Another fair settlement question

Hi and thank you, kind strangers,

Could you please give me your views on my situation and what a fair outcome may be. I will try to list the minimal information - I am obviously just after a very rough indication of whether I am thinking in the right ballpark of what may happen should it need to go to court.

Me (H): 42 Wife: 40
2 children - 13 and 6. 50/50 arrangement post-divorce
Married for 18 years, together for 20

My income - 140,000/year, full time work
Wife - 10,000/year, casual/part-time work, while bringing up the children. She has a degree and enough experience to increase her hours. She currently earns 40/hour. If she is to increase her job to 30 hours/week while the kids are still at school, that would be approx. 60,000 / year

FMH - 700k, 500k mortgage, so 200k equity.
20k in savings, net of debts.
100k in pension (mine), zero for wife

Wife will be moving to Australia in case of divorce, so there's no issue with who gets to live in FMH.

How do these two scenarios sound?
1. Wife gets all assets (house sold) - 220k + pension (100k). I pay child support - 1,500/month. No spousal maintenance
2. Assets split 50/50. I pay CS of 1,500/month + SM of 2,000/month for 2 years.

How does this sound to you?

Thank you very much for reading.

First question is how you will have 50/50 childcare with one parent in Australia and one in UK? Understanding the child situation will be the primary factor in any settlement

Thanks Rickoshea,

Most likely, I will also move to Au and hopefully keep my job - so let's exclude this variable from calculations. I've only mentioned it to highlight that current home will be sold.

Does where she currently works have an opening for 30 hours per week? Could her job move to Australia?
child maintenance can’t end in two years so I assume that point only refers to SM?

Hi Wyspecial,

Yes, 2 years only for SM. CM continues until kids are 18.

And yes, she will be able to move her job to AU at that salary level or better. He skills are in high demand.

The two options you've come up with are miles apart.

Option 1 £320k of assets

Option 2 £160k of assets plus £48k drip fed over two years.

Option 2 is worth £112k less and takes two years to get!

Given the huge disparities in incomes and the age of the youngest child I would have thought it unlikely that you will be able to avoid paying SM and you can probably expect to pay for a lot longer than two years even after sacrificing the majority of the assets.