Is my Mum being a bit over-optimistic?

[LoudJazzHands]

My Mum is in her early 70s and considering divorcing her husband.

To give some background he's about 5 years younger than her, not British but has been living in the UK for around 14 years - about as long as they've been married. He has a property in his home country, part of which is/was a small business which was being run by one of his sons.

The marriage has been pretty shitty the whole way through. He was an alcoholic and has physically abused my Mum (police involved).
He gave up drinking quite a few years ago and the violence stopped but verbal and emotional abuse has continued. She's finally had enough.

He moved into her house which is solely in her name. It's mortgage free. I she may have had a mortgage when he first moved in. If she did, he's never contributed.
He drives the one car they have, bought, insured etc all by her (she often cycles to work so he can have the car...). She pays most things.

He HAS paid for some things in the house and he HAS done some work in the house, but nothing major.
She thinks that in a divorce he's likely to be entitled to very little, if anything at all (apart from his personal effects).
I think she might be in for a surprise. I've told her to seek legal advice which she said she will (she's not very pro-active though) but I'd like to know other people's experiences and opinions.

My understanding was that you should assume a 50 50 split.

OMG :(

That would be awful. She had to work so hard for that house and he would just return to his own property.

Does he own his own property? If he does she is entitled to half of that.

She needs legal advice quickly, poor lady.

Well she's entitled to half his too but if he comes from a much poorer country where the value of property is much less, then it's only half of that.
Could she ask him to leave but hold off on divorce? What happens if she dies first? Could a will protect her children's inheritance? Men die younger than women on average but...

Ehlana I'm not sure. The value is likely to be a lot lower though. Also, I'm not sure how it could be enforced. She doesn't speak the language and doesn't have the money to travel there and engage solicitors and translators. I get the feeling that would be a non-starter.

If she dies first I assume it all goes to him and upon his death, to his (adult) children. He's younger but his health is worse.

I've wondered about her transferring the house to me but I'm sure it's not that simple.
I'm not sure if it's relevant but I don't live in the UK.

She's quite fired up at the moment because he's attempted to ruin Christmas (but only really ruined his own) but she's likely to let it slide and not do anything about it.

itsallpointless she really does but she's quite apathetic and prefers not to take action.

If she's apathetic, then book the appointment and go with her. If she won't go with you, then gather the facts and go alone. You can't start any legal action for her, but you can get yourself educated about where she stands.

Has your mum had legal avice?

I wouldn't have thought after a short marriage like that he'd get half of her house. She needs to get legal advice tho.

"Matrimonial assets are financial assets that you and/or your spouse acquire during the course of your marriage. This differs to non-matrimonial assets, which are financial assets acquired either before or after your marriage.

Matrimonial assets typically include things such as the family home, pensions and savings. It doesn’t really matter who put the money forward or who accumulated the wealth. When you’re married, the law in England and Wales considers that any assets you acquire also belong to your husband or wife. Therefore if you contribute towards a pension during your marriage, your spouse is entitled to a share of it.

Non-matrimonial assets typically include things like inheritance, family businesses and property purchased before the marriage or after separation."

So her house should still be hers.

Oh they've been married longer than I thought, misread as five.

AcrossthePond as I mentioned earlier, I don't live in the UK so not an option (18 hour journey). I just want to get a feel for what might happen.

Ford no, not yet. I spoke to her Christmas day and she said she would see a solicitor in the new year.

Category they've been married about 4 years. I wouldn't think that would be considered a short marriage, would it?

Cross post @category12
I can see why you read it as 5 :)

And I posted 4 instead of 14 lol

Because they are married he might get half

But from the tiny bit of family law I did some people only get what they contribute might only get money for the work he done to the house but half of everything else

Hope he doesn't but it happens

Yes she needs legal advice

If it works out better for her just to kick him out but not divorce I believe she may be able to protect her assets by doing a new will that states it is made in contemplation of divorce leaving her assets to her kids.

The sooner she gets advice the better. Womens aid might be a good place to start given the abuse. I understand they have a list of lawyers who specialise in that area

It might be a good idea to post this on the divorce and separation board. But definitely she needs legal advice.

For what it's worth, my local Womens Aid will give out a list of local solicitors who take legal aid work, which is not the same thing as a recommendation.

Batshit, it’s very very hard to get legal aid. There needs to at least be domestic violence involved from what I understand.

OP I'm not trying to be a bitch but why not wait until she's seen a solicitor then? She will get much more qualified advice than "my daughter read it on mumsnet"

This sounds like a complex situation with it being over multiple countries so you really really need an expert.

@Auntie yes it is, which is why I mentioned it, but I wasn't clear! I meant that going through Women's Aid to find a solicitor isn't the best way. Certainly my experience of my local WA (I'm divorced from an emotional abuser) is that they don't recommend particular firms of solicitors. Better to look on the Law Society website for a local family law solicitor, or ask a divorced friend if they'd recommend their solicitor.

If the house abroad is owned by him, its value will be taken into account when assets are divided. So it's not that she would get a share of that house, but that he would be entitled to less of her house.

So say it's a 50:50 split (although with a short marriage and no dependents that's not likely the case) if his house was worth half the value of hers, he would only get 25% of the value of hers.

Am fairly sure that assets owned before a marriage are considered non-matrimonial assets and do not normally get split out in divorce. EXCEPT where a pre-existing house becomes the marital home - it then counts as a matrimonial asset. So position is quite bad for your mum. She needs strong legal support.

The value of the house before the marriage should not be a matrimonial asset, but any increase in value after the marriage should be. The 50/50 split should be based on that figure, not the whole value of the house.

Then there is the equitable accounting. You start 50/50 then re- balance it. Remember all the assets are included - the houses and the car and any pension, savings etc. It may be that she can let him keep the car and agree not to go after the increased value in his house, and that offsets what he might be entitled to from her house.

She needs legal advice. Certainly don’t do anything dramatic like transferring the ownership of the house. Courts can undo transactions like that anyway.