She left her husband of nine years early last year. He stayed in the family home and continued paying the mortgage. The house has recently sold and now he wants to deduct mortgage payments and amounts he says he spent fixing the house up for sale.
Where does my friend stand on this ? He also wants to divide what is left after the mortgage is paid out 50/50 with her. She wants to avoid court but has been advised as she has the majority of care of their four children that she might be entitled to up to 100%.
She has an appointment with legal aid this week - is that the sort of thing they help you with?
She will not get 100%. If women got that when divorce happened no man would ever get married. I am not sure what she will get but it will not be that much. If they cant agree it will end up in court which can be costly. All the people I know who have used legal aid recently for divorce or custody issues have found them wanting. They have had to either represent themselves or pay for legal advice to get what they wanted.
I can't give you specific advice on here, but I can tell you:
Legal Aid will be able to give free advice only, but cannot represent her for her case. They cannot get involved in property disputes. The reason is not because they lack the skills, but because the government does not provide funding for Legal Aid to assist people with property matters - the funding is only available for children's matters, where the parties own little or no property.
With four children in her main care, she will likely get more than 50%. There is no rule that say she won't get 100%, but it depends on the circumstances. Her lawyer can give a better idea of what she can get, and recommend mediation, which is a)compulsory in most matters, and b)cheaper than court action.
FWIW...Legal Aid lawyers are, generally, more skilled, trained and qualified than many other lawyers in the State (and probably the country). They are overworked, underpaid and grossly undervalued. They don't work at Legal Aid for the money or the status - they do it for the love of the job and to help people. Not that I'm biased or anything
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Divorce and sale of family home
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