What can I expect to get?

[Eskaybi]

Hi.
Need advice please , as court cases and lawyers are so expensive.
21 year marriage. 16.5 years together.
I ve been seperate 6 years in July due to physical DV. Son was 10, now 16. Lives with me.

Joint

1. We left our joint mortaged house, of which hubby has always paid interest only so only 200k equity on it.

Pension

1. Hubby has 80K pension

Mines 2k

Inheritance
Hubby inherited dads house last year worth 500k.
No inheritance in my pot.

Jobs
Hubby earns 65k per year.
After being ill I had to cut down to 0.5 contract. Only earn 11k and I'm on Universal credit.

Living
Hubby lives in joint family home.
I live with son in another city, and in a private rental home.

Cars.
He has a sports car worth 15k.
I have a 11 year old hatchback worth 3k.

Case put to court recently. 1st hearing might come in May.
Solicitor quoted anything from 10k to 15k for finance case.
Just curious, as to what me and my child could get.

Any rough estimates?

So I could plan our lives. As it's not easy being ill and on universal credit.

Many thanks.

If you want a sensible answer you need to consult a solicitor. You don't have to pay for them to represent you. Getting an idea of the likely outcome will be a lot cheaper. It will, of course, be best if you and your ex can agree the financial settlement between you.

Sorry no help really but others on these threads say the courts start at 50/50 split of all marital assets but a solicitor is best in these circumstances.

I'd say you're entitled to 50% of the marital home and his pension.

Not the inheritance as you were already separated. Unless you want to push for it and spend money pursuing it. I personally wouldn't.

Thank you so much. I have engaged a solicitor and thus it's going into court. As hubby refused to deal with it through mediation or arbitration.

The inherited house was our 1st family home too. I lived in it for 1st 3 years after wedding. Does that mean I can get something from it?

Whether you will get anything from the inherited house depends on your needs. The fact it was your first family home is irrelevant. It was his inheritance so the courts will try to preserve it for him and will only dip into it if there is no other way to meet your reasonable needs.

There are a range of factors the courts consider when determining the financial split. It is not as simple as saying it should be a 50/50 split. Your solicitor is best placed to advise.

As you have a 'needs' based case and you need a house and some security for yourself and your child, there there is a good chance the court will consider your ex's inheritance as it reduces his needs. Would be worth taking to court i think. Be careful with solicitors fees, what will make the difference in court is a good barrister. Unless the assets are complicated solicitors arent much more than admin, so educate yourself on the process and do as much of it yourself as you can. An aggressive ex will ramp up your sol costs by endless emailing and letter writing, instruct your sol to refuse to engage. Keep your money for the fight.

Thank you so much. Some of these things had never occurred to me. Your point about getting a barrister and also instructing the solicitor to keep correspondence to minimum were excellent.
Many thanks...

You are right I need to educate my self more regards this.

One last thing I had forgotten to mention before is the pre nup agreement (islamic marriage agreement). In mine , it was agreed upon, if there is a divorce to happen. The man will give half of all he owns to the wife.
My hubby and I had signed it, and we have the original copies of that.
There is a video , pictures and signs of witnesses on that agreement too.

Do the courts take a signed agreement in consideration?

If the agreement is correctly drawn up, there was full financial disclosure, you both entered into the agreement freely, it was made at least 28 days before the wedding and you both received independent legal advice the courts are likely to uphold the agreement unless it is clearly unfair or fails to take into account the needs of any children.

Thank you so much. It's a really big relief. It was a proper drawn up contract although it was made 20 years ago... it was proper with 2 witnesses, and was 3 months prior to the civil marriage.

I really appreciate your answers and help.

Many thanks.