Husband Couldn’t Get Wife to Agree Finances in Divorce

How We Helped

Mr G called our Divorce Solicitors to get legal advice and help. He explained the situation he was experiencing with his wife.

He understandably did not want to go to Court to arrange the financial settlement as the financial costs of going to Court can be high and it can be extremely emotionally draining too.

The wife wanted to stay in the family home and continue to care for the children, but Mr G wanted to sell the property to release some capital, which would allow them both to purchase new properties separately.

The disagreements continued, negotiations stalled and the situation seemed to be moving towards going to Court to let a Judge decide on a fair solution to split the matrimonial assets.

Neither of them wanted to disclose their financial assets to the other one voluntarily due to a lack of trust but until that was done, there was no way forward.

We continued to liaise with Mr G and his wife’s Solicitor to try and encourage voluntary disclosure of financial assets from them both. This was achieved in a short timeframe and allowed both Mr G and his wife to see exactly what their financial situation was. Being in this position finally allowed productive settlement negotiations to begin.

Both our Divorce Solicitor and the wife’s Solicitor could each work with their clients to find a way to identify exactly what issues were blocking the agreement and to resolve them in a way that was fair to both parties.

In addition to the issues with finances, Mr G wanted to obtain the Decree Absolute before the settlement of the finances so he could remarry.  As Mr G was the “Respondent” in the divorce, he had to submit a statement to the Court as to why he was applying.

A hearing was listed but we were successful in getting the wife to agree to the Decree Absolute. We reassured Mr G’s wife that it would not affect her financial position and avoided the hearing.

The Outcome

Once financial disclosure took place, negotiations moved quickly and they reached an agreement. Mr G and his wife agreed to keep each of their sole belongings after the divorce.

Mr G and his wife agreed that she would stay in their former family home until their younger daughter reached 18 years old and Mr G would continue to pay the mortgage until then.

At that point, if Mrs G could not buy out Mr G, the former family home would then be sold and the proceeds from the sale would be split 70/30 between them. This was because Mr G has a greater mortgage and earning capacity.

Mr G’s wife would continue to receive maintenance payments whilst the girls were living in the family home but those payments would be stepped down when the first daughter reached 18.

Mrs G also asked that a life assurance policy be assigned to her so that the maintenance payments would be covered in the event of death.  Having the assignment gave her peace of mind that she would remain the beneficiary, rather than the new wife.

Once the property was sold and the proceeds split, there would be a “clean break” in place at that point. That meant that Mr G’s wife would have no future claim against Mr G from that point onwards.

Both Mr G and his wife were satisfied with the divorce financial agreement so our Divorce Solicitor applied to the Court for approval of the Consent Order. The Court recognised that it was a fair financial agreement and approved the Consent Order within two weeks which is unusually quick.

In a divorce, a Consent Order is required to finalise your finances. Technically, the final stage of the divorce process is known as the Decree Absolute however if you don’t obtain a Consent Order then your ex-spouse is potentially entitled to make a financial claim against you at any point in the future. There is no cut off date for this. 

If you and your ex have any assets, then it’s essential that you obtain a Consent Order. A Consent Order sets out the financial arrangements that you and your ex have agreed. It will detail how your property, pensions, debts and assets are to be split in your divorce. It might also include provisions about spousal maintenance and/or child maintenance.

If, between yourselves, you and your ex can decide how your finances are to be divided, then you simply need to ask a Divorce Solicitor to draft your agreement into a Consent Order.

For advice regarding Consent Orders, you can get in touch with our expert Divorce Solicitors on 0808 258 6144 or by requesting a call back here.

Both Mr G and his wife were relieved that they did not have to spend large amounts of money to go to Court to resolve their financial arrangements, and Mr G appreciated the patience and perseverance displayed by our expert Divorce Solicitor to get a good outcome.

If you haven’t agreed how to divide your finances, we can help you in any financial claim that you may want to make or represent you in any application made by your former partner to make sure you’re protected.