Tiny savings in my name/ getting a divorce.

[withlotsoflove]

Hi there,
just wondering & will make proper investigations too… but l am planning to leave and divorce my husband soon. Husband is aware.

l have a few thousand in savings ( £5,000) to help me set up again. They are just in my name, l started saving from my wages. Do l have to give him half when we divorce?
Thank you.

Legal costs will be at least 5k!

Thank you!

Even if l don’t do all the rest of it & just get an on line divorce? Thank you

Thank you! So l keep the money & then say l need it to start over? Is the gov website documentation not enough? Even if l was to ‘ wing it’ & only use that?

You could get an online divorce, but that will just be a divorce. It won’t sort the financials. Let’s just say you divorce online and then you inherit or win a large sum next year he could come after that! best to do it all at once!

The house that you live in now who is going to keep that what is the story with that? Do you rent privately or is it a council house?

You say exactly what it's for, with evidence and/or clarity.

Who will be keeping the bed, wardrobe and drawers, with bedding? Who will be keeping the fridge, washer or dryer? Who will be keeping the saucepans, plates and cutlery? How are you planning to live elsewhere - rentals need deposit, what about EA and solicitor fees if not? How will you transfer your share to another property - diy van hire or removal firm? You write this down and say where that £5k is being spent. It doesn't last long btw.

You cannot "wing" legal documents. You can do most of the background stuff yourself but the courts expect documents to be written in legal language, and most people need a solicitor to "translate" it.

A divorce is divided into 3 parts. The admin part (which you can do online), the financial part, and finally the children part (who lives where, who pays). Everyone should always do the second part even if they don’t complete the first, ie separate legally rather than divorce.

I think the answer is that you move out first, spend the money on rental deposit, moving stuff, and furniture, and only then start the divorce.

I assume you rent now? and that STB-EXH will stay in the current home?

Do you know if your DS will want to come and live with you or stay where he is with his father? Do you intend to move into a two-bed (if you can afford it) so that he can come and stay with you when he wants?

its a social tenancy. We have a secured tenancy too. Thank you

So who will be moving?

So who will be moving?

Yes, but as we have said - this is very foolish. Any future windfalls/pensions/surprise inheritance from long-lost Great Aunt Sally could be contested and forced to divvy up.

Me :)

Op I have young children so went through the longer divorce process but because me and my husband agreed between us who gets what, I was never asked what I have, never asked to see any savings nor to declare my pension. If you both agree amicably, you don’t need to say a word. It’s only if he knows about or suspects it would it become an issue

OP, you can get a financial order done through easy online divorce, they are lawyers but just do the paperwork (no advice, so low cost). I used them and thought James was brilliant - I did get proper legal advice before I used him though. If you need advice, you usually get a free 30 minutes consultation with various law firms.

I used wikivorce for the financial consent order. It cost £220 or thereabouts. You definitely need to do this and it's the only part you can't do alone.

Don't underestimate a man's ability to be bitter in a divorce. My Bf is divorcing her layabout husband who has never done a days work in his life. Somehow he's suddenly roused himself to be the most difficult man in the world. Prepared to fight her for every penny she has.

Yes my divorce was amicable until it came to the finances when he suddenly became very bitter and difficult.

Sort out your new property, furnish it, pay some rent upfront then do the divorce. I doubt you'll need to worry about that 5k then and it won't be deprivation of assets which giving it away would be.

If you have spent it on rent and essential furniture or legal costs you will be fine.

Thank you so much! This is so helpful- l appreciate it. I had almost given up hope this week 🤍

Thank you so much @BigCity - that’s helpful 🤍

Thank you so much - really helpful 🤍

Thank you! That’s cheered me up - l didn’t know how to do it with such low funds 🤍

Thank you so much , that’s really helpful 🤍

Thank you so much! I really appreciate you explaining your situation ! 🤍