Does this sound like a fair settlement?

[Daisiesanddiatribes]

Currently divorcing my DH.

We have had a slightly unusual situation in that we own our home outright (we are in our 30s). We bought this house just after we got married and I paid for it in full with my own savings and a large inheritance I received.

About 18 months later I received another substantial inheritance which I have kept entirely separate from my husband and not used at all (I spoke to a solicitor and they advised this might help it be considered non matrimonial assets)

the sum of my 2nd inheritance is close to 50% of the value of the house.

The marriage has lasted 6 years to the month. We cohabited for about 8 months prior with my family.

Obviously I am keen to protect my financial stake in this marriage. My husband and I have tentatively agreed he might accept £100,000 (which is around 1/4 of the property value) and I would keep the house and leftover monies. Neither of us have any other significant assets or pensions.

Does this seem like a fair settlement for him and myself? There are no children.

We are fairly low income earners but his share would enable him to repurchase a property and probably need a small mortgage that he could easily manage.

I have booked In for advice with a solicitor in a few weeks time but this aspect is making me quite anxious. I absolutely want to keep my home as my first priority.

I understand the court look at fairness and needs, so any advice would be helpful?

The Split will look unfair and it is vital that a judge has reassurance and assurance that it is fair. That means you and he must show that disclosure has happened and you have both taken independent and informed legal advice.

He needs to see his own solicitor and to have all the relevant financial information available to him.

I Know it would look unfair from the outside. I have proof of how the house was purchased etc.

he is going to also take his own legal advice too.

I guess I’m just a bit anxious as there was such a huge disparity about who brought what into the marriage, it feels unfair if he gets half of a house he didn’t pay a penny into? Given that we are childless and young, and the marriage wasn’t very long.

England or Scotland?

the law is different in different parts of the U.K.

in General - you don’t have kids which is often a significant factor.

it’s also not a long marriage.

both of those factors mean that there’s a presumption towards keep what you came in with.

It is unfair - but when you marry you agree to share and the presumption starts at 50:50. Doesn’t mean it will end up there.

if you both agree, having made full and frank declarations, and both had independent legal advice you might get away with it.

if he doesn’t agree you’ll likely end up with having to give away more.

6 years won’t be deemed a short marriage

.having no children will help the op’s argument

And the house was accrued during the marriage ( albeit with op money). It’s not a pre marriage asset. It’s very much a marital one

We are in England.

I am happy to negotiate with him and want him to be able to move on with his life, my main concern is keeping my home above anything else.

From what I read, a primary concern is both of us being housed? He could easily purchase a property for the 100k or if he had more, he wouldn’t even need a mortgage most likely.

I know he is entitled to a settlement, it just doesn’t feel right that he should be entitled to 50% when he has contributed nothing over such a short time.

Ok, if in England in theory all assets are in play.

there is a big long list of things that the courts take into consideration if the financial split is contested but honestly most of these are for situations where there isn’t enough money to go round.

with no kids and what is clearly substantial marital assets most aren’t going to apply (so he can easily house himself, for example).

when I got divorced we went through https://amicable.io . It wasn’t 50:50 and we did not each take legal advice. They will discuss what you (both) have agreed and write it for court and submit it as an agreed application. They’ll also warn you if they think some parts won’t be accepted by the judge.

it’s a lot cheaper than solicitors and much much cheaper than a contested divorce.

What do you mean by a contested divorce @Octavia64 ? Sorry I am not very well versed in this topic.

I am hopeful that we can agree a figure between ourselves and take our solicitors advice into that sum too, and I’m hopeful whoever looks at it will be okay with it?
It is the not knowing for certain which has been stressful.

How much is the house worth and your 2nd inheritance?

how much of marital assets does the 100k represent ?

House is around 400k.

My inheritance is around 180k

So 100k is around 1/4 of the houses value.

A solicitor said it is likely a judge would consider the inheritance not matrimonial as I have kept it entirely separate and never used it.

So with a divorce either you both agree on the outcomes you want and an application is submitted to the court stating you both agree and this is whet you want and the judge either agrees it or sends it back saying “this but isn’t ok, fix it” and then you resubmit and hopefully it gets agreed.

or if you and your husband cannot agree yourselves then the process is that you file for a divorce. Then you go to mediation where a third person tries to get you to agree. Mediation is skipped in the case of domestic violence. If you agree after mediation then you go to track 1 above.
if you don’t agree after mediation then you both get lawyers and start arguing through the lawyers at 250 an hour per lawyer. If you can agree through the lawyers you then go to track 1 as above.

if you can’t agree through the lawyers then your lawyers and you get to argue it out in person in front of a judge. This is hellishly expensive and runs the risk that the judge will decide you (or your husband) is a time wasting muppet and give you/them a very unfair settlement.

That makes sense thank you @Octavia64

i think it is very likely we will be able to agree an amount between ourselves and with a solicitors guidance. Neither of us like the idea of wasting all that energy and money in the court system.

It doesn’t really benefit either partly to do that surely 🙈

But the inheritance IS matrimonial if you were married when you received it.

With assets of £480,000 and him receiving £100,000 then he's only receiving 20% vs your 80%. I don't think a judge will let that go I'm afraid. I could be wrong but it would be unusual

@sparepantsandtoothbrush I was advised by a solicitor and have read lots of things saying often inheritance can be kept separate as long as it’s not co mingled with marital assets? and not used to benefit anything that’s marriage related.

The main exception being if there aren’t enough assets to make things work for both of you/any children etc.

I also have an inheritance and my solicitor advised it is not a matrimonial asset. I have kept it separate and ex DH has no access to it. We also have separate finances. However if there are not enough funds to house us both then it may be considered to ensure housing needs are met. This also matches what I (extensively) researched myself. On its own it isn’t matrimonial even though I inherited it during the marriage. If I had mixed it eg used some of it to buy a new kitchen for us both them it becomes matrimonial. However it is not completely safe. Your ex needs to ensure he has had legal advice. The judge may sign off an unequal split if he’s had legal advice. However it may depend on the judge on the day

Yes, that’s a possibility. However your post divorce position is bolstered by having £180k compared to his 0k.

The outcome of this if he doesn’t accept the £100k and asks for £200k could be that he gets it. His argument will be parity of lifestyle. It isn’t strong but it has merit. You will be similarly struggling not give him 1/2 of the shared asset if you keep the £180k.

He has everything to gain by going to court and you have everything to lose.

I don’t especially want to part with all of my inheritance- but I am hoping I can use it as a bartering tool? We have both so far felt 100k seemed reasonable but perhaps it is the case he takes a (significantly) larger share of that.

The only outcome I want is keeping my home. I’d prefer to not lose all of my inheritance but if I need to, so be it.

Our split is very amicable and DH is very clear he wants me to keep the house and he just wants to be able to start over- I also want this for him too. He will absolutely be getting his own advice regardless.

@housebuyer1 thats reassuring you had similar advice. It seems to make sense I think.

I hope everything works out for you.

What does your solicitor say?

If he agrees it most likely will go through. It’s if he doesn’t agree where I think it could become problematic

@Maddy70 I am waiting for my first appointment. I saw a solicitor some years ago when we had issues but obviously need new advice now.

@millymollymoomoo I hope so- I know I may need to increase the offer still, I just don’t want to lose my house. I don’t want to be unfair to him either.