division of house sale proceeds

Me and my husband have separated recently and need to sell our home, which we have owned for 24 months... we have unfortunately over-invested in an extension which means that we are unlikely to recoup everything we put into the house, money-wise...

My ex-husband paid 65% of the mortgage each month, I paid 35% - he is now thinking that he should be able to walk away with x24 months of the total mortgage payments he made, from the house sale...

I have disagreed with this, as we cannot include the interest - only how much we have paid off of the actual mortgage. I have been advised that this is correct by various sources including our mortgage advisor. Can anyone confirm this for definite.

I wouldn''t get too excited or spend too much money arguing over this, quite honestly.

You may well be right, and I can follow your reasoning, but the point is that it isn''t the only criterion the Courts use in deciding how the proceeds of sale would be divided.

What may be more important is your respective need for a new home. If his income is appreciably greater than yours, for example, he can afford a larger mortgage and you might get a larger share than his for that reason alone. To be sure, contributions do matter, and who paid what and for how long, but the main consideration is keeping a roof over the heads of you good people, and arguments along the lines indicated in your post may simply run up legal costs over a point which is not likely to be all that relevant in deciding how the proceeds are to be split.

LMM

Marriage is viewed by the court as a partnership, not an accounting exercise. You are both looking at this from the wrong perspective (and a mortgage advisor has no idea about divorce so forget anything they say). Dividing a property on divorce is not about this kind of bean-counting that you are doing, but rather section 25 of the marital causes act 1973.

Presumably he is the higher earner so that is why he made higher payments. That does not mean he will "get it back". As Mike says the amount you each get from the property depends much more on other factors such as length of marriage, initial deposits, ages of any kids, premarital cohabitation, respective incomes, housing needs, etc. It''s very unlikely that a few quid a month differecne in mortgage contribution will make any difference whatsoever, and yes, arguing about this is likely to cost more than it will gain.

I agree with Cookie and Little Mr Mike.

Try and agree the finances between you otherwise is will end up being very costly in legal fees. Dont think a court will necessarily be ''fair'' either - it''s all based on Needs.
From my own experience (horrendous legal fees and all because my wife insisted on going to court, so we both ended up much worse off) I strongly suggest you reach agreement and be a bit flexible. Just not worth slugging it out in court..seriously.