Can I live a life after divorce

[Welcomeking]

I need some help with figures at a glance please. Just in the process of initiating divorce. Based on the below, appreciating we all have different lifestyles and I can live quite frugally.
Ages: Me 50 him 56
Me: Salary 31k
H: Salary 53k
Equity: 338k
Savings: 18k
Debts: Minimal
Assets: No other than 5k car
Child: 1 DD 15.
Pensions: 2 x govt pensions - his significantly more as i worked PT. Now work FT.

Estimating I probably won't be able to afford to buy him out of 400k FH. Likely to be able to buy a property for est 250-260k so will need a mortgage probably over 20 years till past retirement. He will be fine financially I expect based on my calculations to be living frugally for many years.

Not sure this is in the right thread/section but anyone with an eye for figures/experience of divorce?

I assume a long marriage (over 10 years) and DD is his child. The starting point is an assumed 50:50 of all assets but actual settlement can vary from that.

Are your earnings and pension reduced due to childcare in the past? What will be split of childcare post divorce?

Are you saying that he would remain in the marital home and provide a primary home for your DD or that it would be sold so you could both provide a home based on 50:50 care? Or that he will stay in the marital home because he can afford it (pay you 50% of equity) and keep paying mortgage but you and DD will have to move out?

A fair settlement should not leave him ‘fine’ and you struggling and having to live frugally after assets are fairly shared.

Yes, married for 14 years and DD is his daughter too.I have never been a high earner and without retraining and shift work during training I wouldn't earn more. My pension is less as I worked PT until DD was 10 to accommodate rural schooling etc which was a joint decision. I now work FT.

As DD will soon be 16 she will have a say in where she chooses but I imagine it will be 50:50 or thereabouts.

He would more than likely stay in the marital home but equally he would like me to stay in. However, i don't see how it is possible based on mortgage repayments and giving him 50% of the equity. We need to get cetv of pensions done so that may tip the balance. As it stands currently I would get 50% of the equity.

My understanding is that the fact he is a higher earner is disregarded but I may be wrong. Will have to see but its a worry.

If it’s 50/50 you need to add up both pensions and split them - or he give you split something else in your favour to compensate

so if your pension is £50k and his £150k and house 338k

thats £538 which is £269 each

All assets and pensions etc split 50/50 starting point.

sell the family home and downgrade. You don’t need that much space anymore.

Agree with above, you can downsize and with half the assets, you should be mortgage free on a property. Then the money you’d have put in a mortgage for the next 10 years put that into AVC on your gov pension. This would increase your pension dramatically & you’ll get tax relief on that

I am afraid I will need to get at mortgage of around 100k. I live in the south and a 2 bedroom property here even in a not such a great area will be around 250k. Mortgage repayments of around 100k even over 20 years (age 70) will be around £550 per month.

You cannot decide until you know the value of his pension at 56, it’s likely to be a large amount. Have you considered staying in marital home yourself and waiting until DC is 18 to sell, with DH renting, with you paying the mortgage.

If dh is keen that you stay in the marital home, would he accept some money now, and some in 6 years when dd is 21?

You could accept home equity for the pension split, he takes all the savings etc. Plus you increase the mortgage a bit if you can and he gets the money. That would reduce his equity significantly but probably not quite buy him out depending on pension.

Then you sell the house when dd is 21 and downsize, and he gets the remaining amount owing at that point.

Thanks all. These are all possibilities. I think I'll be in a better position to review on reflection once we've had the cetvs of pensions which is not likely to be a quick process. I'm not keen on filing for divorce until I know whether it could be manageable. A friend suggested just legally separating but I'm not sure if thats any better!