Divorce money - should I give up maintenance for house?

[gokusgirl]

Hi,
I have joined mumsnet for some advice. I am currently separated from my husband, all very amicable. He has come up with the idea that there is at least £100k in the house (based on current mortgage and current house price). So, he is willing to walk away for 10K and not paying any more maintenance.
My mum says that you can't use the mortgage and value, you have to work out what actual profit is in the house, which is much lower (I put a much bigger deposit down).
Has anyone done anything like this? Am I missing a critical part of the thought process? I want to own the house, I can afford to take the mortgage on.

Both!
A solicitor can't help you get placed for a mortgage.
A financial advisor can't tell you what legal options there are.

Ahh, so complicated. Knew I shouldn’t have got married.

It also depends how much time you have had off work in order to raise your children etc. Your career will have suffered/paused if you stayed at home for a year or two so that will be taken into account

My financial order is currently going through.

We have agreed that l take on the remaining mortgage myself and have offset the equity in the house against his pension. I am giving him money for a deposit on a new house.

Maintenance is also being paid monthly.

Just got to hope the Court agrees it now 🤞

It's not so complicated, really. You're a teacher - handling a class full of kids is way more complicated than divorce financials

Starting point for me, in your situation, would be to think about the house - do you want to stay in it, can you afford to, and can you get a mortgage to do so. That will start to shape some of your other decisions.

Another key thing is to think about your earnings during your marriage, your earnings now, and your potential earnings.

For example, you're both teachers.
But say you both worked for two years, then got married and started a family. You switched to a part time TA role to be there for the kids, and so that he could work late in school and lesson plan at home. 10 years on, you've had 2 years out on mat leave, maybe another 2 SAHM due to childcare costs, and now you're making part time term time only near minimum wage and you're totally out of touch with current teaching curriculum and practise. Whereas unencumbered by child considerations his career has gone from strength to strength and he's now deputy head.

That's when you have to start being fair to yourself about how assets should be split.

@empringle I don't think that your thinly veiled advert is helpful here