Am I being daft, accepting very low divorce settlement in hopes judge deems unfair?

[roseyberry]

I (28F) am getting divorced from my STBXH (45M). He’s got an expensive solicitor, I am representing myself as I literally can’t afford one. He is living in the (£345k) marital home. I private rent (£1k per month). He earns £70k, I earn £18k. He kept the Range Rover, I’m driving a £2.5k car I’ve had to fund myself. We split our kids 50/50 and they spend equal amounts of time in each house. I left him, and left the marital home as it got so bad I could not continue living there. I’ve never been permitted access since, so have had to fully furnished my new home. We have our conditional order, in regards to going to court I tried to phone the local court and book a date but this can only be done by a solicitor. We then tried to agree a settlement, he has offered me a lump sum of £5k (which I haggled up from £1k!) he won’t go higher than £5k. I have read that when we send off the settlement and the consent order and our D81 forms, a judge will evaluate and if they don’t think it’s fair they will call for a hearing. So is it safe to accept this low offer, with the hopes the judge will take one look and think it’s insane and call a hearing? If this happens will I be sent a bill for the court costs? Absolute worst case atleast I get something if they do sign it off.

Being married does not automatically entitle OP to 50% of joint assets. That is always the starting point, but there are various factors that can push the settlement away from that. OP may be entitled to more or less than 50% - there isn't enough information on this thread to tell. It is, however, almost certain that she is entitled to a lot more than £5k.

DO NOT SIGN!!! this is a dreadful offer. Follow the advice from the employment lawyer above. You don't need a solicitor to apply to court but you need to have a Form A from mediation (either after mediation or confirming there has been abuse so you can go straight to the form).

It's a very big risk and I think you can't afford not to have a solicitor tbf.

My now ex h wanted to do the divorce without a solicitor but I didn't trust him. It did cost a lot but I'd have lost a lot more than that if I'd not used a solicitor. I've actually got the better deal as I've got guaranteed money and a lot of his future money is very precarious and not likely to work out.