Please guide for my divorce proceeding

Greetings !!!!

Sincerely request to you to guide me.

Married since 18 years.
Have one son of 17 years.

My husband has filed online application for divorce citing unreasonable behaviour. He has also asked court to order me to pay all court fees. Despite the fact that it was actually he who has been unreasonable since many many years, I have decided to proceed with the divorce. I have yet to agree to it online. I request you to please guide me on my few queries:

1. By agreeing to his divorce application, is there any future implication/negative impact for me by agreeing to his unreasonable behaviour claim? I hope I can present my side and claim that it was his unreasonable behaviour in this same divorce application.

2. We both have ownership of our house. It was bought on loan taken by him.

Cost of the house - 450,000
Downpayment - 45,000

Rest was taken from loan.

Could you please guide me if what kind of financial settlement should I go for ? Is there anything for me in this house ?

3. My son who is 17 would be living with me. Can I claim for his monthly maintenance ? Am I also eligible for monthly maintenance claim ?

Please guide.
Warm Regards.

1. It makes no difference who divorces whom for what. Nor does it make any difference to the financial outcome.

2. You do not say what the current VALUE of the house is or what, if anything, the outstanding mortgage is. Nor do you say approximately what your respective incomes are. This information (and possibly more besides) is very relevant. It is impossible to give a meaningful answer to your question without it.

3. Assuming your son is still in full time education then, yes, you would be able to claim child maintenance for him. As to whether you are entitled to maintenance that depends upon your respective incomes as referred to above.

Thank you for the response.

It is only 7 months the house was bought, So we can assume the same cost as current cost. I am a part timer and earn 1000 per month. He earns 5000 a month. I can not get full time as I have to take care of my son also.

Please advice.

David Terry Wrote:
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> >
> 2. You do not say what the current VALUE of the
> house is or what, if anything, the outstanding
> mortgage is. Nor do you say approximately what
> your respective incomes are. This information (and
> possibly more besides) is very relevant. It is
> impossible to give a meaningful answer to your
> question without it.
>
> 3. Assuming your son is still in full time
> education then, yes, you would be able to claim
> child maintenance for him. As to whether you are
> entitled to maintenance that depends upon your
> respective incomes as referred to above.

In that case you would almost certainly be entitled to maintenance for yourself as well as for the child. This is a long marriage and there is a big disparity between your respective earnings.

As to the house, well, it is jointly owned, it is the matrimonial home and this is a long marriage. Therefore there is no doubt that you are entitled to a share of it. Your presumptive share is half but because you have a much lower income than your husband (and therefore a much lower mortgage capacity) it is very likely that you would successfully be able to claim more than half.

My only reservation is about the figures. You say that the house is worth about £450,000, that the deposit was £45,000 and the rest was financed by way of a loan, presumably a mortgage. If that is the case then the equity in the house is only about £45,000. Therefore if the house was sold there would probably not be enough equity to enable you to buy a house in your own name even if you received all the equity. It may be that the house will need to be retained for some time. Unless there are any other assets the limited equity in the property looks as though it will cause a problem.

There is one final point worth making. It is that your son is 17. Assuming your son does not suffer from a disability or something of that sort having a 17 year old child would not normally be regarded as a bar to seeking full time employment.