Claiming for lost assets on divorce?

I have a Decree Nisi and am now having to take a serious look at my finances and need advice on what is fair and whether to pursue payments.

The wife has asked for me to agree to a Clean Break but the situation is:

Married 2006, Separated 2010. 4.5 years marriage.

Assets totalling £100,000 each approximately

2 children ages 2 and 6. They live with her and I have no contact.

Salaries wife 50k+ per annum, me 30k per annum

On entering the marriage I was the sole owner of the marital home with equity of 150k all tied up in my home.

In 2008 in order to advance the wifes career we moved away from the London area and looked to buy a family home. The wife was serious about buying a family home and went out with her mother searching. I sold my property at a considerably lower price than previous estimates which left me with just £100,000 in equity but was happy to do so on the idea that we were buying a larger property and the losses would be matched by the gains to be made on the new property.

One month after selling the property, the wife announced she wanted a divorce and vacated the rented property we were in at the time and went to a new property.

I am now living with family in the London area where as prior to the marriage I always had my own property.

Can I claim for any of the £50,000 lost or will the courts just tell me to live with it? The property prices are now back up above the initial quotes I received in 2008 and the equity I had if I had kept the property would be worth £150,000 and I would have benefited from 4 years+ rental income at over £1000 per month.

Not really no, you sold the house at market value, maybe lower for a quick sale, but what is done is done, you can only deal with money as it stands today not what did exist, the exception being when one person chucks money away without the others knowledge or hides money, sounds unfair but its the way it is.

Hmm, so you expect your wife to pay you £50k because your house depreciated in value??

Good luck with that

You say you each have assets of £100k and she wants a clean break... I would bite her hand off.

My house depreciated only to have since recovered the price and more. London is the only place where property has continued to outperform inflation.

Stupidly I sold at the bottom of the market on the idea we would upsize to a larger house and gain from the savings to be had.

Bite her hand off?

She wants me to pay child support for the next 16 years.

She earns 20k more than me (which more than pays for the children) and her net worth has increased by 50k + during the marriage where as mine has fallen by £50k.

Clean break is really a good deal?

child maintenance is governed by the CSA, it doesn''t matter how much she earns. You have to pay 20% of your income whether you''re a merchant banker or a burger flipper.

From the limited info you''ve given, a clean break sounds like a decent deal for you. But if you want to give more information we can give a more accurate assessment. You may have given some of this info before but it''s useful to have it all in 1 place:

1) Your respective incomes including any benefits
2) Your respective pensions CETVs
3) If I have understood correctly, neither of you owns a property? Where is the money from your house now, and how much is there? If either of you do own properties what are their values and outstanding mortgage size?
4) Any other assets such as savings, shares, cars?
5) Any debts or liabilities such as credit cards, loans, whose name are they in, and what were they for?

Her income £50k+ benefits.
My income £30k self employed.

Pensions I would not even know where to start and am not too concerned with this right now. We are both 37 with 25-30 years ahead of us to build up pensions.

The money from what was my property is with me. The £100k. My wife has her own savings and investments of more than £100k (she lived with me in my property before and during marriage for 6 years without paying towards mortgage or contributing to payments on property).

No other major assets She has all the furnishings but is happy for me to collect these when I move into a new property.

1 family car which she has retained but the value is minimal.

No loans or credit cards debts. Joint accounts all closed.

Wife is in rented accomodation and I am in a spare bedroom at parents home at age 37 despite having moved out half a lifetime ago.

I know this is nothing to do with your thread - but am intrigued as to why you do not see your children?