1166
I was married from 2013 to 2021 (8 years) and had 2 children with my ex wife. In 2019 she began a relationship with a teenager and spent large amounts of marital money on the affair.
1 year ago, my ex wife decided she wanted me out of the family home and made a false allegation of domestic violence against me. I left the home and went to my parents' house, with the children, and my ex wife moved her boyfriend in. My solicitor advised me not to return to the family home, as I had the children living with me.
Since then, I have tried to resolve finances with her. The mortgage and land title are in my name. I pay £1200/month for a house where my ex wife is living with her boyfriend. The decree absolute was granted 6 months ago. My ex wife has ignored several solicitor's letters and so it appears that the only option is to apply to court.
The total assets are £150k, half of this is the equity in the family home, and all is in my name. About £65k was brought into the marriage by me. My salary is £70k, my ex wife has no qualifications and is presumably on minimum wage and has no mortgage capacity. Outstanding mortgage is £320k.
If I apply to court, is it taken into account
1. that I have now funded more than 3 years of her new relationship?
2. that I brought assets into the marriage?
3. that she has refused attempts to mediate?
I want to sell the house and give her whatever money I need to as soon as possible so that I can begin my financial recovery. How can I accelerate this? If I have to go to court, this will be one more year of funding her which does not seem fair at all as it would mean that I had an 8 year marriage and will have funded 4 years of her subsequent relationship. Clearly the only reason it would go to court is that she has refused to cooperate (even to fill out financial forms such as Form E).
I do not think that my solicitor has grasped exactly how uncooperative and dishonest my ex wife is.