Sharing marital assets

My wife told me we were getting a divorce at the end of August. We lived separately in separate bedrooms for a month or so and gradually she has been taking things away and visiting less often. Now she visits once a week at most. She has stressed she has NOT moved out. We have two electric cars, a 2016 Red Nissan Leaf which has a range of 80 miles, and a 2019 Grey Nissan Leaf which has a range of 130 miles. The Red Leaf is in my name on the logbook, and the Grey Leaf is in hers. This is not because we ever considered one car to be mine and the other hers, just that historically we had one car in our name each, and when previous vehicles were sold the order determined who ended up with which - in a loving and trusting marriage these things are not usually significant or thought about.

Since we split she has been predominantly using the Grey Nissan Leaf on the basis that it is "her" car because her name is on the logbook. I have pointed out that both cars are marital assets and that we are both entitled to use either vehicle equally. There has been some tit-for-tat when I have taken the grey car to work or she has swapped cars at night on the drive but now (after seeing her solicitor) she has told me that she will not be sharing the grey car anymore but has not provided a reason.

I know the reason, it's a better vehicle in every way and the extra range is a significant factor - it is often the difference between having to charge on a journey or not. In the main, it didn't bother me having the lesser car but occasionally I had a long journey and used the grey car - now that option seems to have been taken away which is against the spirit of sharing, fairness, and compromise.

What can I do in this situation? Is it a case of possession being 9/10th of the law and I have to suck it up? I don't think it's unreasonable to be "allowed" to use the grey car once in a while. In the end, they will both be sold and the money divided or an agreement will be reached with a transfer of equity, but for now, it's a problem. Please help.

Your wife will end up with the Grey car and you will end up with the Red one simply because those are the cars which are in your respective names. It is very unlikely they will be sold as part of any settlement. They are just forms of transport. No-one litigates this sort of thing. I suppose if there is a significant difference in value between the two some adjustment for that might be made in dividing other assets but I wouldn't count on it because often equity is divided on the basis of need so there may or may not be scope for adjustment to cover the difference in value between the cars.

Thanks David, for the information regarding the likely outcome. With £12000 difference in value I would hope there would be an adjustment. But what happens in the meantime? Do I have an grounds for using the better car that is in her name?

I don't think you will be able to use it. If you try then most people in your wife's position would remove the car so that you can't.