Divorce & Financial Settlement - where do I begin?

This is the first question people ask in many of the enquiries I receive. I am going to set out this blog with a series of questions and issues you will need to consider.

Is the marriage over? This is the first and most obvious question. It will determine how to move forward.. If you are not sure of the answer to this, it might be that you simply want to find out what will happen if you do separate and divorce. You may also wish to seek counselling or other support to help you decide whether you wish to continue in the marriage. However, if you are certain the marriage is over, then in the vast majority of cases, in order to move on with ending the marriage, and crucially, dealing with finances, you will need to start the divorce.

OK, I know I want to divorce, what next? There are probably three first steps, and they are not necessarily done in this order:

1. Speak to a solicitor, both to identify the person who will assist you with the legal aspects of a financial agreement, and to obtain some initial advice. A lot of people have questions at this stage, such as: What might I be entitled to? Should I move out? etc.

2. Have a conversation with your husband or wife. Only do this if you feel safe to do so, but in the majority of cases it is far better that he or she hears this from you, than their first knowledge being a divorce application or solicitor's letter arriving.

3. Decide which process you might use to try and reach an agreement on finances. There are various voluntary process, including mediation, and you can discuss these in your first call with a solicitor. I have another blog which you can find here which explains about the possible options.

What happens after that? Hopefully it will be possible for you and your husband or wife to agree a way to proceed. If that is not possible, you will need to consider a more formal route, such as arbitration, or even court. Once you are in a process, the usual course will be that there is proper disclosure of all financial circumstances on both sides, gathering of any extra evidence needed (eg. property valuations, pension reports), and then negotiations, hopefully resulting in a settlement. If not, in arbitration or court, a decision will be made on your outcome by an arbitrator or judge.

How does it end? It usually ends with a financial remedies order, whether by consent or decided by a Judge. After this, the final order of the actual divorce is applied for which dissolves the marriage. The terms in the order will be implemented (if needed), and then you can both go your separate ways.

The above is very general, and every case is different. If you would like to talk about any of this, please get in touch here.