New partners earnings & financial position

Hi,

My husband left me & our twins (now 6 years old)in March to live with his new partner (person who he'd been having long term affair with)& her 3 children. Their affair split up her own marraige also. We'd been married 22 years. His partner & her husband were married 10.

I'm in process of divorce (via mediation as cheapest option. Me & our children remained in our FMH - at moment my stbx is paying mortgage (£460)inplace of maintenance. I want, if poss, to buy him out of the house, offering him £10 -£15K. He wants £30K which I can't afford so this option may not be possible.

They currently rent (her kids live with them part week & their dad part week). My stbx says they need money to buy a house (instead of renting) as her ex owned her fmh so she won't be entitled to a share of that home??

My ex says he can only afford to pay £350 pm in maintenance for our kids. My ex says his new partner receives no maintenance from her former partner.

My ex & his new partner both work full time. I work p/t with hours to fit in with the twins schooling.

Questions:

1. My sol thinks 10 - £15k is reasonable (equity in house approx £70K). If we can't agree on a figure (I'd really like a Clean Break) what next??

2. Can I assist on knowing more about her finances - Does her ex have to pay maintenance? Will she have a financial claim on her fmh is her hubby previously owned it.

3.If STBX's new partner was married for 10 years (shes in early 40s like me). Is it relevant how/where she lived previously?

I feel me & the twins may lose out financially (we've lost alot emtionally)due to circumstances beyond my control. I worked full time for 20 years & contributed to our joint mortgage. I only reduced my hours part time 5 years ago to fit in with our family life.

Thanks for listening. I hope someone is able to shed any light on what I might be able to negiotate for.

Kind regards.

Hi

The only thing I can help with is that your ex's partner should be entitled to a share of the marital home regardless of whose name is on the title deeds.

The important thing in your case is the housing of your children, which should take priority over everything else, including your ex's need to buy somewhere. He already has somewhere to live, even if it is rented and not owned.

I hope other posters will be able to help with the other queries.

Thanks for the reply. As anyone any possible answers as to an amount thats fair in terms of paying out my stbx (equity in fmh) and what I'm likley to expect in terms of maintenance for two childre. Is it 20% of ex's net earnings or would is new partners income be taking into account.

Also is it poss for me to offer an amount of money plus him keep the car (only worth about £2000 & I don't drive but I'll need to learn in future)?? Any thoughts/advice gratefully received.

Many thanks.

Hi

In terms of maintenance for your children, contact the CSA immediately. As soon as you get that ball rolling the better - you don't need to go to court for this. They will take into account the fact that he lives with the OW's children, but make sure that they understand that her children only stay with him for half the week. The rest of the week they are with their father and not being supported in any way by your ex.

The OW may not be entitled to much in the way of child support if her and her ex share residence of the children, but that doesn't mean that you and your children need to suffer.

And as for the OW's FMH - rubbish! They're either trying to pull the wool over your eyes, or they desperately need some legal advice! As she has 3 children with her ex and they were married for 10 years she'll be entitled to a sizable chunk of her FMH.

I can't imagine any judge would award your ex 50% of the equity in your house (which is almost what he's asking for with his £30k demand). You have 2 young children to care for and you have sacrificed your career to raise his children. The housing needs of your children is paramount, as Nell says, and your ex is comfortably housed with the OW...so he has no immediate housing needs.

Finally, don't forget that as well as child maintenance, you are also entitled to spousal maintenance, which normally ends upon your re-marriage or when your children leave full-time education/first year of university.

Don't let your ex pull the wool over your eyes in mediation...and give your solicitor a kick - he/she should be giving you a lot more information than they have.

Good luck x

Hi, thanks for all the info. I'll stand my ground. As far as I'm aware my ex hasn't had any legal advice although the mediator as suggested he needs to. I even had to remind him to send the Acknowledgement of Service back to the court.

I'm unsure what spousal maintenance will be or if I would be entitled to it. I work part time (14.5 hours per week) and receive child tax credits & child benefit which helps. Do I apply as part of the mediation process? I'm worried about the future, if for example, I had to give up work at any point or take any long period of unpaid leave. Our daughter as Neurofibromatosis (NFI)and although her health isn't that bad at the moment she has a large tumour on her spine & may need surgery in short/medium term plus may need similiar treatment in the future. My ex is very supportive of our children and I know he would try to help is possible but I want as much security as poss.

Many thanks for all the help.

Spousal maintenance is seperate to child maintenance. It is an amount, awarded by the Courts to be paid by the spouse with the higher income to the spouse with the lower income when a couple divorce. It is awarded if one party (often, but not exclusively, the wife) cannot support themselves without payments from the other.

It may be paid on a regular, normally monthly, basis or can be paid as a single lump sum. This lump sum approach leads to each spouse becoming financially independent of the other and unable to make future financial applications against each other. This is the ‘clean break’ that you said earlier that you would prefer, but you will need to consider if your ex has the means to pay you a one off lump sum that will support you and your daughters until they leave school.

Maintenance for a spouse depends principally on the potential recipient's needs, own income and ability to earn income. There are no set formulas and the amount payable depends on the payer’s net income amongst other factors. As you have dramatically reduced the hours that you work in order to take care of your children you will be entitled to apply for spousal maintenance, regardless of the benefits/credits that you receive. The fact that you may have to give up work completely in the future to take care of your daughter will also be considered.

If your ex is postive about supporting you and your children then he shouldn't have a problem with it all being set in stone and finalised through the courts.

Without details of the values of assets (including pensions) and liabilities, respective incomes, duration of the relationship, ages, any disabilities, the number and ages of children plus the number of overnights they are to spend with each parent it is only possible to generalise.

First of all I wouldn't be too hasty in involving the CSA. CM might work out at less than H is prepared to pay and he won't necessarily have the the ability to pay both CM and the mortgage. You can check out the amount of CM your H would be assessed to pay on the calculator at CM Options website. Also you can check out benifits/tax credits you will be entitled to at www.entitledto.co.uk

Spouse maintenance is paid according to the needs of one party and the ability to pay of the other. Therefore if one party earns above a average and there is a big discrepancy in incomes SM will be a factor. However, someone on average or below average income is unlikely to be deemed to have the ability to pay SM as benefits/tax credits/CM usually means the discrepancy in incomes is not that great. By the law of averages in the majority of cases SM is not paid.

Unless either party applies to court for Ancillary Relief, which could easily cost more than the difference between the two positions, no one can insist on anything - disclosure is voluntary. The priority in determining the split of assets is the welfare of the divorcing couple's dependent children.