Worth every penny to be free, we settled in January, divorced in February and I can finally say I am happy.

Thanks for the update. Well done.

Good news!

Thank you, that is helpful and interesting to know