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When you’re getting divorced, one of the most important practicalities involves reaching a financial settlement with your spouse. Reaching a settlement with your partner means dividing the marital assets, which usually covers property, shares, savings, and liabilities for debts, along with other key financial resources.
The legal matters and considerations associated with divorce financial settlements can be complicated, and it’s not uncommon for disputes to arise.
In the eyes of the law, your assets and finances are tightly interwoven with those of your partner. Even if you have assets that you believe are yours alone, such as a business, your partner may be entitled to make a claim to these. To protect yourself now and in the future, it’s vital that you access specialist legal support.
Our divorce financial settlement solicitors can offer expert legal advice and support you to resolve any type of financial dispute involved with your divorce. We combine excellent negotiation and dispute resolution skills. Glanvilles’ solicitors can advise on the division of assets such as UK property, companies, partnerships, agricultural or commercial assets, offshore investments, trusts and commercial and international property.
Our divorce solicitors can support clients with all divorce and finance-related matters and negotiation processes, including:
To speak to our divorce financial settlement solicitors, contact your local Glanvilles branch in Chichester, Fareham, Havant or Petworth.
Alternatively, you can fill in our online enquiry form, and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.
You can contact your local Glanville’s office in Chichester, Fareham, Havant or Petworth or use the enquiry form to ask a question and get a quick response.
When you’re going through a divorce, you might be feeling concerned about how you’ll protect your finances and assets. Reaching a financial settlement with an ex-partner can be complicated, especially if there’s a business involved, multiple properties and numerous investments to consider.
Our divorce and financial settlements solicitors at Glanvilles will start by evaluating your situation and establishing your needs and concerns. From here, we can offer tailor-made advice.
We have many processes at our disposal to support you and your ex-partner to reach a divorce settlement, one of which is voluntary disclosure.
This is where both parties agree to voluntarily disclose complete financial information – including bank statements, property valuations, life policies, endowment policies, savings, payslips, P60s, personal chattels and pension valuations.
You can then usually reach a negotiated settlement through solicitors. Once the settlement is finalised, the agreement can then be converted into a Court order, which, when approved will be legally binding.
When attempting to arrange a financial agreement during divorce, collaborative law is a useful option providing that matters remain amicable and that both parties are committed to keeping things out of Court.
Collaborative law involves negotiations in a round the table meeting between you, your spouse and both solicitors. You will enter into a binding agreement that commits you to seeking to reach a financial settlement. During the collaborative process, the parties agree that they will not apply to the Court.
Our team includes a trained collaborative lawyer, Charlotte Woodhouse, who can support you through the popular and highly effective collaborative law process where appropriate. Again, any agreement reached can be converted into a Court order.
Mediation is often the most successful way to resolve financial disputes. The Mediator, who is entirely independent, will see both parties together and assist them in reaching a financial agreement. The Mediator will not give legal advice but will help in trying to resolve the dispute between them in respect of finances. If matters can be agreed, the agreement can be converted into a Court order which will be legally binding.
Reaching divorce settlements can give rise to tension, and not every case is suitable for mediation. Before you can proceed, our lawyers will support you to arrange a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM), to evaluate the suitability of your case.
Glanvilles can also help with interim financial agreements if your spouse is failing to support you financially. We will make an emergency application to the Court for 'interim maintenance'. This is a Court order, which requires your spouse to pay you a specific sum until the divorce is brought to a conclusion.
Reaching a divorce financial settlement can take a long time, and as a result, many individuals find themselves in a financially difficult situation. Our specialist solicitors are committed to helping clients access interim financial agreements if they require this.
A clean break order refers to a Court order that divorcing couples may choose to enter into. The order states that from this point, neither party is entitled to make a financial claim to the other party’s assets at a future date. Unless couples arrange a clean break order, there remains the risk of a partner attempting to make a financial claim later down the line.
It is common for divorcing couples to want to avoid court proceedings when making a financial settlement, with the preference being to agree between the parties how assets will be divided.
This is an area in which our team are particularly strong and we are often able to achieve a negotiated settlement even where there are complicated issues to resolve. Our team includes a trained collaborative lawyer, Charlotte Woodhouse, who can support you through collaborative law where appropriate.
Any financial settlement you agree to voluntarily (whether through private negotiation, mediation or collaborative law) will not be legally enforceable. This means either party could, theoretically, simply refuse to honour the terms of the agreement in future.
To give you both certainty for the future, we can apply to a family court for a Consent Order which will make the agreement legally binding on both parties. This means both parties would then have to abide by the terms of the agreement and, should either party fail to do so, the other would be able to take legal action to force compliance with the terms of the Consent Order.
Should you need a court to deal with the division of assets during divorce, we can support you through the entire process, making sure that you understand what is involved, that your case is prepared effectively and that you have the best possible representation for any hearings that take place.
We can assist with preparing and submitting all of the relevant paperwork, as well as gathering all financial documentation and any other evidence required by the court. Our team has established relationships with specialist family law barristers, so can secure expert representation for you.
As part of the court process, you will normally be required to at least consider mediation before making an application to the court for help resolving a financial dispute. We can explain how mediation works and whether it is appropriate for your case.
Should your case go before a judge, they will normally encourage you to make a voluntary agreement wherever possible. If this cannot be achieved, there will be a final hearing where a judge will decide exactly how your finances should be divided. This decision will be legally binding on both parties.
Your divorce settlement fees will depend on your case, and the steps needed to reach a financial settlement, along with any potential disputes that may cause setbacks.
Our experts will start by evaluating your case, and from here, we can provide a more accurate fee estimate, depending on your settlement negotiation route. To find out more about your fees please contact our family solicitors at Glanvilles today.
Our solicitors understand that navigating the legalities associated with divorce can feel overwhelming. Our divorce financial settlement solicitors at Glanvilles provide a compassionate and professional service, striving to make your divorce proceedings as smooth as possible.
We will ensure that you fully understand the divorce financial settlement agreement processes, and that you appreciate your legal position and rights. Our solicitors know that the rules associated with associated with divorce can be hard to comprehend, and that what you need is straightforward guidance, minus the legal jargon.
Our divorce financial settlement solicitors have a wealth of experience supporting clients to negotiate financial settlements, we realise that these processes can be tense and will do all that we can to support you with alternative dispute resolution processes and keep your case out of court.
When a couple is getting divorced, they are generally keen to know who gets what in a divorce settlement. Both parties are entitled to a fair share of the marital assets which may include savings, pensions and the family home. What you are entitled to in a divorce settlement will depend on the financial and living situation of both you and your ex-partner.
When dividing the martial assets, various factors are considered including:
Yes, it is possible to get a divorce without a financial settlement. If neither partner is seeking to make a financial claim it may not be necessary. For example, it could be that one person bought a property before getting married, and the other does not wish to claim any entitlement to that property.
Regardless, divorce settlements are useful to legally separate a couple’s finances. Getting divorced without a financial settlement could make matters complicated. Failing to establish who is entitled what could give rise to ongoing financial disputes, meaning that either party could attempt to make a financial claim in the future.
If the martial home is not in your name and you are not a legal owner, you still have legal rights to the property. When determining how to split the family home the Court will take into account various factors, to ensure an overall fair division of property and assets, based on the circumstances.
If the property is not in your name, and you are considering moving out before or during the divorce proceedings, you should seek legal advice because doing so could affect your claim on the property.
Divorce financial settlements have varied completion time frames, it depends how complicated the financial situation is, and if there are any disputes. On average, it should take somewhere between 9 months and 12 months to reach a settlement.
Our solicitors at Glanvilles will do all that we can to make the progress and fast and stress-free as possible. Once we have an understanding of your case, we may be able to provide a more accurate timeframe.
If one partner owns a company, that company is usually considered a marital asset, even if their spouse has never financially or otherwise contributed to the business. Under these circumstances, the business owner could claim that the company should not be counted as a marital asset. Regardless, it’s likely that the couple have both experienced a standard of life due to the business income, meaning that the Court will consider the business a marital asset.
A spouse might attempt to make a claim on part of, or even half of their partners business. In this situation, the business owner has various options to retain their claim on the company. For instance, they might agree to pay spousal maintenance or to give their spouse a larger portion of other the marital assets.
The majority of cases are not handled using Court processes, most couples will be able to agree a settlement using mediation or other alternative dispute resolution processes. Mediation gives individuals the opportunity to present their opinion and needs, and come to a mutually acceptable agreement.
If couples are unable to reach a settlement using a negotiation process, they may have to rely on Court proceedings to settle their case. Our solicitors can offer guidance and representation for couples facing this predicament.
A prenuptial agreement is an agreement that couples enter into before getting married. The agreement outlines how their finances would be split if they were to get divorced at a later date. Prenuptial agreements are not technically legally binding, yet the Court will consider any prenuptial agreement in place when going through the divorce settlement processes.
In some situations, the prenuptial agreement may be deemed as no-longer relevant, and this is usually because the couples’ circumstances have changed. It could be that the couple’s financial situation has drastically changed, or that they have had children.
Reaching a financial agreement means that both parties must offer a full disclosure of their assets. If one party is concerned about losing assets during a divorce, they may attempt to hide assets when going through the divorce proceedings.
It is not advised to attempt to hide assets, doing so could land you in legal trouble. To protect your assets during a divorce you’ll need to get in touch with an expert divorce solicitor.
The Court’s starting point for any division of assets is an equal division. There may, however, be certain circumstances in which the Court will depart from equality.
The Court will consider all aspects of the case to include the following factors when making orders for a spouse:
If you own a business or shares in a business, a common worry is that you will be forced to sell your business or give half of it to your spouse during divorce. However, this can normally be avoided by offsetting the value of the business against other marital assets, such as your home.
Should you or your spouse take the matter to court, a family court will often take a flexible approach because it is understood that forcing the sale of a business or giving part ownership to a person not involved in the business can harm the business and any employees it has.
Where you own shares in a business, a court may sometimes order the sale or transfer of shares as part of a divorce settlement, but whether this is likely will depend on the circumstances.
Yes, it is always a good idea to make a new Will when getting divorced. You do not need to wait for your divorce to be finalised before doing so, and, in fact, it is usually a good idea to make a new Will as soon as possible. Sadly, it is not unheard of for people to pass away during divorce proceedings and, if you do not take action, most or all of your estate could end up passing to your former spouse, even if this would not have been your intention.
For more information on negotiating divorce financial settlement agreements get in touch with our divorce solicitors today.
You can contact your local Glanville’s office in Chichester, Fareham, Havant or Petworth or use the enquiry form to ask a question and get a quick response.
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