Shared UC benefits after divorce.

Hi my soon-to-be Husband and I are at the stage of financial settlement. He has offered to buy me out of the property and I have agreed to a 50/50 share of the children (14 & 13). However, he wants half of the universal credit benefits due to us having shared custody. I just cannot afford to do this and it now seems I will have to go through the Courts to get this sorted one way or the other. My concern is the Judge will agree that this is a fair enough request but how will I survive. Or he will say the property will need to be sold which would be a complete nightmare as we are currently living together with no communication and a constant unpleasant atmosphere. The thought of another year or more, living like this would be a very depressing thought, to say the least. I just want out.

We both roughly earn the same money. I work part-time to fit in with school hours. He is a self-employed Plumber. No debt and a lot of equity in the house. Pensions are about the same value.

Any advice?

Whether this is all fair is another question which actually depends upon the figures but I am struggling to understand why you will not be able to manage if the capital is being divided equally, you have approximately equal pension and earn roughly the same. You are also proposing sharing custody 50/50. The point is, based upon what you are saying, your husband's circumstances will be the same as yours so how come you will be struggling while he isn't? There is something which hasn't been explained here I think. No doubt there is probably a reason for it but that reason is not obvious from your post.

Thanks for the reply.

I will not be receiving any child maintenance support due to the shared custody proposal. And no spousal support. My husband has the flexibility to generate more income by being self-employed. I do not have this option in my job. However, I have the feeling now this doesn't really seem to be a strong case in my favour.

The house has been valued twice - once in October 2021 £550,000 and again this year at £600,000. He has offered me £248,698. His parents are helping him with this buyout and we have been told he will need a small mortgage to make up the rest. I will also need a small mortgage to top this amount up.

My Solicitor picked up on his bank statements, provided with form E, some premium bonds that my husband didn't declare. So he may well have some savings that he doesn't wish me to know about. I didn't pursue further as I said before, I just want to get out of this marriage as quickly as possible.

I may be misunderstanding something here but there is something a little bit odd about the circumstances you describe.

1. You suggest on the basis that you will receive the £248,698 offered you will need 'a small mortgage' to top this up. That implies you will end up living in a property worth, say, £300,000 while your husband gets to live in a property worth £600,000. That doesn't look very fair. In principle your housing needs are the same after all.

2. £248,698 isn't half of either £550,000 or £600,000. Obviously notional costs of sale may need to be deducted from the gross value and, perhaps, there is already a small mortgage on the property but it isn't obvious where this figure comes from.

Sorry, incorrect amount stated. I have been offered £241,837 which represents 50% of the net equity of the property. There is a mortgage of £49,792 outstanding.

So if a Judge does look at this it may be that I'm awarded more and him requesting half of the benefits, maybe the least of his worries?

Many thanks.

1. Two times £241,837 plus £49,792 still doesn't equal either £550,000 or £600,000.

2. >>So if a Judge does look at this it may be that I'm awarded more and him requesting half of the benefits, maybe the least of his worries? <<

Correct.