Splitting of marital home?

[keepingupwiththejoneses]

I am currently separated from H. He is demanding 10k as his share of the property. I have spoken to the mortgage company and they have said there is no problems me taking over the current mortgage but can not take any further funds out of the equity. He says a court will tell order me to pay him the money. We have 2 children who both have SN and H pays no maintenance. Will the courts order me to find this money? I am really worried that they will as I am only just able to make the payments as it is.

He can have the money in the future, you don't need to pay now. Have you got a solicitor?

Unless he's not working he will have to pay maintenance.

Sorry, should have been clearer - he could have a proportion of the equity and you could sell once the children have grown up, I don't think the court can make you come up with 10k if you don't have it.

He could then force a sale I suppose but that's a long way away.

I do have a solicitor, can't see her till a week on monday though as she is on holiday. He does work but has a low income so it would only be £5 a week!

He may not be entitled to any equity from the property, particularly as he isn't paying any maintenance. Even if he is entitled to a share, you can get an order that says he can only take it once the children have left home (e.g. when they finish full time education - I don't think it means that they can live with you until they are 40, although as yours have SN that may be the case).

If the only way to house yourself and the children is for you to take over the existing mortgage, the court may order that the whole of the house be transferred into your name and that he has no claim on it at all.

Relax. For such a small amount I can't see any court allowing him to preserve an interest in the property. Good that you can release him from the mortgage.

Thank you very much. That has really put my mind at rest. H was always very EA and would try and something was right because that was what he thought was right, IYKWIM. I have refused to make any agreements without legal help as I know what he is like, he is a bully.

Agree with Collaborate but are you able to advise what the equity is?
If it is a significant amount then he may well have a claim on the 10k or more. However, as another poster has said, the Court may well make an order that he receive his share at some point in the future, ie when the children leave home amongst other triggers.

I am not exactly sure what the equity is. What I do know is that the mortgage is 89500k and that is 74.5% of the value, not quite sure how they have worked that out but that is what they told me.

So they are saying the value is about 119,000? If so, equity will be around 29 - 30,000?

So he is asking for a third! Even so there is no way I can raise that sort of money!

Yes, but you could have a Mesher order, whereby he would have a share in the property at a future point, ie when the youngest child reached 17/18/ceased full time education, your re-marriage or voluntary sale. At that point, you could buy out his interests.

Hang on a moment. 2 children with SN. No child maintenance being paid. This sounds like a slam dunk for a straight forward transfer into the OPs name without H having a deferred interest. If H's interest is worth only £15k I could never see a court doing anything else.

Absolutely, but as always, not enough information.

Could you raise any extra at all if you had to?

But MOS surely a 32 page Form E can be distilled into 1 paragraph?!

Oh absolutely, of course there is no real valid reason for asking all those tedious questions

MOS, what sort of information do you need? Should also add I have bank statements going back 3 year to say he has not contributed to the family finances.
I could, if I absolutely had to, borrow some money from DM, although I really don't want to do that as that is what he wants me to do and has told me so!

Going back to the beginning, am I right in thinking that you have not started divorce proceedings? If that is the case, then one of you really needs to do so before you give him any money. Once you have Decree Nisi (the first of two decrees) you could then lodge a Consent Order at the Court setting out the agreement (assuming you reach an agreement) reached between you in relation to the finances. Once approved by the Court this is legally binding and in full and final settlement meaning he cannot come back for more later. You can then apply for Decree Absolute at which point you will be divorced.

DO NOT just give him the money without this sort of agreement as otherwise there will be nothing to stop him coming back later.

With regards to other information refered to above, normally in order to advise properly a solicitor would need to see information relating to all finances. The Form E financial statement sets out everything, value of house, other assets, income, pensions etc.

You really do need to talk to your solicitor about getting the divorce underway

No I have not started divorce proceedings yet. My solicitor is on holiday this coming week so have an appointment next Monday.
I have no intention of agreeing to anything unless it is done legally through court. He has said that he has had legal advice and has been told not to reply to any letter sent to him by my solicitor and as long as he doesn't I can't go any further, I know that is a lie as my solicitor advised me the opposite. He has also said he has been advised that the courts may order me to get a second job in order to pay him his money or take the money from "all the benefits" I get, he is talking about the boys DLA!

keepingup, in laymans terms, he is talking through his arse
Ignore him, he is a twat, wait and see your solicitor next Monday and hopefully he/she will write a suitably worded letter to him.

MOS thanks for that. I know he is talking crap, just nice for someone else to say it.