Settlement help please

[kippersandkittens]

I'm due to go the court for the 2nd financial hearing for my divorce within the next few months. Stbxh has made me an offer in the hope that we don't have to go to court but I don't know if it's right for me to accept.

I work part time and we have 2 dcs. They would be with me but he would have them every other weekend. The offer would be for us to sell the family home, I would keep £200k of the equity, he would take £25k. He has a debt of 20k, leaving nothing else in the pot. Sounds generous but that wouldn't be enough for me to buy a house and I can't get a mortgage on my wage. I don't want to rent. If I refused this offer, is the judge likely to award that I stay in the family home as that is the only choice?

Does your DH have a good relationship with your DC? I think clearing his debt will be good for the kids in the long run or do you want him out of the picture entirely?

A 200K deposit on a house will see a lot of lenders bending over themselves to give you a mortgage, are you definitely sure you won't get one, I'd say you'd be able to borrow roughly 75K.

Speak to a good independant mortgage broker about whether you could raise (and afford) the money to pay stbex off. This means you get to stay in the house and no additional costs of buying and selling.
I'm uncertain whether you mean ex gets £25K plus £20k to clear his debt, or just the £25k?
I assume he's pay maintenance for the children too, until they're grown up?

I've made lots of enquiries today and I can't get a mortgage at all

Ex wants to take 20k out of the equity to clear his debt and then take 25k for a deposit on a house

It sounds very generous to me. Depending on what other assets there are. Pension?

Go back to work full time. Rent for 6 months - 12 months and then try and buy. I don't see why you should walk away with everything and him with nothing? Unless he earns mega bucks?

No one can offer you proper advice given how little information is contained in your OP.

Look at what kind of mortgage you could get with a£20k deposit, and then see what you could buy with that. Where is the nearest property? Is it fit for purpose? How does the cost of that compare with the cost of you staying? How much is your husband's debt affecting his ability to walk away with nothing yet still provide for the basics?

The judge will want to run all this through their head, so you should too.