Moving from 1 house to 2 new addresses - post divorce - any tips please?

[goodnotbad]

Hello. I am just wondering if anyone has done this before and could offer some advice please.
Recently got divorced but we are both still living in the same house with our children.
No idea when we will exchange as solicitors are crap but I am obsessing about the logistics of it all. I think we must be fairly near but who knows and it defo won't be this side of New Year.
We are moving from a 4 bedroom house and we have been here 17 years. I’m buying a much smaller 3 bedroom house and ex is buying a 3 bedroom flat.
We are moving within a mile and a half of each other and very local to our current house.
Has anyone done this? Can one removal company do both moves with 1 big van? Or should we hire 2 removal services/ slots? Everything will have to be labelled up clearly in order to make sure they go to the correct addresses.

Also - can anyone recommend what I can be doing now? I have done loads of decluttering since we decided to divorce. I really want to start packing but am so worried I'll jinx it and the chain will all fall through and the fear of then having to unpack fills me with dread.
Thank you

In my case myself and former partner had an exchange and completion date, he moved on the completion day and I moved out the week before. I stored lots of bedding and crockery with a national storage company which usually has a half price offer on the first month,when the storage unit wouldn't fit any more items in, I labelled everything in boxes with our initials on, and just lived out of a suitcase with kettle, toaster and clothes in 2 holdalls during the final month. As we moved on different days, 70 miles apart we had 2 separate removal firms.
I really hope your chain does not fall through, but anything non essential like spare bedding and summer clothing can be stored elsewhere.

Thank you KateofGhent that's given me some things to think about and I will organise some storage so at least I can get some bits done. Spoke to the EA today and she reckons it could be about 19 Jan that we actually move all going well.

I was in this position. I arranged a removal firm and moved on the day we sold our house. Ex hired a van and put his stuff in storage as he didn't complete on his purchase until a few days later.

Packing up is just the same as any move, start on non-essentials and then get more serious once you've exchanged and have a completion date.

Thanks Mooserp. Your experience sounds similar to what i envisage mine to be as I don't think my ex will complete until after I do.

The completion on our house sale and respective purchases all happened on the same day.

We had one removal co but two vans. It was efficient and economical (in removal terms) as they used one team to load both vans and then added extra team members to each of the unloading teams.

I am a fan of using removal companies to pack but they said this wasn’t really practical when packing for shortage destinations because by the time we had sorted and separated stuff for packers we might as well pack it.

We made piles of boxes at either end of the room, clearly put the destination on each box, and also used different coloured sharpies to label the boxes.

I bought a nee kettle in advance of the move. I didn’t want the house kettle and needed one for tea for my team at the unloading end. You both need an ‘on the day’ box.

Make sure the solicitor knows exactly what should happen to the money from the sake of your house.

What monies go into your onward purchases, how the fees and disbursements are allocated, and the account any surpluses should go into. My ex put on the form that the surplus should go into our joint account. I changed it to say our respective sole accounts at the agreed and accurate amount.

We did : Total sale price minus costs of sale (EA fee, solicitors fees etc), then the remaining sum divided according to our agreement. Respective amounts paid towards our new properties, and the amount we each had left into our sole accounts.

(We were both downsizing / moving to cheaper areas. I guess most people won’t have any capital left over).

GutsInMay that is a really good point about the money. I have no faith at all in the solicitor who is dealing with the sale and purchases so will email in the New Year about this to make sure that is all planned for. Thanks for your advice.

I had a removal company moves us and take two things elsewhere so I'm sure it would drop your stuff in two places. However, if I were splitting up I would just organise my own removals just in case you dont complete on both purchases the same day.

I would pack your stuff anyway and let your ex so his. Also your essentials box and a suitcase for the first few days.