Divorce and property

[Ashleyupnorth]

Will soon be starting divorce proceedings and need advice/guidance on those who have experienced similar situations based on mine.

Has anyone been through divorce where their spouse owned a property before the relationship (18 months) but it became the family home for 10 years and we were married for 7 of those years in that house.

I’m trying to understand in general terms how the equity in that property is usually treated when it has been lived in together for a long time in his sole name (i contributed to bills and mortgage) and then later sold to buy a jointly owned home. Have been living in current jointly owned property for 7 years. So married 13 years, together 17 years. He had the property 18 months before we met and put down deposit. We married 3 years later but I was not on the mortgage. We didn't buy a joint property until after we had been married for 7 years.

I’m not asking for legal advice, just experiences of how others may have experienced similar in practice.

Hope that makes sense!

It's a marital asset now, so essentially treated as if jointly owned.

Yes it’s a marital asset

It’s a marital asset. There are high net worth cases where some assets owned before marriage are discounted but I cannot see this applying to you because you have been married for quite a while and you only have one property.

Yes it was a marital asset and he had to buy me out.

Ok thank you. I did sew a solicitor last year for an initial appointment and that was what I came away with thinking. I think its the fact that he put down an initial deposit and lived in the home 18 months on his own. I then moved in contributed to everything straight away, even when on maternity leave. We got married so lived in the home as a married couple for 7 years (without me being on the mortgage) then bought a property, now jointly owned and have been living in this one jointly owned for 6 years.

He earns double the salary in addition to this.

Yeah it doesn’t matter. My ex bought his house outright. I moved in, we lived there for five or six years. Then we bought another home and we lived there for four years. He still had to buy me out. I never put a penny towards either house tbh.

@Upsetbetty . I missed a trick there! I should haven't paid anything either.

Thanks for your responses, really reassuring.

Yeah I mean I paid bills and I raised dc there so it was our family home. I just never contributed towards the house purchases.

Oh i see @Upsetbetty . Although I contributed to the bills/mortgage my name wasn't on the utility bills. Would that matter? I suspect I'm overthinking this but there have been some real unpleasant behaviours during the marriage (control etc) so I'm trying to prepare!!

Especially have you had a child together it’s not relevant.

@RandomMess yes, we have a child together who is now 16.

It really does not matter. It’s marital assets.

The fact you’ve been married a long time overrides the fact he put down the deposit. It’s all intermingled and not ringfenced. It doesn’t matter who paid what or whose name is on what,

what matters us
Length of marriage
earning capacities of both
needs ( not wants)
assets available to meet needs ( inc pensions and savings /investments)

the start point is 50:50 but courts have authority to adjust in either direction to reach a ‘fair ( in the eyes of the law) settlement. A clean break will always be preferred and will be the primary goal

Thank you @millymollymoomoo . I suspect he is going to try very hard to get if not the equity from the former home, the deposit. Let's see.

His solicitor will quickly put pay to that.

i put way more deposit into our home, plus further capital injections from redundancy and bonus’s etc. married 16 years at separation. Solicitor told me it mattered not a jot. It’s a hard pill to swallow tbh but that’s just how it is. House was split 50:50x if it had been based on £ contributions I would have more like a 65% split.

Aah @millymollymoomoo .I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you for your reply.

Your time Co-habiting directly contributes to the length of “the marriage” and having a dependent child supersedes all of that anyway.

You both need to be housed.

Pension values will also be factored in.

Don’t spend lots of solicitor money arguing with him, get your advice, go to mediation then take it to court.

Yes @RandomMess I am going to get another appointment (last one was a year ago and unfortunately had cancer just after that one). I'm ready, as I can be to initiate. The solicitor i previously spoke to is £360 per hour so I will get her initial advice again and take it from there. Really reluctant as you say to spend lots of money arguing when I could be using that money to spend on my teen and a new home.

It’s a long marriage so it won’t be taken into account that he paid the deposit.

Thanks @Zanatdy . I am pretty sure he will be trying his damned hardest. For a man who has not really experienced life, had a lot handed to him on a plate he will be trying to claw back as much as he can. I need to be prepared!

@Ashleyupnorth How much did he put in originally? It’s not really relevant but is it £500,000 or £10,000? That might determine how hard he fights and you defend your position. The main thing is that you both need rehousing. Time well spent is researching areas to live in that you can realistically afford. Who spent what on an electricity bill is not really relevant either.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner I think it was around 50k deposit. As I say, i moved in shortly after contributed to mortgage/bills. Had DC year after. Married 3 years later. Live in that property till DC was 11 then bought a house jointly using equity from old property. So together 17 years. Married 13 years and I have always worked PT and now full time. I earn a lot less and am a bit younger than him.

@AshleyupnorthHow much is this when compared to equity and pensions/savings etc? A lot or not much? He can try but it’s been a marital asset for a long time. He’s not in a great position to get it ring fenced and I imagine no pre-nup giving guidance on agreed attitudes towards it at the time?

So keep in mind you are arguing about £25k and legal costs could swallow that up. I did get a higher % as put in much more capital even though long marriage and I earned more. However there were other reasons too. My contribution was 1/3-1/2 of the equity which I suspect £50k isn’t.
It also depends on if there is enough money to cover both housing needs or if there is surplus. If there is enough to house you both and enough left over to give him his deposit back personally I think that’s the decent thing to do.
Your housing needs with a 16 year old and 18 year old may he assessed differently so it’s in your interests to get things moving while you still have a child to house.