my husband is moving out this week. He is demanding that I make a decision on how to divide our savings in the next few days. He wants 50-50 even though I made significantly more money than he did throughout our 6 years of marriage. He is also refusing to pay half the mortgage (our only debt) because he has to pay rent and doesn’t think it is fair. A seperation agreement has not been started yet, what do you recommend I do now to keep from hurting myself in the future.
Normally the martial property is divided 50/50, that is not to say that you cannot argue for a larger share of the property based on your contributions to the marriage. You do not have to divide the savings right now, and if the account is in your name you can hold off on any division to use this as leverage to get him to contribute to the mortgage.
unfortunately our savings is a joint account. Do I have a “right” to ask for half the mortgage, even though he is living and paying rent somewhere else and I am staying in the house. The house is owned jointly. He is arguing that it isn’t fair that he even split half of the total cost of mortage and rent (so we are both paying the same amt).
Legally, until you get an agreement or have it decided, the marital home is a marital debt that he is responsible for. I suggest that you close all joint accounts. You are required to divide the amount saved during the marriage but you do not have to give him access to the money gained since that date. His name is still on the home so it is still considered marital debt.
You could be entitled to alimony or temporary post separation support if he makes considerably more than you do. That could be put into a separation agreement instead of going to court over it…
The mortgage is a martial debt and he is responsible for half of the payment. You can withhold the savings from him and use those funds to account for his half of the mortgage payment.