Divorce Solicitor in Kidlington

It is very unusual for the reasons stated in the divorce petition to impact on finances, the divorce is usually seen as a separate process to the finances.

No, many financial cases are resolved amicably whether by direct negotiation, mediation, collaborative law or solicitor-based negotiation. We can help you to resolve your situation without the need to attend at Court.

If an agreement is reached, we advise submitting it to the Court for approval to ensure it is reasonable and to make it legally binding.

If an agreement cannot be reached, possibly due to one or both parties being uncooperative or unreasonable, then it is likely one party (or both) will submit an application to the Court.

Court proceedings are usually used if :

• Your spouse is not giving you all the financial information you need to make a decision;
• There is no hope of negotiating a financial settlement after divorce which is fair;
• There are complex financial issues that you need a divorce Court to help you sort out;
• There is domestic violence – or the threat of it;
• There is an international element: if divorce proceedings may be started in another country, it may be necessary to issue divorce proceedings immediately in England or Wales

It is still possible to reach an agreement within the Court process. The majority of Court applications are resolved amicably, before a Judge needs to make a decision at a Final Hearing. This is often as a result of the financial disclosure that is required as part of the Court process.

However, if you and your spouse still cannot agree, ultimately a Judge will make a decision at a Final Hearing.

The objective is to transition into independence, with a financial order made to suit your circumstances. The order is binding on both parties and default clauses can be attached should either party fail to abide to the terms.

The family home will almost always be an asset of the marriage and will therefore be included in the financial negotiations. Divorce settlement negotiations start from the point of a broad equality in division of assets. If one spouse wishes to retain the family home, they will need to have enough other assets to be able to offset the value of their spouse’s share of the home by transferring assets of that value to their spouse.

If not enough assets are available to achieve this, then the family home may have to be sold so that the equity contained within it can be split.

In some situations, particularly if there are children, it can be possible to be more creative, for example, one spouse could stay in the family home with the children, and the spouse leaving the home could retain a defined financial interest in the property, which they will realise at an agreed future date.

You will still have the same rights to occupy the home as you had before and can move back in if you choose.

There may be practical problems if, for example, your spouse changes the locks. While you will be entitled to get back in, it makes sense to ensure that you take anything you may need – such as important documents – with you in the first place.

You will need to consider whether you will continue to contribute to the household bills such as mortgage repayments etc. if you leave the property. This could have an impact on the outcome of any financial proceedings between you and your spouse.

Please do contact us to seek advice if you are considering such a step.

You can apply to end your civil partnership if you have been in the partnership for at least a year.

You have to show that the relationship has irretrievably broken down, and that you have good reasons for ending the civil partnership.

There are four potential grounds for ending a civil partnership:

• Unreasonable behaviour – your partner has behaved so badly that you can no longer bear to live with them. This could include physical or mental cruelty, verbal or physical abuse, being irresponsible with money, and being sexually unfaithful.
• Desertion – your partner has left you: without your agreement, without good reason, to end your relationship, for more than two years in the past two and half years (you can still claim desertion if you have lived together for up to a total of 6 months within this period).
• You have lived apart for more than two years – you can get a dissolution if you have lived apart for more than two years, and both agree to end the civil partnership – this must be demonstrated in writing.
• You have lived apart for more than five years – living apart for more than five years is usually enough to end a civil partnership, even if your civil partner disagrees.

If your spouse can make withdrawals from a joint account without your agreement, you run the risk that some or all of the money will be taken. You will also be jointly liable for any debts run up on the account.

If you need access to the money or if you suspect that your spouse may misuse it, you may want to close the account. The same applies to any other form of joint borrowing or spending facility, such as a joint credit card.

However, if you suddenly freeze accounts that your spouse needs for living expenses, this will create problems. Your spouse will want you to make appropriate maintenance payments and may apply to the court for an interim financial order.

If your spouse is the sole owner of the family home, you should apply to the Land

Registry to register an interest in the property. This will prevent the house being sold without your consent.

You may be eligible as a Petitioner to recover some costs of the divorce ‘court issue fee’ depending on the Ground of divorce submitted. You may also be eligible to recover some costs where the opponent is shown to act unreasonably during the Court process, which often results in wasted hearings.  If your opponent is legal aid funded, it is unlikely that you will recover your costs.

It is a common mistake to expect that the other side will automatically be ordered to pay your costs.

Pension sharing is one of the financial options available on divorce or the dissolution of a civil partnership. It provides a ‘clean break’ between parties, as the pension assets are split immediately. This means that each party can decide what to do with their share independently.

If you decide to opt for pension sharing on your divorce or dissolution of your civil partnership, the Court will issue a pension sharing order (PSO) which states how much of your pension, you, or your ex-spouse or partner is entitled to receive.

The amount is expressed as a percentage of the transfer value(s) of the pension(s) that are to be split and therefore an up-to date transfer value is required. Each transfer value is worked out the day before the pension sharing order comes into effect.

The court will take into account any pensions that you or your spouse may have.

This can include state pensions, schemes offered by an employer, or private pension plans.

Before pension sharing can be set up, you must establish how much any pensions held are worth.

You should include any:

• Pensions you have through an employer
• Additional State pension (this means any pension from the State Pension scheme in addition to your basic State Pension, ie. that you earned while in employment. The basic State Pension cannot currently be split in a pension sharing scheme.)
• Personal pension schemes

It must be the person who holds the pension who applies for a pension valuation.

The exact amount of the pension credit won’t be known until the court order is finalised. When this happens, the amount to be transferred should be a percentage of the cash equivalent transfer value (CETV).

This is where it can get a bit confusing, as the CETV can change over time – even within the time it takes to finalise a divorce. It changes in value because of moves in the stock market, making it important when negotiating a pension share to work off the most up-to-date valuations.

However, what you need to know is the ex-partner will always be entitled to a pension credit equal to the value of the pension debit. In other words, there’s no difference in what is lost and what is gained. But the pension won’t be shared as an exact 50/50 split. Normally, the aim is to ensure equal incomes in retirement, taking into account the other assets.

There are two ways a pension share can be received:

• The receiving party can become a member of their ex-spouse’s scheme in their own right (internal transfer);
• The receiving party can transfer the value to another pension arrangement in their own name (external transfer).

Whatever you decide to do, after the sharing order comes into effect, the receiving party owns the pension in their own right and can manage it how they want.

If you’re thinking about obtaining a Pension Sharing Order, but would like some more guidance about this and other options available to you, we offer free 20-minute appointments which you can book via telephone or our contact form, where one of our experienced fee earners will take time to listen to your queries and advise you on the best course of action in your circumstances.