What to do with £150k- prior to divorce

[Blanketonmylap]

I’m not even sure where/ I need to ask this advice.

I believe my husband and I may split up soon, so I would like to have access to the money, just incase I need it to buy another house when we divorce. (I.e I don’t want to put it in pension)

I have £150k in my bank account and am not sure what to do with it, in the above circumstances.

Keeping it in my account probably isn’t smart, because of inflation.

Would it be best to pay off a chunk of my mortgage? (Currently a Low interest rate fixed for the next 4 years)

Purchase a small property as an investment?

If we divorce, I understand he will be entitled to half of the money, regardless whether it’s cash sitting in my bank, or if it’s in my pension/ a flat/ mortgage.

What would you do/ who should I speak to to get proper advice on this?

You'll be limited as to the amount you can pay off your mortgage if you're on a fixed rate, it's usually 10%, so unless your mortgage is very high, you won't be able to use the money this way.

You're open to using it towards another property. Could you buy a house that you'll be able to live in in the future and rent it out in the meantime? Then when the time comes, sell your current house and settle up with exH that way? Or remortgage the house you'll be living in at that time - if you start off with a BTL mortgage you'll want to convert to a residential mortgage anyway so can probably do all in one go.

Of course, depends on where you are in the country and what happens to house prices. If prices are starting to fall, it may be worse to have your money in property than cash even with inflation.

But then what's the overall asset picture? Relative pensions, cash, property etc? No DCs to house? You have the £150k that you'll have to split on divorce, but does he have assets he'll have to share with you?

Depends on jurisdiction and circumstances concerning marriage and assets. As an aside, do you have family you trust absolutely? do you have the ability to establish and invest in an asset-heavy business?

In case it wasn't obvious, I was trying to say whether you need to give half your bank balance to your stbxh depends on jurisdiction and circumstances.

Good luck.