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Regarding Savings


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Hi Everyone,

My wife left me in July 2016. Completely out of the blue. No build up, no nothing. You've probably heard it all before but I was a good husband and father. Didn't drink, gamble or womanise. She left me saying she needed to be on her own and find herself. Well a week after leaving she went away with the other man and 'found' herself in bed with him. My daughters asked her if there was anyone else involved which she denied. She even tried to get me to be the guarantor on her new rented house when she'd already started secretly seeing him!

Anyway I digress. 10 months on I'm starting divorce proceedings. The question I

have is that I have an ISA with £12k in it. I haven't spent any of this money since the separation. Is she entitled to half of this or as it's in my sole can I spend a proportion of it?

Thanks in advance

Take care G

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somanymistakes

Actual lawyers are probably better suited to answer the question than the forum is.

 

 

My guess WHICH IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE is that you can 'spend' some of it now but if you store it anywhere or buy anything with it, the thing you buy may still count as a marital asset which she will have a right to. So if you buy a car, she may still have claim to half the car.

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GorillaTheater
Actual lawyers are probably better suited to answer the question than the forum is.

 

 

Or actual solicitors, as the case may be, but yeah. Even though there may be a lawyer or three haunting this forum, few if any of them are going to be remotely qualified to offer you good advice.

 

 

But if you're inclined, let us know how things are going. There are many other areas this place can be useful for, and many others going through the same thing.

Edited by GorillaTheater
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You need to find a lawyer because this sort of thing varies so much by where you live.

 

In my divorce, my XH got half of anything accumulated during the marriage including my IRAs and 401Ks.

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PegNosePete
Is she entitled to half of this or as it's in my sole can I spend a proportion of it?

Generally it doesn't matter whose name anything is in, except in a short marriage. And even in a short marriage that can be overruled by other factors. Everything is marital property; remember that clause in the wedding vows? And unfortunately most people don't read the "small print" until it's too late.

 

This is not a simple either/or question since in England and Wales there is not a simple formula that is applied to finances in divorce. The answer to whether she can get "half" or any other proportion depends on the length of the marriage and any prior cohabitation, the other assets/debts, house value and mortgage, your relative ages, your incomes, the number and ages of any children involved, etc etc. It is very much a case by case basis and you can't simply look at one asset in isolation when dividing the assets of a divorce. It's just one piece of the big picture. It's very common to make deals and compromises, for example I won't touch your pension if you let me keep my ISA, or I'll let you keep the car if you let me keep the Ming vase.

 

Follow the advice given above, and see a solicitor. Many do a free initial consultation so you really lose nothing by seeing one. In fact since it's FREE, see several. Don't waste your free time - concentrate on the financial aspects rather than paperwork or getting bogged down in who did what or why the marriage broke down or what grounds you will use for divorce. Take an A4 page with a summary of your finances and your wife's finances (as best you know them) and joint finances. Include a mortgage summary and approximate house valuation (zoopla is good for that).

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