Help - just about to finalise divorce and H made redundant..

[carlywurly]

I'm a SAHM with 2 small dc's, one with SN. XH and I have been separated 2 years, and the divorce negotiations have been dragging on but we're nearly there. According to our agreement, I am going to start part time work when the youngest is in school (Jan 2012) and build up hours from then. Until then, H was going to pay a fairly generous amount of maintenane to cover mortgage, bills and my income.

He's a high earner with a city job, but has recently fallen out with his boss, been made redundant and has been put on garden leave for 6 months. After that, he plans to get another city job. If that didn't happen, he does still own a business near where I live where he could work (by making current managers redundant) and potentially earn a good salary and therefore pay the same maintenance rate from this.

What do I do now? Am just negotiating to get mortgage transferred into my name, which is proving difficult enough. H is pushing to get the divorce through but I feel I need some kind of certainty before I sign anything, or I could be left with very little. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Collaborate]

You can have no more certainty than he has. Presumably there isn't enough around to capitalise maintenance, as if there were, you'd have done it?

[carlywurly]

Thanks for the reply, I just had to look that up!..

Unfortunately I don't think that's an option. I will get the house and car (including large mortgage), and a fixed sum over 10 years from the business but it's the maintenance from his salary which is the variable, and would have provided most of my income. He has reinvested much of our money in the business so we have never been cash-rich. I expect he will be when all business loans are paid off in about 10 years though.

At present, 20% his net income works out at well in excess of £1k per month which, combined with the business payments, tax credits etc leaves me on a healthy income and would allow me to work part time.

He's never been out of work before, and is often headhunted, so hopefully it's a case of sitting tight. The massive uncertainty is hard to deal with though.