Finances on Divorce or Dissolution

The Court has extensive powers to deal with finances on divorce or dissolution to achieve a fair result.  There are only very limited powers to deal with finances outside of any divorce/dissolution and these powers are rarely exercised.  Normally it is necessary for one or other party to apply for financial resolution within the divorce/dissolution paperwork for the Court to be able to exercise the powers to deal with this.

Unless and until the Court gives an Order dealing with the financial issues nothing is finalised.  Even then certain aspects of matters may remain open, particularly where it is a long marriage/civil partnership or there are children involved.  Should you agree a financial settlement in the meantime this is something the Court will have regard to, but is not binding. Should your financial position have improved in the meantime then the Court is entitled to take this into account.

An order dealing with the finances is not normally granted prior to Decree Absolute/Final Order, as the marriage/partnership needs to be over to finalise the financial issues.  Where agreement is reached before this it will usually have to wait on the Decree Absolute/Final Order.  The Court does have some powers to make Orders in the meantime.

If you re-marry or enter into a civil partnership before applying for financial relief you may find you no longer have any entitlement to anything.  Even worse, while you may no longer have an entitlement to claim your ex will still be able to claim unless they have re-married/entered into a new civil partnership as well.  If property is involved then the Court will have some power to deal with this, but the considerations are much more restrictive and may boil down to who paid for what  rather than taking into account all matters.  In addition, capital gains tax exemption expires 1 year after "separation" so if you delay resolving matters you may find you face a hefty tax bill as well.

We are here to help 24 hours a day 365 days a year.  Either e-mail us anytime, call (01296) 662770 (Nick) or (01525) 373322 (Richard) during the normal working day or (07973) 424178 in an emergency.