Can my dad pay husband off. Will judge agree to a simple financial/consent order?

[Lookingforward864]

My dad bought our house for us 100% but the house is in mine and husbands name. We drew up a declaration of trust with the solicitor 80% ownership me and 20% ownership husband. Husband didn't pay anything in, this was just a gesture of good will from my dad. On the land registry it says we are tenants in commen.

We are separating. My dad is willing to pay him 30% of the current value for him to leave. I think this is favourable. I then keep the house .

There are no other assets involved, no savings, I have no pension and he has quite a small on which im not interested in.

If we all agree, can we avoid a complicated financial order process , not fill in Form E financial questionnaire and just keep it very simple?

My dad and I are going to see a solicitor on Monday but wanted to ask here first

30% of value to sell the 20% stake he has?

It depends on other factors, your ages, length of marriage, any children?

I'm not sure that the ownership percentages matter in a divorce - both sides are maritial assets. Are there any children?

I guess if he agrees to it then you can. If there are circumstances that mean he would’ve likely to be awarded more going through the courts then he might not agree.

The house was bought AFTER we were married and the declaration of trust signed which husband agreed to
We have 2 teenagers

It is totally pointless asking MN, OP. You both need solicitors.

I had a similar Deed of Trust and it was honoured and passed through court no issues. He didn’t contest it though so it might depend on him and his solicitor stating they want to honour it. Ours was a long marriage (20+ years) and the house was purchased years after we married with money my mum gave me.

We have been together 23 years and married for 11 years. He has lived completely rent /mortgage free for the entire time

The declaration can be ignored or overturned on divorce. Not saying it will be but it could.

is your ex agreeable to just the 20%

how long have you owned the house and was it pre or post children ?

Does the land registry reflect 80 20 split in the declaration of trust?
But to answer your question, Ultimately the courts can overrule this split in order to met the needs of both parties. Whether or not this would be deemed fair would depend on a bunch of other things ie where will the kids be living, what is his income and is it sufficient to meet his housing needs, what is your income and so on. As there are no other assets to offset against the house other than his pension then that is the main asset to consider I'm afraid.
There's no harm in offering the 30pc and seeing if he'll take it and then you can do a quickie clean break divorce

Yes, court can definitely overturn this. Especially if what he would be left with isn't enough to house himself and the kids going forward. It could also flag as financial abuse and he could claim that he was made to sign it. Partially it depends on your ex's stance and partially a judge but at the end of it, you both need to be able to house yourselves in a fair way once divorced, especially if you are both also housing the children fairly equally.

Financial abuse lol . Hes been given a free home for his entire life. The solicitor made sure he understood what he was signing.

If it has to go to court and be 50/50 then so be it , but I think its absolutely disgusting that hes been given a free ride and then gets to screw me over aswell.

Obviously we made a big mistake putting his name on it at all.

His income is three times as much as mine . He could easily rent somewhere or put the amount down as a deposit and get a small mortgage no problem whatsoever

It doesn't matter who has paid what in a marriage, you are one financial entity. One spouse not paying the mortgage is irrelevant when it comes to divorce and it shouldn't mean they walk away with nothing. It's a long marriage with children, 50-50 seems obvious since the house is yours and his together and definitely the marital home. It would have been different if your dad owned a percentage or (even better) all of it, but it was essentially a gift to the both of you.

If you think he will honour the agreement he could write a statement to the court explaining why he is happy to do it this way. That usually works if it makes sense.

I think there must be more detail that is relevant here. You have no savings but haven’t had to pay a mortgage and he earns 3 times as much as you and it’s enough to get a mortgage? What are the circumstances for that quite unusual situation?

If you both agree then it does not need to go to court except that the judge needs to accept your joint proposal.

when I got divorced we were both keen not to spend ridiculous amounts on solicitors and we met and agreed things between ourselves.

we then used amicable.io who put into legal words what we had agreed and made sure we both understood what we were agreeing to.

they then put forward the jointly agreed divorce papers and financial consent order which the judge agreed.

saved us both shed loads of money.

Obviously we made a big mistake putting his name on it at all

You’re married, if his name wasn’t on it at all it wouldn’t mean he had zero rights.

Why offer him 30% now, before he's said he won't agree to taking the 20%?
Personally, I'd use 20% as a starting point, with a view to increasing it only if ordered by the Court. Stress that giving him the 20% in the first place was a gesture of good will.
If you can prove he paid nothing for years and he's on a decent salary, surely you have a case to say he had the opportunity to make other investments/savings for future years, whether you remained together or not.

Hes never paid a penny in the whole 23 years. There is no mortgage on our property its owned outright.
I earn min wage , my wage is used to pay for all the kids stuff day to day , food for us all and fuel for both of us.
He pays the bills. The bills are quite high, high council tax, rates, gas electricity. The house is large. And pays for large things such a Xmas, holidays, a new appliance etc.
Im not able to save. He has always spent his money. Recently hes been able to save a few thousand but that would just get eaten up on fees

What do you mean he’s never paid a penny? There was no mortgage to pay, and he’s been paying all the bills, plus holidays, presents, and large purchases? It sounds like you had quite uneven amounts of “spare” money, which I’d agree is unfair. But not the same as never paying a penny. Also not sure it’s totally relevant who’s been paying what in the past.

You have a long marriage, children and an asset. It doesn’t matter whether his name is on the deeds or not - it it was 100% your name it would still be an asset for division.

whether or not he’d be awarded more, no one can advise here but if he disputes it and it went to court he may be awarded more, ( or there may be good case to honour the declaration)

Right so the court would weigh up your respective incomes and outgoings. It wouldn't necessarily be that the house is split 50 50 if his earning power is greater and so he can get a mortgage and you may not be able to get one as easily so you would need a larger deposit. You also said he has a pension and you don't, this would also be factored in.
But as PP said you can also just agree a split and proceed on that basis

Even if his name wasn't on it the property would still be classed as a marital asset on divorce and the court can include the value when calculating the aptitude of any assets.

All the facts will be relevant here. His earnings potential Vs yours and value of pensions, savings as well as house equity.

The deed can be overwritten by a judge should he decide to go to court but it's likely to cost 25k each on fees so worth considering.

Genuinely no one can say without full details, including costs of rehousing both parties. Even if the deed didn't exist the fact you are married means that all finances are considered martial pot.

Your ex might be keen to protect his pension which can then be used to reduce his share of house equity. Get together as many details as you can before you see a solicitor. Mediation will be necessary before any court applications.

There you go.

a judge has to ensure the children’s housing needs are met and then that the ex spouses housing needs are both met. If he can afford to buy or rent somewhere big enough to have the kids to stay then you should be ok.