Big a1

Bit of a serious one this.

After some advice regarding the proceedures and entitlements for both parties when a marriage ends.

The situation is my parents both 51 and having been married for 33 years are seriously considering splitting up.
Dad has never had a great deal to do with me (23) and has made a decent career for himself, leaving my mother to raise me thus sacrificing any hope of a career for herself.

They have a house worth approx 130-140k with around 20k left on the mortgage. No savings to speak of and no real assets as far as cars are concerned.

My loyalty lies with my mother and want to see her get the best deal that she can. I won't go into any specific details but she deserves a lot better and has put up with a lot from my father so I have no qualms with trying to help her get the most from this unfortunate situation.

Current financial situation is that he earns around 38k and she earns around 7k. Obviously from this point of view it doesn't look good and is the reason for her not leaving in the past as if she has to sell the house she would certainly struggle on what she earns at present. Getting a better paid job is not really an option as she has no real skills to speak of and her health is not fantastic.

What are the chances that if things went to court she could get the house based on loss of potential earnings because she was raising me?

I could take on the remaining mortgage payments and help her pay that off but it would be a struggle to buy him out.

Can anybody suggest any possible avenues to pursue - any help would be much appreciated.

thx

MattW

Same thing happened to my parents about 12 years ago. They would have been around 48/49 and similar work history.

My Mum got the house and chattels with the exception of a bed and a few bits of furniture. My Dad kept his pension.

davegtt

Wont she be entitled to lots of things like a nice slice of his pension etc

Go see a solicitor. Dont see how anything other than a fair 50/50 split cant work. Shes going to be entitled to say 60k of equity and if your going to be helping with payments cant she afford to downsize in house?

mart360

Oh Dear,

I can see where your comming from, and i can to some point see what your saying,

But having been on the other side of the fence, and please dont take this the wrong way, i can see the "screw him for everything he,s got" approach floating around.

If i can be open and honest, the main part of the problem is between your parents, and ultimatly any resolution or division should be between them.

If they cannot agree an amicable split, then they must seek professional help.

Now i know things have changed since my divorce, but from experiance.

It was amicable up to the point where we discussed splitting property & possessions, then as i mentioned earlier, other influences took her down the screw the b*stard for everything route. All it did was prolong the procedings.

As we had childern involved, they took precident, and once things were sorted, i walked away, i took the legal minimum in this sort of dispute, and effectivly gave the property to my ex wife, so she had a home for my son, there were other alternatives, but in all honesty i didnt want the hassle and the prolonged fight.

I would advise your parents both seek professional advice, Again this is only from what i understand from your post, i dont know all the details, but some of the statements you put forward are valid, but only in certain circumstances

Mart

Paul3446

My g/f's parents split up a few years back, her mum had never worked and she got the house and a small slice of her dad's pension, I think women tend to come out of these things better, but get a good solicitor anyway!

Big a1

Thanks for the input it is much appreciated.

It really isn't a case of screwing him for whatever she can get - he has been given numerous chances to change his behaviour and has thrown them all away.

Downsizing houses is obviously an option but she really would not be downsizing from much anyway (3bed semi)

what are the usual costs associated with a 'good' lawyer/solicitor?

So there is a chance then that she could get the house based on the current situation?

thx again

RichB

Big a,
I don't think the law is quite 'as it was' with regards to women getting half or everything although it does depend on the individual situation.

Strangely I am just in the process of building a solicitors web site and have just built the pages for exactly this.

If you PM me with your email address, I will send you the text from the page, the site isn't live yet!
Scanning through, the service mentioned is fixed fee but quite high. They charge £120 per hour (I'm in the wrong game)
Rich

Foot_Tapper

I know they charge the earth, but seriously a solicotors is the way to go.
If she doesnt have dependents living there, the she will struggle to retain the house wholly, depending on his generosity.
I dont think she would win the house based on what you say.
The most he could expect is obv 50%, and ok he has a better chance to get himself something, based on his earnings.
I think a solicotor would try a compromise, of say 30% - 70% in your mothers favour at best.
Bottom line get a solicitor, and get ur mum to talk to him and find out what he expects to get. If they can agree a starting point, it will be cheaper.

Big a1

I would be surprised if he was amicable and let her take the house willingly - even though he could get on his feet better than my mum could.

I will look into getting a good solicitors for her.

Any more input is appreciated.

Richard_P

He's 51, so I'd agree he isn't going to want to give up the home he's spent the last few years paying for.

Not sure on the legal issues I thought the best she would be entitled to is half? Can't see how she would be entitled to more than half if it seems it's been his income that has funded it.

Sounds like you and her would need to mortgage about 80k to keep the house (his half and the outstanding mortgage).

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

You are over 21 so probably 50-50

Not a great situation but I have to ask are your (both) parents happy to have their private business discussed on an open BBS?

I am not comfortable with this thread

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Agree that I think she'd have a hard time getting any more than half ( if that, if he wants to be stubborn ), especially as I imagine he could easily argue that he has been supporting her due to him earning a lot more ( dont know if this is the case, but it sounds likely ) and has paid a lot more of the mortgage and household bills over the years.

I cant see your father at his age giving her the house and having to take out another mortgage to buy somewhere bearing in mind his age and the price of houses now ( often when women get the whole house its because the husband is younger, not much of the house has actually been paid off, and he can afford a new place and its easier to let them take over the mortgage the old one, rather than their solcitors being able to insist on it ).

But whatever anyone on here says, they really need to get to a solicitors and talk to them and see what the options are - it is much easier to try and work out something nicely that suits both rather than getting nasty about it and money grabbing.

Big a1

It is just a case of looking for some advice from people who may have been through similiar issues in the past. It is just testament to how worthwhile scoobynet can be for non motoring advice.

It is fairly anon way of getting advice and i'm pretty sure that anyone who matters would not read it.

Thanks for the concern though and by all means if it goes against any rules then lock the thread.

Sorry if any rules have been broken.

mad_dr

And I'm sure you're asking the question hypothetically anyway, aren't you Big a1?

If this situation were to arise, I'd wish everyone involved the best of luck in finding a mutually amicable resolution.

dsmith

Got any pics etc. Might help people offer advice......