Making the decision to get divorced is difficult on both an emotional and financial level. The first thing to be aware of is that there’s no standard formula for splitting assets in divorce. Instead, the aim is to achieve a fair outcome for both people.
The Court has a duty to consider all the financial circumstances of your case and its first consideration must be the welfare of any child under 18 years old. It will then consider a range of statutory factors, found in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (section 25 factors, see below).
For initial advice get in touch with our Divorce Solicitors.
We're rated‘Excellent’A Judge will decide on the fairest way to divide your assets and they have a lot of discretion. However, a standard approach has developed, with a starting point of equal division of assets acquired during the course of the marriage.
Where there aren’t enough financial assets to adequately meet both you and your spouse’s needs, then the Court may divide the assets unequally or delay equal division. A classic example of delaying equal division can occur where the matrimonial home may not be sold until any children reach the age of 18 - at which point the proceeds of the sale are divided.
As the Court must first address the needs of you and your spouse, the distinction between assets acquired during the course of your marriage or pre-acquired and/or inherited assets may be of little significance. If you and your spouse’s needs can be met by the financial assets available, then the Court will look at the facts of your case, such as the length of the marriage, to determine entitlement to assets acquired outside the marriage.
Generally, the matrimonial home is seen as a shared asset to be divided equally, although in a small number of cases this can be departed from, for example, where the marriage has been a short one and there are no children.
It may be that you and your partner can come to an agreement as to how to divide your assets when you divorce. A Divorce Solicitor or mediator can help you in such an agreement and prepare the necessary documents to make the agreement legally binding. If you can’t reach an agreement, then financial remedy proceedings may need to be issued.
For related information see Divorce Financial Orders and Financial Settlements.
Our Divorce Solicitors are here to assist you wherever possible.
In England and Wales, a Financial Order is a Court Order that sets out the financial arrangements between you and your ex-partner after a divorce. A Decree Absolute will bring your marriage to a legal end, but a Financial Order will create a legally binding agreement settling your finances.
A financial order is a legally binding document which outlines how matrimonial assets will be divided following a divorce. A lot of people think that if they don’t have much to split between them, they won’t need a financial order when they divorce.
Many couples have had to change their plans to ‘tie the knot’ as COVID-19 continued to spread amongst the world, but with most people now fully vaccinated, together with the Governments plans not to change any existing restrictions, a lot of people seem set to go ahead with their special day.
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