Finances and Property after Separation or Divorce

Your finances and property after divorce

You will wish to ensure that there is a fair division of finances on divorce. This includes your home , pensions, savings, other properties, business assets, capital assets or income belonging to you and your spouse.

Fair division of assets

A divorce settlement, in the form of a court order, sets out clearly how the assets and income will be divided between you on your divorce. It is important to remember that the divorce settlement is not legally binding or ‘watertight’ until it is approved by the court.

As a first step, we will seek to agree the terms of the divorce settlement with your spouse through discussion and negotiation. If this is not possible then ultimately we can ask a Judge to decide how the assets and income will be shared between you.

There is no set formula for working out the terms of the divorce settlement, and it is not always a simple 50/50 split.

The law requires us to look at your specific circumstances, and then apply a number of factors to work out how fairness is best achieved. Those factors include:

Length of the marriage
Standard of living during the marriage
Source of the assets (including any inheritances from one side of the family)
Earning capacity of each spouse
Financial impact of any childcare responsibilities

The financial and housing needs of both spouses must be met as far as possible, with needs of dependent children taking priority.

Unmarried couples – finances and property on separation

The legal remedies for unmarried couples are different and other factors will apply.

If you own or share a property together, we will need to look at the legal documents that were prepared by the solicitors when you purchased the property, and to explore anything else that was subsequently agreed around shares of ownership. It may be possible for one partner to force a sale of the property to realise their share. If the property provides a home for your children, then the sale may be delayed until the children are older. This is a complex legal area, and we recommend you take legal advice from us at an early stage.

Further financial support can be claimed for child maintenance, or for capital sums/property to house the children, through the Child Maintenance Service, or via the court.