Separation - what are the husband's rights?

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alaskaonline

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I read through as many posts as possible on here as well as checking out suggested websites, searching the internet myself etc. but I still have a few questions. Maybe some of you have an answer. :)

  • Maintenance - it is clear that when children are around, maintenance has to be paid for them. What about the wife? My understanding is that the wife is entitled to maintenance, too. Is there a legal limit as to how much she is entitled to i.e. for children it is € 150 a week (I think) - anything similar for the separated wife?
  • Would paying the mortgage and bills on wife's behalf (even though the husband does not live in the house) fall under or be accepted by court as maintenance payment? (additionally to child maintenance)
  • House is in joint names - if he moves out now, pays mortgage etc. for four years until divorce can be applied for, does he still have the same entitlement regarding house share (financially) as wife OR is wife entitled to more because she actually lived in it for four years and has the children (4 out of 7 days) regardless of who pays the mortgage?
  • If wife accumulated depth without knowledge of husband, I understand, both still share such depth. What about the other way around: wife accumulated "savings" by transferring money to an account not officially known to husband over the past years. Would he still be entitled to a share of this money? Existence of such money could only be proved btw if bank accounts are checked (i.e. if they have joint account with AIB and wife has secret account with BOI - can they be cross checked?). Not sure who has the authority though i.e. ICB can give husband info over depth.
Thanks for bearing with me here. I am no expert in this area and find it hard to gather specific info online.
 
Alaska, you really need to consult a solicitor about your specific circumstances. I don't work in that field but I've been divorced, so this is what I believe to the the case (I'll be corrected if I'm wrong!):

The €150 limit is only the highest amount the District Court will award – higher courts can order higher amounts. I don’t know if there are any guidelines for spousal maintenance.

I wouldn’t think the court would see paying her bills as the same as maintenance – the wife should be able to pay her own bills not have the husband control her spending. Anyway, spousal maintenance is tax deductable for the husband and taxable for the wife - paying her bills is not. Child maintenance is not tax deductable.

As far as I know, he is not financially penalised for leaving the house.

Moneywise, everything is on the table – debts and assets. But I don’t know how you can go about proving that one party or the other has hidden funds. A private investigator?

Have you tried mediation yet?
 
Alaska, I second the advice to see a solicitor and get legal advice on your situation.

Spouses have an obligation to maintain each other based on needs and financial ability. If you are working your husband doesn't have an obligation to pay you maintenance.

There is no financial penalty for leaving the house, as holly said. What happens to the house depends on all the circumstances - its value, equity, ages of children, positions of husband and wife, pensions of husband and wife, savings of husband and wife.

With regard to secret savings all savings, income etc has to be vouched so you will have to disclose your savings and these will be taken into account in the overall settlement.

You will only get very general advice on an online forum - you need to consult a solicitor.
 
Heya,

thanks for your replies. Just to clarify one thing: I am not the one married :) However I do have someone close in the family who is going down the separation route and there are so many questions we just don't know the answer for hence the questions here. This person will meet the solicitor next week though. Just thought I'd ask here anyway, just to see if anyone had similar experiences.

Good to know about the tax deduct-able items and the ones that aren't. Thanks again.

PS.: They don't see mediation as an option btw. :(
 
Thirsty said:
Then lets hope they have deep pockets...
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no one has and i am sure even those who went through mediation, some of them still ended up on the legal route to divorce. it's sad that people who are not compatible with each other, have to have "deep pockets" to get away from each other. :(

Anyway, anyone any idea of how much a solicitor costs? The initial meeting this week with the solicitor apparently costs 100€...
 
I have a good friend, paid 25k legal fees for the divorce. No children involved just 1 couple and 1 house. But other party really fought tooth and nail to keep the home and would not listen to reason from their solicitor that it was a joint asset and any judge would split it. So other party insisted on prolonged legal wranglings, trying anything possible,saying it was to wear the former spouse down and they would give up. The outcome was 5 years of legal fees and a judge splitting the house. For my friend who would have settled the house issue years earlier without all the legal proceedings on it, there was 25k to pay.
 
some of them still ended up on the legal route to divorce
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Mediation is only of use to work out the settlement issues; if you want a divorce (or Judicial Separation) you have to have a court hearing - if you have all issues sorted out it should only take 10 minutes.
 
Hi Alaska....am new on here but have some experience of your friend's type of predicament...but am not a lawyer



1 Maintenance levels are usually set based on overall family income and expenditure.....does your friend have any income ? Is she on social welfare ? What are her expenses like ? Does she have a mortgage ? What are the utility costs ? Maintenance is exactly what is sounds like - maintaining costs - it is not designed to pay for luxuries or extras....the court will decide how much the family needs to pay for necessities and where it will come from. Dont confuse maintenance with separation of assets. The Judge will look for each parent to make a contribution within their means - they generally will not just divide up the available cash.



2 Any contribution to bills can be construed as maintenance as it takes away the burden of the expense....a separation agreement will usually outline the cash sums involved and when the payments are to occur....if there is a joint mortgage for instance it would be quite normal for one person to make sure any payments they make went towards a mortgage to ensure the fiunds are not squandered or saved to the detriment of the outstanding liability.


3 As long as the house is in joint names then each is entitled to half........whatever time the shares are actually delivered


4 If you end up in court then the other party is entitled to discover all assets held ...... hiding a bank balance from a Judge would be a very stupid thing to do if it ever came to light. a good solicitor would trace any bank tansfers very easily. If your friend has savings then it would seem to indicate that she is able to meet her expenses from her existing income ( from whatever source ) so looking for more 'maintenance' may be frowned upon.....why would she be looking for 'maintenance' if she is able to meet expenses and also save ?


Harsh but unfortunately the reality.


Let me know how your friend gets on.
 
thanks everyone for your advise and comments on this matter. i have some updates since my last post.

mathepac said:
I can't see a family law solicitor taking a case unless the couple attend the the free family mediation service first
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My family friend was told by his solicitor that it depends - when one spouse does not agree to mediation, the solicitor takes the case and goes down the costly Judicial Separation road. At the moment they try to convince her that mediation should be considered given the nature (and as it turned out) that quite a lot of dept accumulated and cost-saving solutions should be found.

Nice Shirt - thank you for your detailed response. My family friend is male by the way :)
Apparently they both have to sign an affidavit (if the non Judicial Separation is an option) to confirm there are no hidden savings anywhere. Let's hope she understands the seriousness of such document. There have been a lot of "funny" money situations lately - such as the depth - so we all cross our fingers this is not getting any messier than it is already. :(
 
Re misrepresenting anything in an affidavit, It's as if you lied under oath, if found out!!! Don't do it!
 
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