Financial settlement

Dealing with finances is the most complicated and stressful aspect of any divorce. It can be difficult to contemplate how family finances can be disentangled from one another and reordered to provide for two households, rather than one. It is important to appreciate and understand what assets there are in the ‘matrimonial pot’ and how the Court may treat these assets. There may be complicating features such as business interests, trust assets, investments, and foreign assets. 

The Family Court has a lot of discretion on what is considered a ‘fair’ financial settlement. It will consider a range of factors when determining fairness including the age of the parties, earning capacity, dependent children, and length of the marriage.

Our role as family lawyers is to guide you through:

• The potential assets in your case
• The legal position of these assets and how the court may treat them
• The options available to you in reaching a settlement
• Other professionals who may assist you

Our lawyers

Our family team are particularly skilled in dealing with high value and complex financial remedy cases. We pride ourselves on taking the complex and making it understandable for our clients. 

We have experience in dealing with financial matters that involve:

• Jurisdictional issues and foreign assets
• Multi-million-pound businesses
• Complicated pension arrangements including dealing with defined benefit schemes and foreign pensions
• Trust assets
• Lack of disclosure by a party
• Disposal of assets prior to and during proceedings
• Criminal investigations

What you need to know

Divorce is the procedural and legal process of dissolving the marriage; it does not of itself resolve financial matters between you and your partner. You and your partner will have to reach an agreement on how the matrimonial finances should be divided. If you cannot reach an agreement, then either of you can apply for the court to make a decision instead.

When reaching an agreement with your partner, it is important for both of you to fully understand the other’s financial position so that you can come to a settlement without any missing information. This is a process called full and frank disclosure. Sometimes parties are unwilling to provide information about their position and a specialist family lawyer will be able to provide you with options for dealing with this. Once there has been disclosure, the parties can enter into negotiations to reach a settlement. Depending on the case, it may be necessary to instruct experts to help the parties reach an agreement. For example, it may be helpful for an expert to value a property or business, or to give their views on the treatment of pensions. If an agreement is reached then a specialist family lawyer should be used to make the agreement legally binding. If this is not done, then you and your partner could make another claim against each other in future.

We strive to resolve family matters as amicably and constructively as possible, particularly when there are children involved. But this does not stop us from acting robustly to protect our client’s best interests. If it is necessary to enter court proceedings, we will advise you of this and champion your position.

Vlogs from our divorce law solicitors