Advice please.

Hub has said that he is thinking more of a divorce/seperation. He can't cope with the way things are.
Our house is worth £150,000, we have a mortgage of £100,000 which takes into account our first mortgage, which was not repayment. I can't remember a lot cos I am a pi** head. We pay £50.00 a month towards it anyway. This was equity against our remortgage when I was made redundant 5 yrs ago. This was the first time I was put on the house details as joint owner.
He is saying that overall the residue is £60000, we have debts of £20,000 (credit cards)so we should be £40,000 positive. He is offering me £15000.
Hey, I am a pisshead!
We have lived together for 16 yrs and been married for 13yrs. Luckily(?) we have no kids.
Would I be taxed on my money? Am I entitled to half of his company pension? To be honest, I don't want him to be totally skint, even though he earns over 10 times more than I do, I think he will be more better off than I will, or am I being a money grabber?

Gabby,

Well...i think i have good news for you.

You had a long marriage and so due to that partnership you are in principal entitled to a fair/equal share in the fruits of the marriage.

Which are....
40k in assets
pensions

and...
your joint earning capacity


On assets a lot depends on the value of the pensions, called the CETV (cash equivalent transfer value). For now i will assume they are worth 40k also. (he needs to write to the pension company to get them to send a valuation letter - he has to do this as part of his financial disclosure).

The fact he earns 10x times your earnings is a big factor. He walks away with that earning power so the court would look to even things up by giving you a bigger share of assets OR a slice of his earnings.

Right.....

Now we have 2 main options for the split....
1) Clean Break
2) Asset sharing plus ongoing maintenance


at a guess.....
1) Clean break:
- you get at least 30k from house he gets 10k
- you get 50% of his pension

2) Asset sharing plus ongoing maintenance
- you get 20k each from house
- you get 30% of his pension
- he pays you 25 to 30% of his net monthly salary for the next 5 years


Biggest missing info is your and his earnings...and particularly your situation. Do you work? Are you on benefits? Could you become self sufficient? Tell me your earnings in detail (wages / tax credits) etc

Oh...and no you will pay no tax on your share of the money from the house.

Thanks for your advice. I earn at most, £3,700 per year as from Jan 07, Hub earns over £40,000 per year. When I lost my job as a lab tech in Oct '05, I was earning at most £13,000.
It has only been this past two years that I have not fully contributed. Also, cos I am an Alcoholic, most of my money has been spent on booze.
On the other hand, tho we have joint accounts, his money goes into one, mine into another, I have not spent any money from his account(his means that his wages get paid into it) because I cut up my card to the no 1 account.
I was shocked that we owe £20,000 on credit cards because they are two accounts I do not have a card for. I think he is hoping that I will feel so guilty at being an alcohlic, I will agree to anything. His account pays my mobile phone bill, my meagre personal pension allowance (both of which he wants to cancel)and any of my life pensions, cos I do not have the money to contribute, so why pay them?

When he says it, it sounds reasonable. When I write it down, it doesn't.

I really don't know any more. I am tired and confused about it all.

I do need advice, so I can go well armed into the fray!

After all, he will be left with the house, which is a major aset, and I will end up in a rented flat.

I apologise if I sound a whinger!

Hi Gabby. It is a minefield divorce. You should be OK. Women get a better ride thru the courts and usualy come out of divoce better off than the bloke. Dont ask me why I dont know.

If it doesnt look reasonable when you write it down then it probably isnt. Fight for what you want. You need everything you can get to able to start again. Chris.