Finances on Divorce

Sorting financial and property arrangements during a divorce or civil partnership dissolution can be extremely stressful and complex. Nevertheless it is crucial to document any settlements that you may rely on in the future. This will usually be done via a court order.

When the financial settlement is agreed to by both parties, then a consent order can be approved by the court. However, if a satisfactory arrangement cannot be reached during negotiations, then you can ask the court to step in and make a decision by applying for a financial remedy order.

During a separation, a deed of separation can be created to come to a financial agreement. This is only if you are not going through an actual divorce or dissolution at this time, but need to make financial arrangements.

What Should Be Considered For A Financial Settlement?

Firstly the family home. The way you deal with the family home will be dependent upon each individual circumstance.

If you have a property to sell, then you may consider selling it and splitting the money between you. This isn’t always necessarily a 50/50 split, again it will depend upon certain criteria such as pensions.

You may consider transferring the deeds to one spouse with the other ‘buying them out’ with a cash lump sum. Or one party may remain in the family home until the children have reached the age of 18. The other party in this instance may need to have a secured loan against the property or it may be sold at some point and then monies divided up.

Other Assets To Consider

You may have other assets in joint names such as savings and investments. These will need to be declared and consideration given regarding who receives what.

Sometimes you may have a business with assets to consider or a family business that you run together. It can be a complex procedure to divvy up business assets, especially if it is one you currently jointly own and work in. Our family business team will be able to assist you with this.

Another consideration is what pensions you both have. You may wish to opt to offset the pension against a greater share in the other assets or draw up some form of pension sharing order.

If one or both of you have debts including credit cards and loans, then these will need to be taken into account in any settlement.

If you have children, then a key consideration with all settlements will be regarding how their needs will be met. One of the concerns here will be with child maintenance.

Please contact one of our specialist family law team today to discuss your situation and how we may help you reach a satisfactory financial settlement.