Divorce & Financials

[Cinnamonhazelnut]

Hi, not sure if this is the right place for this, but i need some basic advice pretty quickly (so if there are any people on with the legal knowledge then your help is appreciated)

basics of the situation:

• myself & husband have agreed on parting ways and getting everything done and dusted as quick as possible - nothing else in it, its just run its course and we are both no longer happy and have nothing in common anymore.
• no children
• exactly the same income
• only assets are the House, Contents,Car
• car is in my name, was a paid for out of the joint account
• both contributed equally to everything.
• have a joint account with money in
• Pensions are the same
• there were also savings he inherited from the death of a his grandparent while we were married
• he wants to buy me out of the house
• im keeping the car - he wants to take the full amount off for the car

from a legal stand point in a divorce, what would i be entitled to if this were all to go to court?
i dont want to go down this route and we want to try to do this as fairly as possible and come to an agreement ourselves where finances are concerned.
id just like to know that based on the 50/50 contribution situation and how it all currently stands, what would i legally be within my rights to ask for?
Im not the type of person to "take him for all he has" etc
i just want to know so i know what we do finally agree to is a fair deal?
essentially so ive got a "This is what im entitled to, but this is all im asking you for" kind of thing. i just want to be armed with the right information

as i am finding out - no matter how amicable a situation is/tried to be - Money is the root of all problems

if anyone can help it would be fantastic
Thanks

The court process would cost you thousands, possibly tens of thousands. The court would also want you to go to mediation first so again you’re paying money to someone to just listen.

Solicitor is the best person to ask, really. And it depends on the length of marriage a bit.
However - I’d guess given the details in your post - you are entitled to 50/50 marital assets split by value.

When my ex and I split (children involved but split was amicable) we decided between us what we wanted to happen and I appointed a solicitor to make it happen. After my first solicitors appt I phoned ex to warn him that the 'unreasonable behaviour' items we had listed between us sounded really horrendous when put into legal-speak! he later said thanks for the warning otherwise he would have thought I was trying to do the dirty on him!

My point is, if you are amicable then please keep all lines of communication open between you and discuss everything - if you aren't going to double cross each other you can get away with one solicitor and the other person represent themselves. We didn't have to go to court or mediation. We got the financial order in place before the nisi was applied for/issued on the advice of the solicitor so neither of us could benefit from the other coming into money after the divorce. Solicitor and court costs were around £4000 in all.

Half the proceeds of the house sale each (or he pays you half the equity if he’s buying you out), come to some agreement about fairly splitting the contents, and if you’re keeping the car but it was paid for jointly you should give him half of its current market value. His inheritance should be his.

You’ve no DC, you’re financial equals, it really shouldn’t need legal input - which could run into thousands and wipe out any money you want to fight over.

Not sure the pp is right on the inheritance above - I think that inheritance during the marriage is normally treated as joint so you would be entitled to half but happy to be corrected and there might be other factors at play

Generally in divorce settlements in England and Wales all assets of the marriage are pooled and treated as joint assets. Money or property that you’ve inherited are not automatically excluded from the assets to be divided, but neither is there an automatic expectation that they will be shared as every case is different and depends on individual circumstances including the size of the inheritance, when you received it, how it was dealt with during the marriage, and what the financial needs are of both parties. In a situation where there are no children of the marriage to support, the OP is financially independent, and has not sacrificed her own career for her DH’s, and the inheritance was not used to purchase the marital home, she has a less favourable case for a claim on it.

Morally, it shouldn’t be in the pot. Legally, it may be to a certain extent. But unless we’re talking hundreds of thousands of pounds then the legal fees (and length of time and animosity it’s going to generate) of the OP trying to claim part of her ex’s inheritance with no guarantee of the return she might like may well nullify the process, especially as OP herself says she wants the divorce done and dusted as quickly as possible.

Go and see a solicitor.

He gives you half the value of the house, possibly less because cash has a higher value than property and needs money spent in order to realise it.

Both keep your own pensions.

Split contents fairly.

Savings, including inheritance, should be split 50/50 but it is common to ringfence an inheritance, particularly if received relatively recently.

You pay him 50% current value of car.

Definitely worth seeing a solicitor, both of you.