VIC What are My Prospects in Property Settlement?

[Antzzz66]

Hi,

My wife and I separated on Aug 22. She is the one that wants to separate. I moved out of the house as she wanted time to herself to work her feelings out and it was easier for everyone for me to do that, with me hoping to save the marriage.

I have been paying the mortgage still which is only $21,000 left owing and paying $500 to her credit card fortnightly, which covers child support for our 14 year old daughter. I also have 2 other kids who are 21 and 19, both working.

We have really no debts to speak of and have our house and caravan to split. House is worth around $350k/$360k.

I am happy to give up the caravan. I'm hoping to get 50/50 split from the house or as close as I can. I'd like to take over house.

Our relationship is amicable and we hope to keep lawyers to a minimum. We both are working and I am the main breadwinner. I earn around the $90000 a year gross and she around $30000.

What are my prospects in property settlement?

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rod]

If it is amicable you can agree to almost anything you like.

Expect this situation to change over time and as she talks with her girlfriends and possibly gets her own legal advice.

From a purely non-legal perspective - Your about-to-be ex may have taken you for granted. Start going out with other women, enjoy yourself while your partner sorts out what she wants. Stop doing things around the house. If you're a handy-type man stop doing these things. Withdrawal of services she takes for granted may make her appreciate these qualities once again. If the smoke detector needs a new battery, tell her to change it. Same with sticky doors, light bulbs, lawn mowing, leaky taps, etc etc.

Good luck and hope it works out the way you want.

 

[sammy01]

Pay the mortgage, nothing else.

Oops too late - ok, so start having the hard conversations. Find out if you can refinance in your own name. Or sell it and split the money. I would not let the current situation continue terribly much longer.

But try and keep it amicable...

 

[Antzzz66]

If it is amicable you can agree to almost anything you like.

Expect this situation to change over time and as she talks with her girlfriends and possibly gets her own legal advice.

From a purely non-legal perspective - Your about-to-be ex may have taken you for granted. Start going out with other women, enjoy yourself while your partner sorts out what she wants. Stop doing things around the house. If you're a handy-type man stop doing these things. Withdrawal of services she takes for granted may make her appreciate these qualities once again. If the smoke detector needs a new battery, tell her to change it. Same with sticky doors, light bulbs, lawn mowing, leaky taps, etc etc.

Good luck and hope it works out the way you want.

Thanks Rod. Marriage is over. I am about to get the house valued. I mentioned to wife the 50/50 split and she has already baulked at that, mentioning she will have my 14-year-old daughter with her, so I'm sure I'm going to get screwed but I will fight if I have to.

 

[Antzzz66]

Pay the mortgage, nothing else.

Oops too late - ok, so start having the hard conversations. Find out if you can refinance in your own name. Or sell it and split the money. I would not let the current situation continue terribly much longer.

But try and keep it amicable...

Thanks Sammy.....i will be able to refinance and pay her out...which is what i want but she is waiting to see what value the house is and if she can pay me out...but i dont think she can afford it......do i still have to pay the mortgage if im not living there...or can i deduct it from child support?

 

[sammy01]

So you can stop paying the mortgage. But it is a big gun... So, really you wanna look at the big picture and this is where it all gets really messy. You're mixing family law with property law and contract law with the bank.

So the mortgage payments are a weapon / bargaining chip...

Child support is unlikely to be interested, but you could write to the ex and explain that the mortgage re-payments can't continue as you obviously have other financial commitments. So I reckon you offer to continue paying it for 2 months and invite her to get it refinanced in that time or feel free to move out and you move in.

Alternatively or consecutively, you could ask her to accept the mortgage payments as child support.

In some respects, paying a bit more in the short term is a good idea, but you gotta work out whether or not you're getting anything in return.

Now one more thing that you're not gonna like...50/50? No chance. Not in court. I'm assuming she earns lots less than you, has less super and will be the primary carer of the14-year-old. These are all grounds for you to get less money and her to get more. So you could spend tens of thousands fighting for 50/50 and wind up with 45%. Might be cheaper and less stressful to accept 40% and save heaps of money in legal expenses and court and stress medication.

 

[SamanthaJay]

You can't deduct it from the child support. That's up to you if you don't want to continue to pay the mortgage whether you live there or not. You still own the property. In the interests of keeping things amicable, it would be in both your best interests to come to an agreement regarding the financial settlement.

From what you have said, you are potentially looking at close to $340,000 of assets. 50/50 is $170,000 each. How much do you want to throw at it fighting it? My solicitor's bill is already at $30,000 and settlement is no where in sight. Another 5% to your ex means you get $153,000 so less $17,000 than what you would get at 50/50%. If she has your 14 year daughter with her, why does that mean you'll get screwed?

My ex has paid no child support for 18 months now and we have a 6ft 5in tall 17-year-old that eats like a horse, goes to school out of area which requires me to work around him and I rent the cheapest accommodation I can find. Meanwhile my ex stays in the beautiful family home with a tiny mortgage (similar to yours) and earns 4 times the amount I do. Sure I'm going for a minimum of 55%. He also thinks he has been screwed.

 

[Antzzz66]

You can't deduct it from the child support. That's up to you if you don't want to continue to pay the mortgage whether you live there or not. You still own the property. In the interests of keeping things amicable, it would be in both your best interests to come to an agreement regarding the financial settlement.

From what you have said, you are potentially looking at close to $340,000 of assets. 50/50 is $170,000 each. How much do you want to throw at it fighting it? My solicitor's bill is already at $30,000 and settlement is no where in sight. Another 5% to your ex means you get $153,000 so less $17,000 than what you would get at 50/50%. If she has your 14 year daughter with her, why does that mean you'll get screwed?

My ex has paid no child support for 18 months now and we have a 6ft 5in tall 17-year-old that eats like a horse, goes to school out of area which requires me to work around him and I rent the cheapest accommodation I can find. Meanwhile my ex stays in the beautiful family home with a tiny mortgage (similar to yours) and earns 4 times the amount I do. Sure I'm going for a minimum of 55%. He also thinks he has been screwed.

Thanks for the reply Samantha...I feel I'm getting screwed because I'm happy to have my daughter with me 50% of the time but my wife has flatly refused. I know I'm not going to get 50/50 split but I'm not going to waste money fighting it in court but I will fight to limit the damage. My wife said we will be amicable but it soon changed the first conversation.

 

[sammy01]

SamanthaJay it's not about being screwed but the primary carer has grounds to expect more money, perhaps not so in your case when the kid is 17.

So when I split, the ex had 3 young kids with me. She was primary carer and because that impacts on earning capacity, she got more pie... Fair enough. Now as far as not paying child support, well call the child support agency. They can collect it for you.

But your opinion on keeping it amicable is rock solid - worth loosing $10 000 -$15 000 to that end. Solicitors love nothing more than hearing a twit say I'd rather give the money to my solicitor than to my ex..

 

[SamanthaJay]

I actually agree with you Sammy, about the primary carer having grounds to expect more money. My comment was in reply to Antzzz feeling like he was going to get screwed.

CSA won't attempt to collect for me based on his violent history. He is self employed and doesn't receive tax refunds. He owes the tax office and is keeping it that way whilst there is a chance he has to pay CS. They redirected me to Centrelink and want me to just collect FTB.