Maintenance and debt

[GingerMum48]

I’ve been separated from husband since July 2016. The children and I moved out of the family home in January 2017.
Family home is joint. There is a mortgage and a secured loan. Husband has been paying these since I left. Children and I are in private rented accommodation.
Note – long story short, I left as he refused to leave and the situation was getting very bad for my emotional wellbeing and that of the children.
He has them after school for dinner alternate weeks and to stay 3 night alternate weekends and the odd week in the holidays.
He disputes I am entitled to half the house. I would agree to a small lump sum to secure the house for the children in the future. If I demanded my share it would force a sale with neither of us being able to afford to buy another property.
He also disputes he should be paying maintenance, as he is paying for the secured loan and my half of that balances it out. I have had one payment of £40 from him.
I need some clarity please! Thank you.

This sounds like a bit of a buggers muddle & you’ll get a mixture of emotive & factual answers however, I think the only answer here is for you to seek independent legal advice.

Good luck

If he has been paying the full mortgage and a joint loan then I think he may be right about the property shares. As far as I'm aware if one party has been doing this for longer than 6 months they are entitled to a larger share (time and amount involved would determine the share split)
Visit the CMS website for further details on amounts (would normally be % of NR parents salary) but they do take into account how much time is spent at the NR parents house though. From what you've explained it seems to be a pretty equal split regarding food etc.
My ex's dc stayed for half the week every week. 3 nights 4 days and they just went halves on clothes, each pareant paid for food etc when the dc were at the relevant house.

You need legal advice.
See if there are any family solicitors in your area who give free half hour introductory sessions.
Use them to your advantage.
This is quite complex and he might be right about maintenance if he is paying everything on the house.
Do you work?
What are the differences in your incomes like?

You are also entitled to around 60 to 70 percent of the property, a part of his pension and any capital he may have.

Does he contribute to the children. He obviously feeds them half the time, does he held with clothes, activities etc?

He works full time, not sure what he earns, over £35k, possible £40k.
I work part time and earned just under £12k last year. I don't want to live in the house, I was never happy there and my mental wellbeing is paramount to be the best mum. I know I'm entitled to a good proportion of the property, pensions etc; what I decide to accept is a different issue.
It's the secured loan part which I can't get my head round. It's a loan, not a mortgage, just happens to be secured. It's in joint names so joint debt and he has been paying this since I left the house.

Thank you all

So can you offer to pay half the loan, maybe go back to work full time with him contributing to childcare costs and their upkeep.
How long before it's cleared, could you then sell the house and each just use it as a deposit on a property each. Either way it will all need to be agreed legally so you need to visit a financial advisor.

He feeds them dinner and makes their packed lunches alternate weeks.

He buys clothes for them to wear when they are with him.

I pay for all clubs and activities.

I appear to be buying school uniform as he said he couldn't afford £16.50 for a new jumper, although he did buy our daughter some school tights!

ALittleBitConfused1
Half the secured loan is approx. the same as maintenance. This is what confuses me!
My working hours mean there are no childcare costs.

You really need some good legal advice. What did the secured loan buy? And is whatever asset that bought eg another property/car/ business still in existence?

Get to a solicitor before agreeing to any of his offers. You need to make sure you and your children get what you are legally entitled to.

If the loan is in joint names he will get a reduction on his maintenance for it if he applies for a variation but he will still have to pay something. It won't just wipe the maintenance out. Ring their choices helpline for advice