Divorcing and being disabled

[MargueriteInBloom]

It’s me who want to get divorced.
And it’s me who is disabled. Think enhanced PIP (daily living and mobility).
dh is a higher earner (£80k ball part) but little assets between us.

Anyone who has been in that position?
I have an appointment with a lawyer to see what I could be entitled to.
But there is so much to sort out including where to live, how to sort it out etc….

Any advice would be great :)

Do you own a home or have a mortgage with equity?

It really depends on many things, whether you have children, but also it depends what there actually is to share out.

You may have a case for arguing for more than 50% of assets, but if there isn’t much in the way of assets then that isn’t particularly helpful. Outside of that you’d have to look at what you’re entitled to, UC/Housing Benefit to fund your own home.

Yep. We’re mortgage free.
The house value is about the same as his pension. I don’t have one.

EDIT to add:
2 dcs but both at Uni soit doesn’t matter really.

How old are you both? It may be that the split is you get to keep the house & he keeps his pension.

That’s what I’m hoping

I’m not sure what’s the point of your questions.

None of them will have any impact on how the divorce will go.

You can try, you may have an uphill battle though depending on other savings etc because you both need to be able to house yourselves after divorce, courts factor that in when agreeing on fairness.

I’d also consider whether you can afford the bills for the home on your own or not? Without his income can you afford to keep the house?

I suspect that's unlikely as the house is the only asset that can be used in the short term. It would be very unusual for one party to get 100% of the house unless there was substantial accessible savings to offset against it.

The pension value is downgraded because it's not accessible.

For that to happen (pension v house) I think he'd have to be quite close to retiring, otherwise it's trading off a more hypothetical asset for a concrete asset. Clealry you cannot live in your pension ... unless you're 55+. Also may matter whether it's a DC or DB pension.

That package may be more likely if your home had been adapted for disability reasons.

Or, of course, if amicable you could decide that works for you both.

On the other side he can house himself, I can’t.
(inheritance on dh side, vastly above our own assets. It’s recent. Not mixed with our assets so as far as I’m aware not taken into account in the division of assets).

One thing I came across is the potential of spousal maintenance but I’m waiting to see what my lawyer says there

We’re 54 and 53yo.

Spousal maintenance is very rarely awarded these days, but if you're disabled they might still consider it, at least until retirement age.

If you are on enhanced living element of PIP, do you have carers coming in every day to cater for your needs or does your DH do that? If the latter, how will you cope if he is not there?

@BasilParsley that's part of my OP really.
The divorce settlement as such, my lawyer will guide me.

But yes, in a perfect world I’d need a PA (personal assistant) to cook and clean. (Which is what dh does). The rest I can carry on as I am (not perfect, but that will do)

I’m also wondering about what’s available, either for the over 55yo or as a disabled person re housing.
I know there are some specific mortgages for disabled people. Part ownership too. But I’m not sure where to start there.

Realistically I suspect they will expect you to sell so either can buy two places outright or his with a small mortgage and the pension will also be split. At your ages it’s unrealistic to expect him to save up for a deposit then buy, too old. As children are over 18 you both only need 1 bed places on paper

You may find that you will be better off however going into adapted living accommodation, varies around the country but you can buy apartments here reasonably

You might find you're eligible for over 55s council accommodation.

You’re not going to get spousal support OP, his salary isn’t high enough for it to be feasible. If he was on crazy money then potentially but even then it’s very rare in the UK now, on 80k it’s not happening.

Now knowing your ages I’d say you’re not going to get the house either though, he can’t be expected to start again at 53/54, I’d assume the expectation will be that you sell the house & split the equity (you may still get a bigger % of that equity so say 65/35 rather than 50/50) but you both need to walk away with enough to start again in your 50’s.

I’m not sure it would be funding my lifestyle!!
let’s stop with the demagogy and disabled people bashing. It could be you soon.

I find it interesting that so few if you have picked on the fact has a very cushy inheritance worth twice the value if our current house either. It’s in a bank account, waiting.

So there will be no ‘starting over’ for him. He can buy a really nice house if he wants to indeed.

Now I’m absolutely not interested in it.
But it changes the scales and how each of us will be starting again. I wouldn’t be as keen on keeping the house as a starting point if he didn’t have that very nice cushion. It would not be fair.

What are over 55 council accomodation?

Can’t find anything about it. There is council,houses (that I won’t get. Too hard to find anything for a single person, let alone something accessible). Or over 55 accomodation run by various charities.
Is there something else?