Proposal for Settlement ???

Hi...
My sol just called me.... she said she had received a letter from my x2b's sol..... with a proposal for settlement.
She wants me to go to her office on Monday 'to have a look at it'...
Now... please forgive me for being a bit thick... but I don't understand these procedures... my x2b left nearly 3 months ago, since then I haven't received a penny from him to help me with the upkeep of OUR house....now - he's proposing a settlement???
I can imagine what the settlement will be - 50% of the proceeds of the house sale - that's it....
What should I expect when I see my sol?.... she said he had included some wage slips...for what purpose I'm not sure....
she also said there were some issues to look at - but nothing for me to worry about (yeah right !!!)
Any advice/comments would be appreciated - it's a long time till Monday!
Karen:S

Suck it and see Karen. Try not to second guess people it dont work. But its a start. I dont have that currently and I would be very surprised if I did. What I would do write down what I wanted and when you go on Monday perform a gap analasis. He wants 50 you want 70 so shoot for 60 etc. And then see where you are.

The thing is Karen nobody gets what they want from divorce. Its all loose. He wont get what he wants and niether will you. To put it another way. Say you wanted 65% and he was offering 50%. For you to win 65 instead of 60 may cost you 6K. And the 5% is worth say 4k. Get it? You lost 2K. From what I can gather this is common in financial disputes. People lose sight of whats important. There is a good formuala:

Minimum spend maximum gain.

If you apply this formula to all financial dealings you wont go far wrong. Be cold and calculating and disconnect the emotion part of your brain. Always ask. What will this cost me? I know its hard but divorce is hard. Take the emotion out on your ironing. I ruined a few shirts this way. But hey. Thats ironing for you. Chris.

Hi K,

I don't understand why you should meet with your solicitor to "look at" it there. Why can't she send it to you beforehand so that you can have some time to think about it and then be able to talk to her from a more informed position, as opposed to being presented with it "cold"?

Monday is four breakfasts away!

Thankyou both for your comments....
The reason to go look at it in her office on Monday Vail, was, she said, due to postal strikes... I will certainly 'go look at it, but I won't be pressured into making any decisions before I am ready...
Chris... Yes, I understand what you are saying, and I will try extremely hard to keep emotion out of any 'decisions'

Yes Vail - 4 breakfasts - and I DO love my breakfast !!!!

Karen,

I'm not sure if you've previously posted the financial side of your divorce??

I'm sure if you did, someone very legal and helpful, will give you a ball-park figure of what you should be seeking.

If he owes you say, a slice of his pension, then you could ask for that as a higher percentage of the house.

I'm glad that at last he's come out of the woodwork, and at least dealing with it.

Thanks Sera....
Yes, it seems after his disappearing act, he now can't wait to be rid of me....
I probably have posted my 'details' somewhere down the line, but I'll do it again, incase, as you say, someone can 'guesstimate' what sort of settlement I should consider....

Here goes...

Married 17 years
Me 44 - x2b 55
1 child (doesn't count as she's 22)
Equity in house approx 150K
Salaries... Me approx 10K - x2b approx 60K
Savings approx 25K (although he took that)
Assets approx 40K
No pensions
No debts

Thanks for any advice/comments

Savings approx 25K (although he took that)
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You can assume that he's attempting to dispose of marital assets. I would suggest you split that figure 50-50 and if he hasn't got it, he can settle with yet another % from the house to make up that bit!

No pension? Well, he's got a far larger earning capacity than you, so your pension needs will need to be addressed.