What Is The Financial Responsibilty Of The Main Earner Towards A Wife And Two Small Children In Divorce?

He does not have to pay maintenance to support her, but on his wages he will certainly have to pay a fair percentage of maintenance for his children. She does not have to get a job, she will be entitled to benefits as she is a single parent and they may help with the interest on the mortgage too. She would be better off if she works but with young children it will not be easy. An alternative is for her to become a childminder in her own home.

There are a lot of variables the Court considers in awarding maintenance. And yes, while the Court provides for the children it may not see fit to provide for her for a variety of reasons.
As to what he will or won’t pay is not up to him. It is up to the Court. Hopefully this woman has a solicitor of her own.

With a solicitor like that who needs enemies…….Tell her to get a decent solicitor….He can walk away but he will eventually have to pay for the children and for the house….Her big issue is income and the house……She will need to claim income support until she gets herself organised for work…..She will need to be honest with them and they will help her sort out some form of income to live on…..As to the house this will be a 50 – 50 responsibility. She should speak to her mortgage company explaining what has happened and see if they will put a hold on the account and take interest payments only…..she would only do this if he stopped paying the mortgage……but could still keep them informed…….The ex cannot force her to sell the house until the children are of the age 16 but she will need to be able to pay her half share when and if he stops paying…..There are a lot of benefits available now like working tax credits which also covers child care costs etc etc……If she has no faith in her solicitor tell her to have a meeting with him and explain that she is the client and he has a duty to represent her effectively or she will complain to the Law Society…….She could also go to the Citizens Advice Bureau they also know the benefits system etc………They also will give her a lot of advice and wil also help her to sort her benefits out…..so well worth popping in to discuss with them……Some of the CAB have a legal section that is free and they could also help her to sort out…….Best advice is to remember that soicitors are a neccessary evil they make a lot of money dealing with matrimonal cases but some just dont give a monkeys and just get away with doing the minimul for high fees………I hope her ex realises that he will have to go through a whole range of things before divorce i.e mediation etc……He is working and each solicitors appointment will cost where as you should get legal aid……If she has a joint account get a seperate one set up for benefits and bills etc so that anything she has to pay comes from her own account and cannot disappear into the joint pot… Wish her luck from me and tell her to be strong and not to take any rubbish from the solicitor she has two babies to provide for and he helped make them……..
LEEINCOGNITO….Some of what you say is correct but he has a responsibility to the mortgage even if it was only his half share he cannot walk away from a legally binding agreement ie mortgage agreement this is still in principal a loan…….She does have the option to buy him out but your comments about having then to pay for another property to live in he should have thought about that before leaving………The two children after all are the innocent in this so why should they suffer ……..for what ever the reason for the split……

Let me get this straight. Your freind is still married only that she can’t get any money from her husband other than to work at least 16 hours a week and earn her money! The husband has the responsibility to take care of his family regardless the situation. Perhap I guess there might be a problem in the family for the wife to be limited to 16 hours a week and the husband should step up to his plate. This problem should not affect the wife alone and if the husband decide to walk off, the wife would deal with her problem and am 100% sure, God would send someone to there rescue. Concerning the morgage loans, why not get the equity out of the houe they stay, or sell the house, and relocate to where they can afford to live happily? Let them communicate to each other politely, bring all options on the table and find the best solution for themselves. Good luck

No the guy is a waste of skin. If he does not support her fully she should divorce the tube and take half his income.

Yes he is within his rights from a legal point of view. English courts do not expect a divorced man to support an ex wife, it is meant to be a severing of ties, not punishing the man. He could one day have another wife to think about. English courts do not fleece men, unless they are former Beatles married to one-legged models.
As for money for the children, this is out of the scope of the court and is a matter for the CSA, or whatever agency will replace it. Earning £40k, he WILL have to pay something, and it depends how much contact he has with them. If he doesn’t see them at all because the mother prevents him from doing so, he owes nothing at all. If he does see them he will be asked to pay, and the amount he pays would be more for seeing them less – eg if he has them 2 days per week he would pay less than if he had them 1 day (since he would incur costs anyway)
He IS within his rights not to pay the mortgage (why should he continue to pay for a home he cannot live in, and still have to house himself elsewhere?), but it is a marital asset. A likely outcome of this will be the home is sold and any profit (or loss) will be divided between the 2 of them. If there were no children involved and she wasn’t working, she would most likely be entitled to nothing, but the court will consider her family responsibilities as a fair contribution.
Americans = there is no such thing as “alimony” here, thankfully, no such thing as a pre-nup, and a woman can only expect half of what she provided during the marriage, and all of what she took in to the marriage. She cannot take an exhusband to the cleaners. We are more civilised than that.
Valf – having a different solicitor does not suddenly make the law different. He cannot be made to pay the mortgage if he isn’t willing, and why should he house his ex wife in luxury for years to come, while he has to house himself? He is legally tied to his mortgage. If only his name is on the mortgage he can sell and she will have to go. If her name is on it too the main motivating factor is money, each party is equally responsible for the whole loan, and a settlement could only involve her retaining the home IF she is willing to take over the mortgage and pay for it, but how can she do that working 16 hours a week? More likely they would sell it, split the money, she goes off into a council house, and he makes his own arrangements. Changing solicitors won’t change the outcome, it is the solicitor’s job to tell it how it is, not how he thinks you want to hear it.

I’m not sure where you are, but in the U.S., usually a husband has to pay for child support and alimony to his wife if she has been a stay at home mom/wife. He sounds like a ******, she should be glad the CAD isn’t going to be raising the kids with her.