Finance in Divorce: An Essential Guide by Expert Wealth Management
Looking at the details of finance in divorce.
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● Divorce is a stressful time for any couple involved.
● Financial demands can cause anxiety and pain.
● They can also be deeply complicated and can require Professional Advice.
Understand Potential Issues and Consequences of Divorce
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● A Divorce in England and Wales costs £410 before starting any proceedings.
● A further £255 is payable when starting Financial Proceedings.
● These costs precede Legal fees to cover Lawyers and Solicitors.
Initial Courses of Action and Costs
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● It is likely that you and your spouse accumulated a number of joint assets during marriage.
● Financial Assets can include: ● Property● Pensions● Business Assets● Overseas Assets● Assets held in Trust
Division of Marital Assets
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● People can decide to split their Property in several different ways
● If there are Children involved, then Property is usually prioritised to the party with custody so as to provide welfare.
Property
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Property● Two options for distributing Property are:
o Bartering - Where one spouse takes items in a straight exchange for others e.g. House for the Car
o Selling - Property is sold with the proceeds split between the two spouses. There can be extra administrative costs associated with this method
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● Pensions are Marital Assets just like Property.
● The options on Pension distribution are:
o OFFSETTING the value of one pension fund by transferring the contents of it into another.
o SPLITTING the pension fund into two separate funds - one for each spouse.
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Pensions
● The best settlement for Business Assets is one which allows the business to keep trading normally; not necessarily to the spouse who built it up.
● The most common options are:
o One partner retains ownership of the business and pay maintenance on its profits.
o One partner retains ownership of the business but BORROWS against its value to provide a lump sum for the spouse.
o The Business is SPLIT into two separate businesses.
Business Assets
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● Foreign Assets need to be accounted for as well in a divorce.
● If you think that your partner is holding overseas assets to hide them from you then you should seek IMMEDIATE LEGAL ADVICE.
Overseas Assets
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● These must be declared in a divorce settlement if a spouse could benefit from it.
● When the other spouse is likely to have been a beneficiary of the trust these can be an important part of any divorce settlement.
Assets Held in a Trust
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● It is important to consider the shared debt you and your spouse possess
● The best course of action at the start of proceedings is to pay all existing debts off
● If you lack the capital to do so, here are the options:
o Agree to take responsibility for debts in return for the majority of marital assets.
o Agree to let your spouse do the same.o Share debt equally - although you are still liable if your
spouse does not pay.
Debt
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● There’s no common way to measure Maintenance Payment division!
● There are, however, factors involved which can help determine this:
o Each partner’s needs, assets and ability to earn income
o Standard of Living before the break-up
o Length of Marriageo Contributions of each partner to
relationship
Maintenance Payments
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● It is important not to measure the contributions of a spouse in purely financial terms
● If your spouse refuses to pay you can get a Financial Order and the court becomes liable to enforce payments.
● Any child under the age of 16, or under 20 and in full time education is entitled to maintenance payments
Maintenance Payments
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For more information about divorce and its financial implications,
please call Expert Wealth Management today.
Call: 01993 772467
CONTACT US ONLINE
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