Mom Outraged Over Favorable Divorce Terms For 'Awful' Husband Backed

A woman has taken to the internet to air her frustration at her pending divorce, and to gain some insight into whether she and her soon-to-be ex-husband's assets are being split fairly.

The woman took to Mumsnet to break down the couple's situation, as she's angered by how financially comfortable her husband is likely to walk out of the divorce, claiming their money had been generated from her own hard work and dedication.

Their solicitor had explained to the woman that her husband will exit the marriage with the larger share of their funds, due to his lower salary.

"We have been married for six years," the woman wrote. "He is useless and doesn't help, he quit his high paid job. I work full-time, have worked overtime, and also do all the housework and childcare. I am the higher earner but also do most of everything. He is pretty hands off. He likes video games more than his family," she continued.

She's not alone in wanting to file for divorce. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that in 2021, in opposite-sex couples women were over 30 percent more likely to petition for divorce compared with men.

The database also discovered that "unreasonable behavior" had been the most common reason for women wanting to divorce their husbands. In the same time-frame in the U.S. 630,505 divorces were recorded, at a rate of 2.3 per 1,000 population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

After investing the lion's share both financially and emotionally into their relationship, the woman is furious that her husband is now—according to their solicitor—on the verge of walking away with 75 percent or more in equity.

Since being posted to Mumsnet under the username @PopitPop on January 19, the post has drawn in 606 votes and attracted 197 comments. Readers had been invited to weigh in on whether they think the wife is being unreasonable for feeling angry about her predicament.

Some 68 percent of voters sided with the wife, showing their support for her by voting that she's not in the wrong.

The disgruntled mother and wife chronicled in her post that the pair had only been able to purchase the £600,000 ($738,000) U.K. home that they now intend to sell and split profits on due to her personal savings and high salary.

"£280,000 ($346,971) of our home is in equity. I put in all of this equity from our savings, inheritance, and the sale of a flat before I met him. I earn £75,000 ($86,707) and he earns £30,000 ($37,159)," the woman continued.

"I spoke to a solicitor who said that he will get a much bigger percentage of that equity because he can't afford to buy a house around here on £30,000 ($37,159) without taking a huge percentage of that equity," she continued.

The woman concluded that she's perplexed by the solicitor's verdict, and turned to the internet to gain some additional insight into whether it's really fair for her husband to exit the relationship with over 75 percent of the equity.

She also warned readers not to feel sorry for her husband, as he'd supposedly been "awful" during the last two years of their faltering marriage.

One Mumsnet user commented underneath the post: "I'd get another opinion. Seems odd to me that his ability to buy a home is a consideration, especially if you can show his previous earning potential."

"Your marriage is short-ish. I'd get a second opinion," another user added.

How Do You Split Money In A Divorce?

Lisa Gill founder of Gill Family Law and Graygill Consulting also acknowledged that the law is unlikely to fall in the wife's favor, even if their marriage was ending in the U.S., because high-income parties in divorces often get the shorter straw.

Gill told Newsweek: "Courts in most states in the United States would look at the income-earning capacity of each party to determine what is equitable or fair. The unfortunate truth for many high-income earning parties is that they may get less of the overall pie to accommodate a lesser-income-earning spouse."

She also recommends that couples looking to marry investigate prenuptial agreements.

"They aren't just for the wealthy," Gill clarified.

What Happens To The House In A Divorce?

Gill went on to tell Newsweek: "The other unfortunate truth many spouses do not understand is that utilizing your separate assets to obtain marital property can result in loss. Once she invested her separate assets into purchasing the couple's marital home, her separate investment could lose its 'separate' classification and be seen as one marital asset."

Raiford Dalton Palmer is the bestselling author of 'I Just Want This Done', and managing shareholder at Chicago-based STG Divorce Law. Palmer told Newsweek: "Assets purchased during marriage are deemed marital assets."

"The wife converted her non-marital assets to marital property when she put them into the new marital home, they were essentially gifted to the marital estate. Presumably, marital assets were then used to pay the mortgage and ongoing expenses. This is why people need to be careful with the use of non-marital assets," Palmer added.

The author continued: "In short marriages, courts will take these non-marital contributions into account when allocating assets, if the contribution is readily identifiable. For example, if this person was married only a year or two, I could see a court in our area seeing to it that the wife gets the majority of her non-marital investment back."

Palmer concluded that he is understanding of the wife's upset at the situation, but that this is sadly just the nature of equitable division of the marital estate.

"The law protects the non-wage-earning or lesser-earning spouse from this situation," he explained.

Newsweek could not verify the details of this case.

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