ACT Wife Makes No Contribution to Mortgage - Entitlements in Property Settlement?

[garps2016]

Hi.

I'm married, have a mortgage in my name, and am the only one (i.e. my wife has never contributed to mortgage repayments) making repayments to this mortgage. If my wife gets a divorce, what entitlements does she have in property settlement?

 

[AllForHer]

Property settlement can be anything you both agree to, but if you had to ask the Court to decide, it will follow a four-step process:

1. What's the value of the shared asset pool?
2. What are the financial and non-financial contributions of each party?
3. What are the future needs of each party?
4. Is the settlement just and equitable?

So, her financial contribution to the actual mortgage (or lack thereof) is just one consideration of many in property settlement. Indeed, many who haven't put a dime on the mortgage still walk away with 65%. The factors that tend to have the most influence are whether there are children to be cared for, whether one party kept house while the other worked, whether one has a better future earning capacity, etc.

 

[garps2016]

Property settlement can be anything you both agree to, but if you had to ask the Court to decide, it will follow a four-step process:

1. What's the value of the shared asset pool?
2. What are the financial and non-financial contributions of each party?
3. What are the future needs of each party?
4. Is the settlement just and equitable?

So, her financial contribution to the actual mortgage (or lack thereof) is just one consideration of many in property settlement. Indeed, many who haven't put a dime on the mortgage still walk away with 65%. The factors that tend to have the most influence are whether there are children to be cared for, whether one party kept house while the other worked, whether one has a better future earning capacity, etc.

Ok. Thanks for your quick reply.

Other factors involved are:

We have no kids. I pay all the bills - water, electricity, gas and rates. We have separate bank accounts, however, my wife has my savings account ATM card and makes all purchases on my savings account. She works as well...

She has her own bank account. She cooks nearly all meals. We both do the laundry and I mow the lawn.

 

[sammy01]

How long were you married / living together?

 

[garps2016]

how long were you married / living together?

We've been married 5 years and living together 5 years.

 

[sammy01]

Ok, so the duration of relations matters heaps, so you lived together for 5 years? Or lived together for 5 then got married =10 years?

So 5 years means it would be deemed a short relationship. As such, it could be argued that each party takes out what they brought in - give or take...

So if your name is on the mortgage and the title of the house, then she will have to apply to court to get her hands on any equity in the house.

Get divorced asap - then she has 12 months to apply to court. After that, you're pretty much off the hook. Kinda sorta - nothing is ever definite when interpreting family law.

 

[garps2016]

I met my wife in Vietnam in 2008. Took me a long time to get through all the paperwork to bring her out here. We married in 2011 on 3rd September. She was granted entry to Australia in August 2011, so we've only been living together just on 5 years.

Thanks heaps for your help on this, too, by the way. Also... I don't have much equity in the house. I started purchasing it in 2012. I got a long way to go before paying it off :-(

Also... Sorry to bother you Sammy0, would a 6-year relationship also be deemed to be a short relationship?

 

[sammy01]

So it is a sliding scale - ultimately, it is up to a judge to work it out if it goes that far. So you're earning more money than her? Well then, she has a greater need, so that works in her favour.

There are no set rules - just guidelines. So, 5 years - 6 years, 7 years are all kind of short marriages. How long is a piece of string?

 

[garps2016]

Ok sammy, thanks so much again for your help