Services

Financial arrangements

One of the most stressful aspects of separating from your partner is how you will share the assets you share or individually own. You may be unsure of what exactly you or your partner are entitled to or responsible for and exactly what assets can be included in a settlement. Assets can include money (money in a current account or savings, investments, pensions etc), property (the family home and/or other properties owned by either of you), businesses, cars, household or personal items and debts (including credit cards and loans).

You may also be worried about what your future looks like financially and what you or your partner are entitled to in relation to any future financial support. A financial agreement will deal with both of these things and be issued in a financial order by the Court, making it legally binding.

You or your partner can make an application to Court to make arrangements in relation to all of these matters.

Application for a financial order

You can make an application to the Court to issue a legally binding order directing what will happen to all the assets and future income of both yourself and your partner, if applicable.

Form E

Once the Court receive an application, they will ask both parties to complete FORM E, which is a form disclosing all relevant financial matters to the Court. FORM E is a questionnaire which asks each party to set out their financial position for the purposes of informing both the Court and their partner of what financial matters need to be decided.

The Court will also want to see a statement detailing what the financial issues are, a chronology of events, a questionnaire (If you wish to question your partners financial disclosure) and a form confirming if the first hearing will conclude the matter by way of agreement or if further directions are required.

The first court hearing

There will be a first hearing, at which the Court will confirm if they have all the information they need. The Court will want to see all the relevant financial information and we will help you to ensure that this is all in place and presented properly to the Courts satisfaction.

If the Court needs more information, they will ask for it at this hearing. The Court will set a date both for the submission of this missing information and a date for the next hearing.

The Court may wish to see valuations for any relevant assets or request expert evidence in order to help them decipher what final order needs to be made. Your solicitor at Alta Law will help you with this.

Future hearings

The Courts task is to decide how the assets and income of the parties are split and that this arrangement is fair. The way that the Court will do this is by applying key legal principles from statutory law and case law, as well as the Judge using their own discretion to decide what is appropriate in the circumstances. They will need to have all the relevant information in order to come to a decision. Therefore, it is difficult to say how many hearings will be required and what the final order will look like.

Prior to the first hearing and throughout the process, we will attempt to negotiate with the other side to come to a settlement according to your instructions. If we are able to do this, we will ask the Court to make this settlement legally binding.

Factors which may impact a final order

As well as the statutory and case law, the Judge will consider a number of other factors when making a final decision. The duration of the marriage will be relevant, as well as the age of the parties. The standard of living enjoyed by both of you during the marriage will be a consideration.

The income and future earnings of both parties and any relevant assets will be relevant. The Judge will also want to ensure that the welfare of both the family and any children are taken care of going forwards. The (bad) conduct of each party will also be considered, as well as any physical or mental disabilities of the parties. The Judge will also be interested in how each party has contributed in the marriage, This includes not only financial contributions, but also who looked after and maintained the home and the children.

If there was a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement in place, this will also be a relevant factor in a final decision.

The Judge will examine whether a clean break might be appropriate in the circumstances. A clean break is when any financial ties between the parties is ended after a divorce or a dissolution of a marriage. This would put an end to any spousal maintenance payments.

Your solicitor at Alta Law will help you navigate through all of these issues and ensure that we manage your case in a way that is both easiest for you while trying our upmost to achieve the desired result.

Types of final order that the Court can make

1. Spouse maintenance: This details any maintenance payments you may be required to pay or be paid in order to financially support yourself and any children, and relates to any income from employment or other income being received.

2. Lump sum, property adjustment and pension sharing: This details your share of any value of the matrimonial assets such as property either owned jointly or solely by one party, savings and investments, other relevant possessions and any pension funds.

3. Clean break: This is a financial settlement agreed by both parties which will conclude the financial ties between the parties. It means that there will be no spousal maintenance and no possibility of future claims being made by either party.

Legal Costs

Each party is normally required to pay their own legal costs, but you may be awarded with a financial settlement from the Court.

If you require further advice, information or assistance regarding the service outlined above, please get in touch below: