Hi, last year my wife and I split up, went to arbitration and I agreed 2/3 of house and contents for her and kids(2) and 1/3 for me. Since then my eldest (13) has expressed a wish to live with me. Can I adjust this to 1/2 and 1/2 although she won't like it. I earn about 32kpa and she about 9kpa. I think she is pushing through the divorce because she suspects this may the case. Advice please.
Hi There,
This would be a difficult one to predict, because she earns a lower wage and one child would stay with her I would think unless there was enough equity in the house that she could live with a 50/50 split she may get awarded more if it went through the courts.
You also have to look at what a court case could possibly cost you, in money and stress, if the equity is substantial then it may be worth looking at but I would seek some legal advise, but be realistic, if say there is for example 60k equity and you are looking to get 30k (50%) you are looking at 10k more than the third you have agreed on, but it could cost you that 10k and possibly more if you had to go through divorce courts to get it.
You may find it's less but even if it cost you 5k to go through court you are only 5k better off and you have to decide if that is worth the stress and issues it could cause.
If 1 child is living in each house I would suggest an agreement that no child maintenance is paid, my view is it would be better to get an agreement between the 2 of you over the child maintenance than fighting it out through court, if you went through CMS you may find that you have to pay each other based on your incomes, and with hers being a lot less than your you would be paying more.
GTTS