I will be leaving my spouse in the very near future after a marriage of 22 years, sad I know. We have two boys 16 and 13 and a house in joint names with around £200k equity. I paid off most of the outstanding mortgage after a period working overseas. My wife’s income is the same as mine and we have no savings and no debt other than £40k mortgage. My wife will not be able to afford to pay the mortgage and household bills and I intend to rent a property initially. If my wife decides to sell the house to buy something she can afford to maintain will I be en­title­d to any equity from the house after its sale? Any advice on my situation would be much appreciated.

Hello sid .. and welcome to wiki. Sorry to hear about your situation . there are a lot of us here in the same boat.

The simple answer to your question is yes. Take a look at this:

http://www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Divorce-Forum/Court-preparation/53387-WHAT-DOES-THE-COURT-CONSIDER- WHEN-SPLITTING-ASSETS.html#53387

The more complicated answer is yes but it depends.
After a 22 year marriage every asset you have will be considered joint ... that includes pensions, savings etc as well as the house ... it does not matter whose name it is in or who has paid for it.

First priority is to house the parent with care .. and the children. Next is appropriate housing for the other stbx ... ideally large enough for kids to come and stay. It is a good idea to check out housing options and prices in your area to see what can be bought. Also check out your mortgage-ability to work out what can be afforded and how much capital wd be needed apiece. There are options for preserving your "share" - including having a charge on the property - or any property that is bought - that is exercised when certain conditions are met .. such as youngest child reaching 18. This is called a mesher order.

If you have a pension and she does not, she may get a larger share of the property in return for no share of the pension

If you are now PWC you will need to pay child maintenance - 20% of net income for 2 under 18s in f/t education.

If you possibly can, do try to work the finances out amicably - you can get a consent order OKd by a judge and it is the cheapest option - see wiki home page for info.

Wikipeeps can help you work out what is fair if you post details of ages, incomes, assets , pensions etc.

Hadenoughnow

Hi there

To get an idea of what what is likely to be a fair outcome, read this:

http://www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Divorce-Forum/Ancillary-Relief/53349-PLEASE-READ-BEFORE-POSTING-IN- THIS-FORUM.html

and post the information suggested in there.

Amanda

Hadenoughnow, thanks very much for the info. It means I can start to figure how to plan a way forward. I am still in a bit of shock around the whole issue of divorce but take solice in knowing there are many in the same boat. Thanks again for the support.

hi sid,
welcome to sid.It helps to have have some support from similar peeps on this bumpy past.Join chat ,it whiles away the lonely hours.
Take care and good luck ,hope things can work amicably for you.