Advice needed marriage break up and family home

[jem20066]

Hi All any advice apreciated.
Durning the week my friends husband has decided to end their marriage. They have two small children. The house and all the bank accounts are in his name (I know she shouldnt have allowed this). She jointly paid the mortgage for the first 2 yrs living there and then once she had her children they decided that she should give up working. Can anyone please advise me of what she is entitled to. Any help would be apreciated.

Sorry if this is in the wrong section feel free to move it.

Thanks in advance

 

[Vanilla]

In theory she is entitled to maintenance for herself and the children. She may be entitled to all or a share of the family home, or just to live there with the children. All depends on how much money there is available.

Assuming marriage counselling is not an option ( and this should always be explored first), then the best thing she could do is to come to an agreement with her husband as to payment of maintenance for herself and the children. Property rights can be sorted out at a later date if still in the family home for now.

If he will not agree maintenance then she should go to the department of social family and comm affairs to establish her entitlements. She should also apply for Legal Aid. If she needs money urgently then she can either make an application herself at the local district court or instruct a solicitor to do so on her behalf. Because there can be a waiting list for Legal Aid she might have to pay a private solicitor to do this but the fee wouldnt be very high. District court applications can be done within a couple of weeks where necessary.

The Family Mediation Service is a Government organisation set up to help seperating couples agree property and financial issues in a non-litigious ( and therefore not costly) way but both parties have to be willing to attend. Again this might not be an immediate solution but one to bear in mind for down the road.

 

[justsally]

Your friend might like to contact Womens' Aid. They offer a support and information telephone help line. I don't know where your friend is based but it is possible to telephone them and if she wishes she could arrange to visit their centre (in Dublin) at a time and date that suits her.

It's good that she has your friendship at this difficult time.

 

[Guest110]

My brother left his wife about 2 years ago.

Due to the fact that they were married , she is entitled to a share in the house, regardless of whether she is contributing or not, needless to say a HomeMaker is a contributor in its own right, after all she looked after the kids while he worked. If she wants to remain their she needs to be able to show that she can keep paying the mortgage and will probably need to buy him out. The banks dont care once the money is being paid every month.

She is also entitled to weekly maintenance for both herself and the kids. My brother left his wife and all his problems behind him, her name was not on the house when they got married or when they separated and he never supported them when he left. She got the whole house as part of her maintenance package. It cost him dearly but she deserved it, she needed a home for her kids.