Advice required on likely divorce scenario

Hello everyone, and thanks for taking the time to read and respond to this.

I am a male, 36, have been married to my wife who is slightly younger than me, for almost 6 years. We have a child who is almost 2. I have decided that I want a divorce, there has been no adultery or particularly fractious behavior, but the marriage is at its end. We have both worked full time since being married, although my wife lost a new job offer due to coronavirus, but I expect her to get something else soon, she is highly qualified so shouldn't struggle. We have equity of approximately £90k from a house sale, and are currently renting since we just moved city.

I have always made slightly more than her (approx £45-50k per year) because of overtime while she has made approx £40k the last few years. I have approx £3k in a stocks and shares ISA. I've also regularly paid additionally into my defined benefit pension, there is probably £5-6k in additional payments in my own pension. My wife also has a defined benefit pension she has been paying into for a similar period, about two years longer actually. Her basic salary has always been higher than mine and her pension is pretty decent by most standards so her basic amount is probably worth more than mine.

I'm fairly sure we can keep things amicable, but if not what can I expect, particularly in terms of our equity from the sold house? Will I be in a better position if I wait until she is fully employed again before petitioning for divorce?

Many thanks again.

>>Will I be in a better position if I wait until she is fully employed again before petitioning for divorce?

It would probably be wise, yes, although that does not mean waiting for years. So long as it is in the reasonably near future. I would also say one other things which is that it is better to keep the £90K intact until you petition for divorce. If you put it into a property before petitioning for divorce it is very unlikely a court would think it reasonable to sell the property in order that you should have your share any time soon. Keeping the money in cash means it is much more likely to be divided in the divorce.

Thanks for the reply David, can I just ask one follow up question. You said "It would probably be wise, yes, although that does not mean waiting for years. So long as it is in the reasonably near future."

Can you expand on that slightly? Do you mean that so long as its reasonable to expect her to be employed in the near future that it shouldn't affect things? Since we have to wait for one year of separation anyway, I expect her to be employed within this year.

I mean it is worth waiting a few months at most. You do NOT need to be separated for a period of time in order to have a divorce. If the marriage has broken down beyond repair it is very unwise to wait until you can rely upon separation as a ground for divorce.