Recent separation

[Guest]

I have recently been left by my husband of 10 yrs ( partner of 20 yrs) and I wanted to know what my legal rights are with regards to maintenance and the mortgage?
He has always been the main earner while I brought the kids up. I work part time.
Can he force me to sell the house? I want to keep our home given that I have 2 young children.
Does he have to pay for 50% of the mortgage?
I look forward to your response.
Many thanks

[des8]

Hi and Welcome
Asking Birthday girl Kati to move your posting to a more appropriate forum where you should get a response or two

Family Law & Relationships Divorce & Separation ?

[Kati]

Hi and Welcome
Asking Birthday girl Kati to move your posting to a more appropriate forum where you should get a response or two

Family Law & Relationships Divorce & Separation ?

done xx

tagging Peridot maybe ??

[Peridot]

Hi Guest,

A really tough time when you have small children to deal with as well.
Are you getting a divorce or just separating to see if you can work things out? The government site gives you some basic information on divorce and separation :https://www.gov.uk/divorce

Is the house and mortgage in both your names? Is there much equity or do you have significant assets between you?

If you are intending on divorcing then the finances will have to be dealt with. It will be necessary to look at all the assets and liabilities of you both, as well as the needs of the children. It is uncommon for couples, particularly with small children, to be in a position to rehome both adults as they would like but there are lots of factors to consider and options to look at when deciding whether the former matrimonial home can be kept and lived in by one of you.

If the mortgage is in joint names you are probably jointly and severally liable for the repayments so these must be kept up or you could be at risk of losing the house. Have the two of you spoken about anything such as payments for mortgage, bills and the children yet?

The MoneyAdviceService website has a lot of information to help and to flag the sorts of decisions and consideration that need to be borne in mind here: https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.u...and-separation

If at all possible it is far less traumatic and cheaper in the long run, if you are able to reach agreement on the separation of your assets without the need to go to Court and the Court making the decision on your behalf. Unless there are issues of domestic violence then you would be expected to attend mediation to negotiate a settlement in the first instance if you are unable to reach agreement yourselves.

If you can reach agreement it is really important that you obtain some specialist family law advice to check that the agreement is appropriate and fair. You can find solicitors who offer fixed fees for a lot of areas of divorce that you may need. Or you may find a lawyer who offers either a free initial appointment or reduced fee initial appointment who can help point you in the right direction as to the sorts of decisions that will have to be made. You can search for law firms by distance and price on our sister site justbeagle.com if needs be.

From the sounds of it you are at the very beginning of the process so you will probably have a lot more questions as time goes on. Do post again if we can help with any other pointers.