Wife has left. What should I be paying for?

A question about : Wife has left. What should I be paying for?

I hope I have this in the right area. Apologies if not. I am asking for help on behalf of a family member. Any advice appreciated please.

My brother-in-laws wife has left him. She has taken their 11 year old son, bur he will stay with his Dad 3 nights a week. They have a joint mortgage on the property that my brother-in-law now resides in alone and she is renting elsewhere. The house is worth approx Ј130000 with Ј70000 still outstanding. She is not contributed to the mortgage. He is contacting the CSA for information on how much he should be paying for maintenance. Divorce has not been discussed yet. She is expecting him to pay to furnish the house she is renting as well as making maintenance payments. She has warned him that he will not be able to stay in the family home much longer. He is hoping to buy her out of the house but will not have the finances for a while yet. So, the questions are:

Besides child maintenance, is there anything else he is legally obliged to pay?
Can she force a sale of the house at this stage?
Are we correct in thinking that if the house had to be sold in the future, she would still be entitled to half of the money despite not paying the mortgage, and is there anything that can be done to keep her share as it currently stands?

Thanks for reading. Again, any advice much appreciated. He is awaiting an appointment with CAB but is very anxious and confused right now.

Best answers:

• Does the wife work or not and if so, who is the higher earner?
• She has a part time job and he is self employed so although his income varies he is the higher earner.
• He MAY have to pay spousal support for a short while but the courts will probably only award this for 2 or 3 years to allow the wife time to retrain in order to maximise her earning potential.
  Child support would be minimal really wouldn't it? It sounds like they have worked out a shared care agreement so he'll have to pay some, but it'll be reduced with the shared care obviously.
  She can force a sale of this house yes. She would be entitled to 50% at least, regardless of whether she's been paying the mortgage or not, it's a marital asset.
  He's under no obligation legally to furnish the new home. However, in practice, his son is going to need bedroom furniture etc etc.
• Thank you very much for your quick response. It is much appreciated and very helpful.
• AFAIK, the sale of the house cannot be forces if the children live there - but I dont know if 3 days a week qualifies or not. im also not sure sale can be forced if its a seperation not a divorce.
  As for sale of the house - she is entitled to 50% of the equity at the time she moved out. Any equity generated after this point shouldn't be effected - though thats ideal. If its for a short time, ie a few months, it will probably be 50% bust. if however its long term it will be taken into account.
  Has she left him for someone else? personal I know but it matters. If there is another person involved and she left him, then he shouldnt be responsible for spousal support.
  Hes also not responsible for her home or furishings. Depends how comfortable he wants his children to be when there with her I guess.
• If they are still on reasonable terms I'd advise going to mediation to sort out what both parties feel is fair rather than going through the courts.
  If you go through the courts it's the lawyers who win.
• Spousal maintenance is only usually paid if the husband earns a LOT more than the wife.
  In my case I was earning gross around Ј40k to my former wife earning around Ј6k.
  However, when you take into account benefits, CM payments etc I was netting around Ј1,900 a month to my wife Ј1,600 so no chance of her getting SM. When it comes to SM they do take things into account such as living expenses, debt repayments etc unlike CM when they just look at the net income after tax.
  Her boyfriend at the time told her I should be paying her Ј900 a month SM. He worked for the benefits office, shows you how much they know.
• Don't care about the money. Do all you can for the kid - it's not a good age to go through parents' divorce..
• Then he gets the son bedroom furniture and arranges to have it delivered
• If the separation is defined as legal and she has settled elesewhere then your BIL would be advised to get a valuation of the house now and a summary of all assetts/debts of the marriage at this point so that she is entitled to her share of the debts and assetts as they stand NOW
  had BIL informed council tax office he is the only adult?
  is she getting her maild elivered elsewhere?
  these go to showing formal/legal date of separation
  mediation is useful, though not binding. Courts take adim view of those who will NOT accept/undergo mediation process
  apols fortypos