There is o doubt that divorce (or dissolution, i.e. ending a civil partnership) can be a challenging and stressful experience, and the division of property with your ex-spouse can be one of the most difficult tasks. It often leads to disputes over property and disagreements about contributions to the shared property pool. It is advisable to reach an agreement outside of court about how your finances will be divided.
What to Include in a Financial Agreement
Property
When determining how to divide your property and you have children under 18 who depend on you, their well-being and needs must be taken into account. This will be the judge’s top priority when you apply for a consent order.
With this overriding objective in mind, we will look at different options of dealing with your property. Those include for example: sell and share; buy out, Mesher order or transfer of value.
Pensions
It’s crucial to consider pensions when making decisions about sharing your finances. Dealing with pensions during a divorce can be complex but omitting them can be a costly error. For the purpose of mediation, it is crucial to understand pensions and their significance in the broader context of resolving your divorce. I will provide you with necessary information during the financial disclosure process. You can also seek legal advice in this area. In the meantime, I encourage you to read about pensions in preparation for legal advice and mediation. You will find helpful resources under Useful Links.
Savings, Investments and Other Assets
The most common assets shared in mediation are savings, investments, and insurance policies. Those can belong to either of you or just one of you. In mediation, we will aim to reach a fair agreement. To determine how to share them, we will take a close look at the hard figures. This is the only way you will be able to determine what might be fair and work in your particular situation.
Spousal Maintenance
The concept of spousal maintenance refers to regular payments made by a former spouse with a higher income to a former spouse with a lower income for their living expenses. It depends on the length of the marriage or civil partnership as well as the ability to earn. You can set a maintenance payment for a period of time or until one of you dies, marries or enters into a new civil partnership.
Clean Break
When we speak of a clean break, we mean ending the financial ties between spouses as soon as is reasonable after the divorce or dissolution. Spousal maintenance is not payable in cases of a clean break. It may be advantageous to arrange a clean break when you are dividing assets and property. However, it can be agreed under the condition that it is fair and reasonable.
To ensure that neither of you can attempt to make financial claims against each other in the future you must convert your agreement into a court order.
Making the agreement legally binding
Once you both agree on how to divide property, money and other assets, I will ask you to obtain independent legal advice and, once we know that your agreement is fair, you can sign it and apply to the court for a consent order. The court order will make your agreement legally binding.
I need a Financial Agreement
To start working on your separation agreement follow this simple process:
- Book an obligation-free initial consultation with me here.
- Complete your MIAM
- I will invite the other participant to complete their MIAM
- If mediation is not suitable, I will issue the applicable court certificates
- If mediation is suitable, we can start working on your financial agreement