Is this fair?

Hi Folks,

I have been going through a super difficult divorce due to my abusive ex wife. It's now been over 14 months for such a simple case! I recently sent Form A, but I don't really want to go to court as I am being evicted from my rented apartment and would rather just have the funds from the settlement and buy a new house.

Please let me know what you consider fair?

Details below:

Your respective ages; both 33 years old

The number of children you have and their ages; 0

The length of your marriage and any period of pre marriage cohabitation; 6 years total

Your respective incomes; £90,000 me and £50,000 her

Your respective outgoings; Mine - Around £4K a month on Credit Cards and Rental Accommodation. Her around £2k I would estimate as she is living rent free with her family

Your assets - both solely held and joint; We both have a rented property each that was purchased before we even met. Both properties are held separately in each sole persons name and are roughly around the same value. My property is worth around £175,000 mortgage free as my father gifted it me. Her property is worth around £150,000 but has a mortgage of around £70,000. Both properties are rented to private tenants.

Your liabilities.
Me - Long term Credit Card Debt around - £15,000
Her - I don’t think she has any other debts.

Other Assets:
1) She has around £15,000 (at cost) of our joint household content which she stole, she denies having this.
2) She has around £15,000 of jewellery which she took from the house, which she claims she doesn't have, including engagement and wedding band which were both from Tiffany & Co. All this jewellery was gifted from me to her.
3) I have around £25,000 of her wedding jewellery which were items gifted to her by her family which I have admitted to having.
4) We have £200,000 sales of proceeds from our family home which we sold in May last year. We both put in £40,000 each to pay for the deposit.
5) We both have pension mine is around £100,000 Her’s is around £70,000 however she works for the NHS so overall her pension is likely to be larger than mine at retirement age.

My View
1) Keep the 2 properties we purchased before marriage separate as these are pre-martial
2) Keep pensions separate as we are both young
3) Split sales of proceeds 50/50 as we both contributed equally to buying the house
4) She can keep all the household content
5) She can keep all the jewellery she has of mine that I gifted her.
6) She can have all the jewellery I admitted to having returned to her.

Would a Judge consider this fair?

Her solcitor is telling me, because I have 'so much' equity in my pre-maritial rented house, my ex wife should get 70% of the sales proceed and I should only get 30%. Also as my salary is higher I should get less money.

I have argued that this isn't fair as it doesn't give me enough money to rehouse! I need the full £100K to pay off debts, rehouse, (stamp duty on 2nd house charges are super high).

Please let me know your thoughts on what is fair?

It depends whether this is being seen as a needs or sharing case.

If the former, any settlement will depend on what you each require to meet your needs for housing and income, now and in the future.

If the latter it is the assets/acquest of the marriage that is shared - including any joint debts. This is any money or assets you have acquired during the marriage - which should be shared equally. Anything you owned prior to marriage is excluded. One added point is that your property was inherited.

It sounds like her solicitor arguing a bit of both.

You are too young for pensions to be much of an issue - and if yours is defined contribution vs an NHS pension you are likely right about the true value.

Unfortunately if you cannot reach agreement, court may be the only option. It is worth seeking a legal opinion. This site offers a fixed price legal financial consultation that you may want to consider.

Hadenoughnow