He is trying to give me next to nothing

Hello guys,

Firstly thank you all for your contributions on these forms I am very new here and i finally found a website where everyone is replying seriously with the care needed for such sensitive issues.

So my ex husband to be is trying to give me back simple monthly repayments on a house we own and I just wanted your opinions please.

I moved from abroad for my ex husband we lived together and eventually he sold 1 property and we purchased our marital home together. (He out in the large deposit) however we paid all bills and mortgage split, I am the joint owner and joint on mortgage. I stayed with him through him being abusive and even through some serious medical issues.

When he got better he simply one day packed his bags whilst I was at work, cleared all his stuff and left. I wanted to start a family where as he already has 1 divorce and children from another marriage.

This has left me vey confused, I earn much less than him and had inherited a small property in my country not worth much but always considered this to be my mothers and had given it back to her (legally)

However our marital home is worth a fair bit, we renovated it, I put my heart and sole in to it and now he left me even though I stuck with him through everything.

I really wa t to know where I stand. Sadly I feel my solicitor is more interested about filling his pockets rather than helping me. I hope you guys can me guidance in this matter. Lawfully what should I be entitled too (even if not accurately)

The online calculator said 60% compared to the 5% or less he wants to give me

Thanks in advanced

You will need to provide more information such as how long the marriage was including the relationship before, your wages, value of equity in the property, value of pensions and any other assets you both may have.

With no children and after a short marriage usually considered less than five years you cannot expect to get the same settlement as someone married for decades who have children. Unfortunately the system is very variable depending on where you go to court and even which judge you get when you get there so the online calculator can give a guide but you may get a more accurate guide by giving more non identifiable details and soliciting peoples opinions.

Hi thank you for your reply

Details are as followed

He has a pension, a car, and net monthly wages of around 2.5k per month

He pays around £700 for his kids and only owns this house just under 600k which is jointly owned by both of us ( he did put in the majority of deposit from his previous house sale (200-300k)

(I equally paid all bills and mortgage payments for over 5 years since we first purchased our home, i am still living there and he has now left the house) when we first got together he had huge debts which I helped clear (by paying for most bills in our rented house at the time and allowing him to use his salary to clear his debt)

I own my own small house abroad around 25k and earn Around 1500 via my own limited company. The limited company owns no assets and is simply for my own contracting work. I do not have any pension or anything and possibly savings less than 10,000.00

We was together 8 years and married 5 years 6 months before he packed and left without any reason but he was now unhappy

I just want to genuinely know where I stand if possible.

P.s. I am not here to attempt to extract as much as possible from him as a selfish person, I simply just feel I lost 8 years of my life and am left with nothing and just have been told by my friends he is trying to rip me off.

What is the value of your respective pensions?

What did your solicitor state you should be aiming for?

I have no current pension (unless state pension) and solicitor has not said anything but I would like an idea at least if possible

All I have is 1 house in Europe (my mothers name) but was transferred to her before divorce started (£20/25k)

1 companies where I am the share holder 100% with no assets just small money to pay taxes

Less than 10k savings

1500 salary I pay myself inclusive of dividends

That's all I have to my name / assets


I don't know what his pension is worth by the way

After he's paid child support you are pretty equal on salary, you have no children so I would say spousal support is unlikely.

The two main assets are the house at £600k and his pension which is unknown.

Your marriage maybe five years but normally they add on time you cohabited before so although not really long it's not short either.

The courts first concern is that you will both be housed and I don't see why you wouldn't start at 50/50. He will argue that he put in more of a deposit and you can argue back that the deposit became a marital asset due to the length of your marriage and the fact that it is needed in order to house you both.

When you get started you will both need to fill out what's called a "form E" financial disclosure form which should tell you what value his pension is. It will depend on a lot of factors how that is split such as how old you both are, how much of it was earnt before marriage so it's difficult to say.

Maybe some others will share their opinion but you should talk this through with your solicitor and lay out the fact's as you have done here. Most solicitors will give you half an hour for free so maybe go and see a couple to get their opinions.

One thing to remember is there is no fixed formula so the calculator is using some formula but the result can vary by where you go to court and which judge you get so it's good to get as many opinions as possible to form a general idea.

Given you both own the property the main known asset this cannot be sold without your consent so I don't see how he would be able to rip you off but maybe there are other factors here you haven't gone into.

What is the mortgage balance on the house? It is the equity which is important rather than the absolute value of the house.

Does he have any savings or other assets?

Yours would be considered a medium length marriage. When you say he wants you to only have 5% is this because he expects to get 100% of the house equity? If so he's in for a rude awakening as the marital home is considered marital property regardless of the source of the deposit.