Divorce financial help please

[Guest]

Hello

I wondered if anyone can help with any advice around financial splits.

My ex-husband and I are amicable and have 2 children. We split up 2 years ago and he has them overnight 2 nights a week.

We had a mortgage on a property which we brought together and both contributed to the monthly payments. When we split up we had the house valued. The equity was around £70,000.

In order for us to live separately my only option was to sign the house over and be removed from the mortgage and land registry. The other option was that the house would be sold and this would then unsettle the children. Also working part time and being single, I needed help with rental payments on a new property and I was unable to do this whilst still being on the mortgage. Anyway, due to these reasons I had to sign it over.

We are both very clear that the children come first in everything and that any equity on the house at that time of valuation (£70,000) is to go to the girls in the end.

We are just starting divorce proceedings and I have asked that if he was to ever sell the house then the ~£35 that is my share, comes to me so I can then get out of renting, get onto the property ladder and invest further into the future of our children. He has said no. I believe I am entitled to a share of his savings/pensions/ assets etc. I don't want any of that I would just like to invest in the girls' future too and give them a better quality of life now as well as security.

He will not budge until I have sought legal advice which I cannot afford to do. I wondered if there was any legal advice I could obtain from here to have more of a leg to stand on and speed up the divorce process.

Thank you in advance

A x

[Amethyst]

Before you signed the house over to him and was removed from the mortgage and land registry did you get anything in writing between you with regards the equity ?

Also when you say you needed help with Rental Payments was that through housing benefit ? ( and the equity share in the mortgage was counted as savings which took you over the savings limit for HB ? ) or just that you couldn't continue contributing to the mortgage AND pay rent so needed help that way?

If you weren't amicable ( and sadly amicable situations can quickly turn non amicable once things like this start being discussed ) then depending on circumstances ( who paid deposit/mortgage payments etc, has the children etc) you may well be awarded 70% of the house - if you did invest in an hours legal advice from a family law solicitor it's likely you'd discover you're actually entitled to far more than 50% of the equity in the house only and that 'opinion' might shift his opinion somewhat on giving you the £35k now rather than an increased amount later ( if the property value increases and you get awarded a larger % plus share of other assets, pension etc ) There's many family law firms who offer low fixed rate advice appointments so have a look about, could be the best £200 you spend. It heavily depends on your circumstances, history, how things were transferred to him, and so on.... so very difficult to give proper help here. He's probably pushing you to get legal advice as he believes it will be negative on your side and you'll then drop requesting the £35k to get on your feet financially/property wise and he can just keep the house and leave the £70k to the girls 'in the end'... or that you won't and just take his word for it.

Presumably he is paying child maintenance ?

You might find a local firm offering a fixed fee https://justbeagle.com/search?fixed_...ch=1&cp=London ( you'll need to change the postcode to find anyone local ) It's a little clunky to use ( we're working on it )

[A x]

Thank you so so much for your advice!

Before you signed the house over to him and was removed from the mortgage and land registry did you get anything in writing between you with regards the equity?

Unfortunately not.

Also when you say you needed help with Rental Payments was that through housing benefit ? ( and the equity share in the mortgage was counted as savings which took you over the savings limit for HB ? ) or just that you couldn't continue contributing to the mortgage AND pay rent so needed help that way?

Excatly that... I was over the limit for HB so unable to claim housing benefit.


Presumably he is paying child maintenance ?

In the last month he has began paying child maintenance yes, but before this was covering nursery fees through his tax.

So do you believe that pursuing this will end in success? As I’ve said I only want half of the equity at the time of last valuation, but he is adamant that as I have signed the house over I no longer have any legal rights over it.

All mortgage payments were coming out of a joint account for the most part. Other times I was transferring money to him with ‘MORTGAGE’ as the reference so hopefully that will be evidence enough that I contributed.

I really apprecaite your help. I just feel like I need to go back with him with some really strong advice that will mean that there will be no more additional costs.

Thank you so much again

A x

[Amethyst]

I'm not a lawyer so can only talk from experience - hopefully some others will look in but I'd really recommend getting a short advice session so you can be 100% sure of yourself when you talk to him, and won't be fibbing when you tell him you have taken legal advice.

I split with my husband and left the family home with the children ( I should have stayed and he should have left but we make these decisions that at the time seem right ). I couldn't get HB because I had equity in the house over the savings limit ( ridiculous situation that IMO - it's not like you can use equity to pay rent ffs ). We'd agreed he'd sell the house and we'd split the equity 50/50 and forgoe anything else other than child maintenance ( which he didn't pay for two years). So pretty much what you've agreed with your ex except as I had the children and he only had them once a month there wasn't a huge attachment to the house so it wasn't an issue to sell ( still took him two years though). I wish I had taken advice at the time. It's tough starting from scratch when you'd spent your married life building an asset and a life, securing your future. You get there though.... and £35k should be a decent start to getting back on top of things - but if things get narky and he starts being awkward about the equity, it is very likely you are entitled to more than 50% of the equity ( although arguing in court would end up reducing the amount available so it is best interest to sort it between you or at mediation) …. Although you have the issue that you signed it all over to him without any agreement in writing so may have to argue the verbal agreement - I really don't know where you will stand on that legally. If it went to court/mediation I suspect you'd have any share based on the ownership of the property up until that point but I don't know for certain.

You need a more definitive answer with all the facts in place than anyone could give you on here, well certainly me anyway. There are family law clinics and centres as well as solicitors which should be able to give you a better idea of where you would stand if you argued, and then you can tell him the professional opinion, and he'll likely be far more inclined to get that £35k sorted.

Bit of a ramble, but just so you know where I'm coming from xxx

[A x]

That’s great- thank you so much for all of your help.

Ive made contact with my local family law solicitors! Fingers crossed all goes well!

Thank you!