It is never easy to answer a question like this because the law at present allows for a very wide measure of discretion.
But in your case the positives that I see ( from your point of view ) are
1. Both of you work, she works from home. I can assure you that many wives do not. Your incomes are very close and when you factor is child support ( which is relatively easy to calculate ) then the net result is that your incomes after separation may be the same. It is important that your wife re-calculates her tax credits after separation and for you to know what the effect on her income will be. I would not be surprised if, after all this, she finished up the higher earner, though she may well have more mouths to feed, depending on the childcare arrangements.
2. This would suggest to me that spousal maintenance is likely to be nominal only ( 5 p a year and in practice you don''t pay it ) and as many wiki''s will tell you ( including me ! ) this is a big plus.
3. As regards housing. The ideal, if it can be done, is to make sure that both of you have homes which are adequate to house both of you and permit staying access for the kids. That is something which can be hard to achieve but in your case there is a lot of equity and two reasonable, though not munificent, incomes.
4. As regards her solicitor''s statement that she should get more - well, it is true that many separating women do - 60% or even more, but there is a reason for this, namely that the women has a lower mortgage capability. But if your incomes are more or less equal - that hardly applies, does it ?
5. I never like to advise on housing, because there are just too many variables. The overall objective is as I have described. But I have attached a file which is an article I wrote to give some general guidance to people in your situation.
6. But for goodness sake, don''t litigate unless you have to. Try
mediation. Neither of you good people need to waste money on lawyers'' fees if you can reach agreement without going to Court. From what you say, I get the impression this is not impossible.
LMM
Attachment Housing_wiki_options-093c4fab6d186027a544d8e12e026cb5.doc not found