divorce and finance - any advice please

[tinkgirl]

Don't know if anyone can help me with this. DH and I are getting divorced - have only just made this decision and only just told the DC's tonight. However, they were asking questions such as we will we live etc etc. Ideally I'd love to stay in our home but don't know if I could afford it. Are there any rules about these things?

You need legal advice. Since you are married you are well protected financially but you need to be careful of what people will advise you. Especially friends & family who may be well meaning but often spout crap when it comes to the law.

Much depends on your earnings, his earnings, joint assets, age of kids, any pension he/you may have etc. There's no real formula.

Also staying in your current home will ultimately depend on whether or not you can afford it once you split. You will both soon have bills to pay so ultimately there is less money to go around. You may find that even with all the best will in the world from your exH (and trust me, there will be very little of that!) that you simply cannot afford it. Sometimes its better to bite the bullet now and uproot the kids whilst you are going through the upheaval than get them used to the idea of staying then a year down the line having to move.

thanks for you reply. I will get legal advice, it's just all seems so scary at the moment.

I got some great free advice from the www.ondivorce.co.uk legal and finance discussion board

You may be able to stay in your own home, maybe your ex will permit you to stay there and you pay the mortgage and you can sell up when the children are 18 and he gets his equity then. Based of course on how many years you were there together.

You may find you have to buy your own place getting your own mortgage based on your earnings, alternatively you might have to rent.

The best advise you can get would be from a solicitor.