Blog - Helpful Tips

We’ve agreed on the finances…

…please just draw up the paperwork! This is rarely appropriate.  Couples often agree on financial arrangements without realising that what they’ve agreed is not satisfactory and is nowhere near what the court would order if it was left to the court to make the decision.  Often both spouses have quite innocently and understandably made assumptions,
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Can we get divorced if we both agree the marriage is over?

Only if you wait for two years after separating, and even then only one of you can petition for divorce.  If you want to get divorced sooner, one of you will have to divorce the other relying on adultery or unreasonable behaviour.

Can I get divorced on the basis of my own adultery?

This question crops up from time to time.  The answer is no – divorce in England and Wales is fault-based (unless you rely on 2 years’ or 5 years’ separation) and you must satisfy the court that your spouse has committed adultery or behaved unreasonably.  There is no mechanism for getting a divorce because of
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Don’t deal piecemeal with your finances

When you are getting divorced there can be a temptation to deal piecemeal with the financial arrangements.  This is not a good idea. Don’t agree what’s going to happen with the house, then look at endowment policies, then bank accounts, and so on.  Get a comprehensive picture of what there is and what everything is
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Financial disclosure – don’t be tempted to skip it!

Before beginning to negotiate a financial settlement on divorce, it is essential to exchange full financial information and documents with your husband / wife.  This is normally done by your respective solicitors putting all the papers in the post simultaneously on the same day. “But I know everything about my husband’s / wife’s financial situation” Well, possibly,
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Pension sharing – do I really need an expert’s report?

Yes, probably, if there is going to be pension sharing.  By law, a pension sharing order must be expressed as a percentage of the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) or Cash Equivalent of Benefits (CEB – used in the case of pension already in payment).  It is not possible for a lay person, which in
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Divorce – do I have to go to court?

If your divorce is straightforward you probably won’t have to have a court hearing and everything will be done through the post.  The two main exceptions are if you can’t agree over the costs of the divorce and if you can’t agree over the financial arrangements.

Two years’ separation with consent (advice)

I have no statistical evidence to support this, but my impression is that divorces based on two years’ separation with consent are less common than they used to be.  If I am right, the reason may be the introduction of pension sharing ten years ago. If a couple decide to wait for two years before
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Serving the joint tenancy

Why you need to consider it…. If you are separating or already separated and you own your property as joint tenants (see posts ‘joint tenancy‘ and ‘tenancy in common‘), you need to think what will happen if you die while you still own the property. In a few months’ time, when you have reached agreement on financial
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Divorce Costs – advice

Sorting out the finances when you get divorced – how much will it cost? The question is notoriously difficult to answer, but it helps if you understand the work that may be involved. Before you start negotiating a financial agreement you must have full financial disclosure. Each party assembles all their financial information, with documentary evidence (for
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