Divorce – What Are the First Steps?

Separating from a partner can be a challenging experience and you may have fears about your financial security for the future and the arrangements for your children. 

You will have lots of questions including the following: -

• What will happen to the family home and the mortgage?
• How will the bills be paid?
• What will you live on?
• What will happen to joint assets?
• Is there an entitlement to an income order or a pension share?
• How will capital be distributed?
• What happens to any business?
• How will we work out arrangements for the children?

The first sensible step is to have a meeting with a divorce lawyer (also known as a family lawyer, family solicitor, divorce solicitor and, in the USA, an attorney).  They will take detailed information from you in respect of your relationship, children, assets and liabilities and advise you as far as they can on what is likely to happen, how the Court may approach these issues and hopefully provide some reassurance.  These matters will be looked at and a plan will be agreed as to how they will be worked through and resolved.

Your divorce solicitor will be able to help you with:

• Any divorce application that will need to be made by you or your spouse.
• Arrangements that will need to be agreed in relation to the children.
• Financial issues that will need to be resolved and incorporated into a financial Consent Order.

Is urgent action required?

Initially your family lawyer will consider whether urgent action needs to be taken particularly if you fear that assets are being moved or disposed of or if you fear for your safety. There may also need to be consideration of what you will both live on in the interim until matters are fully resolved. Interim living arrangements and child arrangements will also be considered.

Sorting out finances on divorce

All assets, debts and income will need to be identified and given a value to enable negotiations to begin.

There are no set rules or calculations regarding what should happen financially on divorce and Judges have considerable discretion to take into consideration a number of factors such as the length of marriage, whether there are dependant children, housing needs and source of assets.  No two cases are exactly the same and each case will have unique issues.  It is therefore of paramount importance to obtain early advice about what you could reasonably expect to receive from an experienced family solicitor who specialises in this area of family law as it can be complex.

During divorce proceedings both parties are able to agree or apply to the Court for a number of financial orders including: -

• Sale/transfer of property
• Pension share/attachment
• Spousal maintenance
• Lump sum payment

Considerations which could affect how income and assets are split include: -

• If one of you brought assets into the marriage or introduced monies into the marriage by way of inheritance.
• The presence of a business and its value.
• Your earning potential now and in the future and in light of the length of the marriage and your ages.
• The needs of any dependant children.
• Whether one of you has a disability or disadvantage which may require additional assistance and support the future. 
• Disparity in pensions built up during the period of the relationship.

It takes time to work through all these matters. A divorce lawyer will be able to discuss with you which factors would be relevant in your case and what you should seek.

Once you have reached an agreement on financial matters this will need to be incorporated into a financial Consent Order. This is a legal document and should be prepared by a family lawyer. If you are unable to reach an agreement then you will need to consider court proceedings.  Your divorce lawyer will assist you through this process if required.

Those with a clear idea of what they wish to achieve, how they wish to achieve it and who have  realistic expectations, having had the benefit of legal advice, are more likely to succeed in reaching their desired financial settlement.

Child arrangements (previously known as custody)

It is not necessary to go to Court over child arrangements upon divorce if you can agree matters with your former partner.  The Court would prefer parents to agree between themselves where the child(ren) should live and how often they spend time with the other parent. A solicitor can help you negotiate child arrangements or alternatively you may prefer to discuss arrangements within mediation. Ultimately, however, if no agreement can be reached it may be necessary to make an application to the Court for a Child Arrangements Order. A family solicitor will discuss this with you carefully, the process involved and the factors that the Court will take into account in making their decision.

Sills & Betteridge LLP has one of the largest family law teams in the region with an office near you. We have experienced family lawyers in our award-winning family law team who specialise in divorce, financial claims, (including those involving pensions, businesses, farms, inherited assets, trusts, personal injury awards and investments), spousal maintenance (also known as periodical payments), pre-nuptial agreements, post-nuptial agreements, civil partnership disputes, separation agreements, child arrangements (previously known as custody) and grandparent rights. Our dedicated divorce and family solicitors can deal with both complex and straight-forward divorce and financial settlements and have an outstanding success record. They are highly regarded by the industry and clients alike reaching the prestigious top tier status in the Legal 500. They will help you understand what you are entitled to and work hard on your behalf to achieve that.

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