Apologies for a long one. The finance calculator doesn’t really work for my circumstances and I am trying to decide of how to move forward. Split in 2018 due to escalation in husbands behaviour and advised to leave family home due to safety concerns. Able to return to family home as he was sectioned and after approx. 2 years he was discharged into a care home under section 117 where he has been ever since. Trying to divorce has been a nightmare due to questions regarding capacity etc so I am now into year 7 of trying to get some closure on this and have spent quite large sums I cannot really afford on solicitors whilst making little progress.Your respective ages; 56 / 69
We have one child who was 15 when we separated and is still in full time further education. Cohabited 5 years, married 22 years, separated 6 yearsYour respective incomes; Mine approx. £18,000 His full state pension approx. £11,000
Your respective outgoings; Mine all household bills council tax, car tax, house insurance, heating etc. I am also still trying to provide financial assistance to our child whose full grant did not even cover university accommodation costs. His outgoings must be minimal as all his food, heating, accommodation costs are covered.I am still resident in the family home which is worth approx. 340,000 and has a small remaining mortgage of 12,000I was aware he had a considerable pension but had been lead to believe that it had lost much of it’s value. Every time my solicitor has suggested a
financial disclosure there has been no response from the other side. I have twice completed a
form E only for things to stall so it was never exchanged. To bring matters to a close I therefore suggested a split with me keeping the family home and he keeps his pensions. This was agreed to, however, they then had to complete a
Consent Order which revealed he has approx. £490,000 in pensions the bulk of which is in a drawdown SIPP. I have a SIPP of approx £30000 and approx. £23,000 in a workplace pension (not final salary). We have responded asking for an additional 20% of his pension based on a quick actuarial assessment but he is refusing this as he says he may have care funding withdrawn in the future and this would leave him vulnerable. He is now asking for a full pension report and house valuations etc. This will delay matters even more and I am dubious as to whether he will pay anything towards the cost of these. He refused to pay anything towards the cost of filing for divorce despite it being due to his behaviour and he has not contributed anything towards either his child or the maintenance of the shared property since separation.
My understanding is that care funding would only be removed after a full assessment and given his age and the length of time he has now spent in care that would seem unlikely. In addition, any contribution he would have to make would be based on his then financial circumstances and it would appear that his pension fund would generate a very reasonable income. My solicitor seems to just be thinking about a simple 50/50 split of all assets but I thought that housing needs etc would be taken into consideration. At my age I am unlikely to be able to increase my salary much and also therefore my pension. Downsizing may release a bit of capitol but realistically not a large amount especially after moving costs etc. I am therefore looking at having a very reduced retirement income to him especially relative to costs. Would this be considered fair by a court or is it worth me pushing back again re. having a portion of his pension as this would be considered an reasonable need?
