Income or Maintenance issues during a divorce
Again, as with
income,
there is no magic formula to answer the question “what will I get”.
S25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 sets out a checklist of factors that
the Court would take into account such as your ages, if there are
children,
and your need for housing.
In most cases, the Court will carry out a
balancing exercise of money and needs. Most people when separating
or divorcing need some legal advice about their entitlement
financially.
This advice is impossible to give without knowing
what makes up the “matrimonial pot” financially ie. what the value
is of all of your assets and property.
If you don’t know this information yourself, a
solicitor cannot advise you what you are entitled to have. If you
get together the following information it will help you get the
right legal advice:
House:
Any idea what it is worth? If not, get a couple of
estate agents round on the basis that you may be
thinking of putting it on the market.
Mortgage:
Do you have one? If so, what type is it eg. repayment,
endowment, ISA backed, and how much is left overall to
pay.
Borrowing
capacity:
Get a rough idea of what your borrowing capacity is by
way of mortgage and what the repayments would be.
Alternative
housing:
If you are thinking of selling, have a look at the
market to see where you would like to live and how much
that would cost.
Savings and bank accounts:
You need 12 months of statements for each account.
Policies:
Find out if you have any policies that have a surrender
value and what it is, and if you don’t know the monthly
premium, find out
Liabilities:
Have you got credit cards and loans? If so, list them,
find out a settlement figure for each and say how much
is joint expenditure if it is in your sole name
Income:
Find your P60 and last 3 salary slips and any letter or
documentation you have about any benefits you receive
All this information will help you to get the best legal
advice about what you would be entitled to.
There is some information missing
still, and that is what the financial position is of
your husband or wife, and if this information isn’t
willingly produced, it may be that to reach an
agreement, Court proceedings will have to be issued.
|
