Two marriage breakdowns in ten years: The financial considerations

Amy Yates, solicitor in the family department considers this useful small asset case where the court applied the section 25 criteria and considered post separation assets and debts.

The case of QW v GH related to the breakdown of a marriage between Q (Wife) and G (Husband). They had married in 1993 and separated in 2015. Soon after the separation, the wife left the family home and applied for divorce. The divorce was completed in December 2015. The wife remarried in 2016 and now has an eight-year-old son from her new marriage. There were four children of the original marriage, three adults and a 15-year-old who lives with the husband. The husband and children have remained in the family home since the separation. The husband has paid the mortgage and outgoings since February 2015 and the wife did not provide any financial support until 2024.

In November 2023, the wife issued financial proceedings. It was agreed at a Hearing in September 2024 that the family home should be sold and split between the parties but not until the child had completed their GCSEs in the summer of 2025. The sole remaining dispute between the parties was the division of the sale and the matter was listed to a final hearing. The agreed value of the home was £341,667. There was a mortgage of £59,000 and equity of £272,466. There were no other matrimonial assets. There were non-matrimonial debts of £13,000 for the husband and £17,000 for the wife. The wife is now a joint owner of her current matrimonial home worth £390,000 with equity of £157,000. It was agreed that the husband had made all the payments towards the home since 2015, and he was asking for it to be considered that he had paid £130,000 against the capital during this period. The Judge calculated the husband to have paid £199,000 in payments, 71% in capital and 29% in interest which meant there was £187,466 to be divided. The wife was asking for a 50/50 split and the husband was asking for a 70/30 split. The wife was willing to accept 55/45.

The wife was earning £17,638 per year and had a mortgage capacity of £100,000. The wife had recently split from her new husband, and it was considered that she was likely to get at least £79,150 in a lump sum from any divorce proceedings from that marriage. The husband was earning £16,234 on a zero-hour contact and could obtain a modest mortgage. This was a long marriage with four children. Both parties have non-matrimonial assets post-separation. There was no reason to depart from equality. It was ordered that the property was to be sold at the start of July 2025 to be divided equally once the husband’s £85,000 interest had been factored in. this worked out a 65.5./34.5 split in the husband’s favour.

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