Asset Split agreement

Hi all,

New here and need some help.

My wife and I after 27 years marriage have, after a long and in depth talk and chat, have agreed to divorce amicably. We have a daugter who will be 20 very soon and is at University. We own a house with less than a year left on the mortgage and have some savings. My wife doesn't have employment at present although she will be looking to work after the divorce and I work full time. She doesn't have a private pension and I do valued at £140,000. The house is worth £170,000. I have no debt but she has around £6-7000.

We have talked things over and my wife doesn't want to give up the house and wants to keep it but can't buy me out. I, on the other hand would like to keep my pensions intact. What we have agreed is that with the savings and my taking 25% of my penions as I am over 55, we can pay off the mortgage and her debt (as I believe I am responsible for half it anyway when divorcing). The house can be then transferred to her, together with £15000 cash which would pay all bills e.g utility, food etc for around 18 months to 2 years while she finds employment and the bulk of the contents except for my stuff like clothes, personal items etc. would remain at the house. I would have either to rent somewhere or try to get another mortgage which could be around £1300 plus bills per month. My salary is £43000 with a variable annual bonus and no overtime. This means that my pensions would be worth around £110000 after the 25% removal and possibly around $20000 with which to start over again i.e furnish a new dwelling, deposits etc. She would have the house and most of the contents roughly £180,000 plus the £15000 in cash. In summary she would probably end up with assest of arounf £195000 and I would have possibly £120000 after setting up somewhere else.

My questions are:

Can we do a DIY divorce as we can't afford to spend thousands on solictor/ lawyers fees.
Does this seem like a fair split (I am happy to accept this arrangement as it stands but would like some feedback)
If we agree as we do on this can we draft a Consent Order ourselves to submit to the court or would it be better to have in drafted by someone. Again can't afford to spend a lot here as I won't have access to a lot of capital.

Thanks in advance for any feedback, information or advice.

You can do a DIY divorce but you will need a solicitor to draft your consent order for the financial side of things to ensure everything is worded correctly. Check out the service on this site.

Given your age and income your pension pot seems small. Is the figure up to date and presumably it is a defined contribution pension?

If the debt is in her name you are not responsible for it. How was it incurred?

Have you looked into any benefits your stbx wife may be entitled to while she is job hunting? How long has she been out of the job market and what skills does she have?

Have you both checked where you are up to with state pension? You state you are over 55 so it looks as if you may be heading towards pension age. Knowing how many more years of NI you each need to get the full pension may be useful for future planning especially if you are likely to be renting in retirement.

Many thanks for coming back to me. Much appreciated.

My pension contributions had to be frozen for some years due to my wifes ill health at the time (severe epilepsy and brain tumour) and the wage I was as I couldn't afford to pay for everything (as our daughter was only small at the time) including pension until it was all resolved (which it was after 7 years thankfully) and I could get another higher paid job. At the time I needed to be part career after work and changing jobs was not really an option as my employer then was very understanding of our situation, so the figure is correct.

I am unsure on how she has acrued that debt. She says it was for clothes for herself and our daughter and other things but she has been receiving £440 per month from my wages. I pay all the bills plus shopping so the £440 was for her but she has no savings as she says the £440 is used up each month in her mobile phone bill and other, I presume, credit card payments. The savings we have come directly from my wages over the years. I have no debt of my own.

Although she could sign on she has been told that due to the my salary she can not claim anything as I am expected to fund it. Also she seems reluctant to find a job (she isn't even looking as far as I am aware) although she is aware she will need to and there will be an expectation to do so. I have said that they would pay NI contributions while signing on but apparantly this is incorrect.

Regarding state pension I am fully paid up on NI so entitled to full state pension. My wife isn't but has 15 years I believe as she did work for 3 years and also brought up our daughter as a stay at home mom so will get credit for that. She is 50 now so if she gets work she should be able to achieve that herself.

It is worth getting legal advice to make sure what you are proposing will be approved if you intend to get a legally binding consent order.
You could book a fixed price legal financial consultation via this site.

There's nothing to stop you doing the divorce online yourselves but the financial stuff is separate and a consent order does need to be properly drawn up.

You may also want to take financial advice about the wisdom of taking your pension lump sum early.

One concern would be whether she can afford to remain in the FMH and cover bills etc herself. How big is the property??

Hadenoughnow