This week Q&A looks at Splitting up and what to do with Marble.

Splitting up and . . .

My partner and I are splitting up and, although we have considerable equity in the house, if we sold it we would each come away, after repaying the mortgage, with around €280,000. A substantial sum but not enough for either of us to buy a house in this area where we both still want to live. There are houses in flats on our road and my partner has suggested that we divide the house - a terraced Victorian redbrick in Dublin 8 - into two, making two one-bedroom flats. We don't want the hassle of applying for planning but are there any other implications?

There are many potential sides to this story. You don't give enough information about the house to make a judgement on how suitable it is for conversion into two units. As a rough guide, the larger the house the more suitable it is. Although the fact that there are flats in houses on the road suggests yours might work.

Is your house a protected structure? Contact Dublin City Council to find out if it is listed as, if it is, then you can't touch the interior without planning permission. If it's not, then who knows how people really live behind closed doors? You could go ahead, without planning, once the changes are internal - i.e. you don't build an extension for a new bathroom or kitchen, etc.

However when it comes to selling, this new layout will be off-putting for buyers and you will not be able to sell it as a two-unit house - as planning permission will not have been granted. Buyers will have to undo your work and such expense will reduce the sales price. Have you looked into how much even a basic division of the house is going to cost?

Apart from dividing the hallway to provide two hall doors, there will be rewiring, replumbing, a new kitchen and a new bathroom and redecoration, so you're not going to see much change out of at least €30,000.

Then who will get custody of the garden? Who will get the first floor and the potential to convert the attic? How will you manage joint bills like roof problems or painting the front door? No matter how amicable the split, won't you feel horrible when you hear him going up the stairs with his new love, and vice versa?

What if you decide to move on in a year's time and want to sell the house, and he doesn't? If you can handle the emotional strain, then maybe the best course of action would be to apply for planning permission to divide the house properly, sort out the legal title and convert it into two units under an architect's supervision. This will be more expensive in the short term but it means that either of the flats can be sold on at any time in the future and, when you are ready, you will be able to make a clean break.

Piece of white marble

I have been given a large piece of white marble that was once part of an altar. Would it be suitable to use it as a kitchen worktop?

I don't see why not. Just bear in mind that it could stain when you spill something on it - though a lot of people don't mind that and consider that it gives the worktop a more lived-in look. A minus is that it is a particularly hard surface so a plate dropped on it will probably break. A plus for pastry makers is that marble is a cool surface, ideal for baking.

• Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, 10-16 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 or e-mail propertyquestions@irish-times.ie.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions received. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.