Famous Divorces

The famous football player Ray Parlour and Arsenal had a long battle to have their divorce settlements. The couples got married in the year 1998 and had three children. They had differences of opinion, and so they decided to get divorce. Following their divorce, Arsenal was granted with a capital award of 250,000. She was also provided with two mortgage-free houses worth more than 1,000,000. The court ordered Ray to pay 250,000 a year for maintenance. However, he was willing to pay only 120,000 per year. Arsenal was also not satisfied with the amount that the court had ordered. They both appealed further to reconsider the maintenance amount. This time the court ruled in favour Arsenal by increasing the amount to 406,500 a year.

The Parlours case has set precedence to all the divorce cases that deal with vast sums of money. Many lawyers are using the argument of Parlours case. By and large, an opinion has been created that if one spouse has greater income than required his needs, his or her spouse can have a claim. It could have a larger impact on any professionals with higher income. The three senior judges in the Court of Appeal had granted this kind of award, in order to extend the principle of equality in the financial awards in the cases of persons having surplus income also. Parlours case has provided an opportunity to various other couples to put forth arguments in court based on this line, to get a higher financial award from the court.

Another similar case was WPP Group Chief Executive Martin Sorrells divorce with his wife Sandra after more than 32 years of married life. He was ordered to pay around 30 million pounds in settlement. Of that, around 23.5 million should be in cash and the remaining was the two underground parking spaces at Londons Harrods departmental store.

Ally McCoist, a footballer, was also caught in the court battle with his wife Allison. They both were fighting for a 5 million divorce battle. Allison quoted unreasonable behaviour of McCoist as a ground for divorce. The couples had differences of opinion after 12 years of their married life. McCoist had admitted to his wife that he had illegal affair with an actress. Provoked by his affair, she filed a divorce litigation. McCoist had been working as a football pundit in a television channel, and was earning more than 150,000 for a year. When he was playing football, he was earning around 18,000 a week. Apart from this he was also earning around 100,000 per year on BBC1s A Question of Sport. When the hearing was going on in the case in Edinburgh, McCoist failed to turn up to the court. However, his solicitor later produced a medical certificate stating that his client was ill. In the same manner, the football player kept on dragging the issue by quoting many absurd reasons. At last, the judge warned the celebrity couples to settle down their financial issue, or else they would have to face their dirty laundry aired in public.

Another popular case that was the talk of the town, for a long period, was the divorce case of Princes Diana and Charles. Diana, the most famous woman in the world, was accused by her husband, as committing adultery. They got divorced on 28 August 1996. Though the divorce issue was initially suppressed, later it was the point of focus, by the media that earned huge money by publishing and telecasting the same issue over and again. The speculations were that they both had a premarital affair.

Diana, the iconic presence on the world stage, though noted for her charity work, her charitable deeds were overshadowed by her marriage to Prince Charles. Various chapters of her private life riveted the world, in 1990s through many books, tabloid newspapers and other articles in almost all magazines, and even in television movies. The rose of the England was a fashion icon and was admired all over the world. Her divorce stories were published across the nation and it kindled the interest of the people.

How Offset Mortgages Work for Fixed and Tracker Mortgages

For consumers who are looking to save money on their home loans, the first option is usually to opt for a home loan that offers the lowest interest rate. While this path works well for those that want to limit themselves to the standard products currently on the market, a home loan option that more and more people are considering is an offset mortgage. With these loans consumers offset the value of the loan with another investment, such as savings in a current a account. While offsetting was previously considered a niche product, with Bank of England interest rates currently so low, this product is gaining in popularity with more and more homebuyers. As a result, many lenders are now offering offset home loans that are increasingly competitive and also more affordable for the average homebuyer. This article will discuss what offset home loans are, and what their advantages and disadvantages are.

Offsetting

When consumers take out a standard loan on their property, they typically expect to pay a certain interest rate for the entire sum borrowed. So a 100,000 loan with an APR of five per cent will see the borrower paying 5,000 per year in interest on that loan. Offset loans, however, work a bit differently. With these loans, the borrower can still take out the same 100,000 loan, but he would then offset that loan with whatever savings he has, such as a current account or, in some cases, an Isa. As a result, he will no longer earn interest from his savings, but he will be able to reduce his interest payments on his offset mortgage. For example, that same borrower with a 100,000 loan who offsets it with 25,000 in savings would effectively only pay interest on 75,000 of the loan.

Advantages

Since current Bank of England interest rates are extremely low, most consumers are making even less than the rate of inflation on the savings they have in their current accounts. In contrast, interest rates on home loans are typically much higher than the Bank of England rate, meaning sacrificing the interest from savings for the sake of paying less in interest rates on a home loan makes financial sense for many people. Additionally, since the interest made on current accounts is taxable, homeowners will effectively be able to avoid paying tax on those savings by using that account to offset a home loan. Finally, in most instances monthly repayments are based on the total value of the loan, meaning that even though that same homeowner is only paying interest on 75,000 of a 100,000 loan, he will still be making repayments based on the full 100,000. As a result, he will in effect be able to pay down his loan faster.

Disadvantages

While an offset loan can be a great way to pay less in interest, it is not necessarily for everybody. As with standard home loans, offset loans are available as either fixed-rate or tracker mortgages. The difference, however, is that the interest rates are usually slightly higher for an offset loan than they would be for a standard loan. As a result, an offset loan is likely to work best for those who have a large amount of savings that they want to use as an offset. While many tracker mortgages, and even some fixed-rate loans, will offer attractive rates to begin with, it is important to keep in mind that these are typically introductory offers. Once that introductory period ends consumers could be stuck with an interest rate that is uncompetitive even with a large offset. Also, while consumers will still be able to access their savings, they need to be aware that if they withdraw money from their savings then the amount offset against their loan will likewise decrease. Finally, there are often additional restrictions, such as high minimum deposits and rules stipulating that the account that is being used to offset the loan must be held with the same lending institution that is offering the loan.

While offset home loans are not necessarily for everyone, consumers who have a large or even moderate amount of savings should be aware of them. In the past few years, these loans have become increasingly affordable and are now available to anyone that wants to make sure their money is working a little bit harder.