Divorce Settlement

[jess131]

I have been trying to get a divorce/settlement with my estranged husband for 3 years. Finally have a court hearing end of November. Meanwhile my solicitor is putting forward a proposition of 70/30 in may favour for the property equity and 50/30 in his favour for his pension. I don't have a pension. I work part time, something we both agreed on years ago. Now at age 62 and 58 respectivley we are divorcing due to his infidelity. The equity and the pension pot are roughly the same amount, around £400k each. I need to buy a property with no mortgage. He has a mortgage in principle for £130k.

I know for sure he will not agree to this and it will end up going to court. Does anyone have anything they can relate to this, I'm just wondering if this would be possible to do, or would a jusge laugh at this.

[ToraToraTora]

If you fight each other with lawyers then they will basically get everything in fees until there is nothing left and you'll both be skint.

[bednobs]

who gets the other 20% of the pension??

[Canary42]

bednobs, I think 50/30 is meant as a ratio, not a percentage which would be 62.5/37.5 - I may be incorrect.

[Hymie]

If the pension split quoted is in error, and should be 70/30 then you are basically walking away with around £400k each – you should ask your ex why he thinks he should get more than half.

[jess131]

I think 50/30 is meant as a ratio, not a percentage which would be 62.5/37.5 - I may be incorrect. You are correct, it was a ratio.

My ex thinks he should get more because he put into his pension £100k before he met me. We have been married 20 years.

[Hymie]

Just because one partner brought more money into the marriage, as in this example where your ex was paying into the pension before you were married – does not mean that they get more out.

So that argument won’t wash in court – but as TTT says, you should avoid ending up giving all the money to lawyers

I would stick with what your solicitor is proposing, and I would say that there is a fair chance the court will agree, effectively sharing the marital assets 50/50.

[Hymie]

A further thought on your position is the following proposal; given that your ex has a mortgage offer (in principle) and the equity in the house is equal to his pension – why not propose he keeps 100% of his pension and you get the house?

Of course this assumes your ex is not using some of the house equity to get the mortgage offer.

That way, both of you would have somewhere to live, although you would only have the State pension to look forward to – each of you would walk away with 50%.  You could then consider downsizing if you wanted to realise some of the house value as cash – or even take in a lodger to supplement your income.