For many Jewish women the prospect of getting divorced not only makes them worry about how their children will cope, raises fear for their future financial security but makes them question whether they will end up in limbo, with a civil law decree absolute of divorce from the Manchester divorce court but no religious Get. A new case may bring hope to those worried about securing a Get after their separation and civil divorce.Manchester divorce solicitors If you are divorcing and are worried about securing a Get or about negotiating the childcare arrangements for your children or your divorce financial settlement then the Manchester divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law in Whitefield can help you. Call us on 0345 222 8 222, complete our online enquiry form or email robin@evolvefamilylaw.co.uk Whitefield based Evolve Family Law solicitors are approachable and friendly, providing pragmatic expert divorce advice, financial settlement solutions and children law resolutions. Call us on 0345 222 8 222 and let the Whitefield divorce solicitors help you.Obtaining a Get The law has tried to help those trapped having secured separation or a civil divorce but unable to move on with their lives because they are not able to secure a religious divorce or Get. In what is being described as a landmark case, a woman has used legislation designed to protect victims of domestic violence to secure her Get. In this blog we look at how she achieved her Get and the alternatives to her course of action.   Obtaining a Get by private prosecution An unnamed women from London obtained her Get after launching a private criminal prosecution against her husband for coercive control.   The case is thought to be the first time that the UK criminal justice system has been used as a means to secure a Get to enable the London woman to be able to remarry according to Jewish law.   If you are wondering about what the judge and jury said, this is a case where the private prosecution of the husband was withdrawn when he agreed to give his wife a Get. That meant his crown court trial didn’t take place and therefore the jury did not have to assess whether the man was guilty or innocent of the law against ‘coercive control’.   The wife used Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 to bring the private prosecution. The 2015 Act created a new offence of coercive or controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship. An offence is committed if: A person repeatedly or continuously engages in behaviour towards another person that is controlling or coercive and the two people are personally connected The person committing the behaviour knows or ought to know that their behaviour will have a serious impact and the behaviour does have a serious impact on the person subjected to the behaviour.   To be charged with an offence under the 2015 Act you must have committed controlling or coercive behaviour towards a ‘personally connected’ person. The law says you are personally connected if: You are in an intimate personal relationship or You live together and are family members or You lived together and were in an intimate personal relationship with one another.    Had the husband been found guilty of the criminal charge then he could have faced a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. That was probably a very powerful motive to agree to give the wife a Get. However, some may argue that the Get was not freely given by the husband as he felt under pressure to provide the Get rather than offering it of his own free will.   Obtaining a Get through injunction proceedings  In the London case a private criminal prosecution was launched but the case is making Manchester divorce solicitors question whether a Jewish woman could apply for a civil or family court order alleging coercive control as a means to try and secure co-operation and the granting of the Get.   Many women assume that they cannot apply for a family court injunction order because their husband has not been violent towards them, or if he has it was ‘just a push or a slap’. The law on domestic violence is clear, domestic abuse includes emotional and psychological abuse as well as coercive and controlling behaviour. In addition, any form of domestic violence is unacceptable.   Accordingly, some women may want to consider if injunction proceedings would help provide leverage to secure their Get, in the same way that the wife used her private criminal prosecution to achieve her goal of freedom and an end to her being in legal limbo.   Obtaining a Get through UK divorce law For a wife who wants to secure a Get but their husband is not co-operating the most widely known legal option is to use Section 10A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, amended by the Divorce (Religious Marriages) Act 2002).   Under this legislation either a husband or wife is entitled to apply to the divorce court for an order stopping the decree absolute of divorce from being pronounced until the Get is obtained.   In another recent court case, spousal maintenance law was used as a means to achieve a Get. A Manchester businessman appealed against a financial court order made in divorce court proceedings. The court had ordered him to pay spousal maintenance at the rate of £1,850 a month until he gave his wife a Get.   The husband, Mr Moher, appealed saying it was wrong to order him to pay spousal maintenance until he gave his wife a Get because it introduced compulsion and, under Jewish law, a Get should be given of your own free will. The court of appeal disagreed and upheld the spousal maintenance order.   Talk to your divorce solicitor If you need a Get then it is important that you tell your Manchester divorce solicitor this so that they know, in any negotiations, just how important the Get is to you and to your future happiness.   Once your Manchester divorce solicitor understands that you need the Get to re-marry under Jewish law and to have more children then this should be a priority for them. Even if your husband says he will cooperate and give you a Get or you do not contemplate re-marriage, it is still important to record the agreement on securing a Get in case your husband decides not to co-operate.   Robin Charrot, divorce and financial settlement solicitor at Evolve Family Law based in Whitefield, Manchester says:   ‘’ Obtaining a Get can sometimes be hard work when a husband refuses to cooperate or prevaricates. It is vital that your divorce solicitor understands the importance of the Get to you. I have had solicitors question why it is significant to obtain a Get if a wife has achieved a civil UK law divorce as well as sorted out a child arrangements order and her divorce financial settlement. From my perspective, if a client wants Get it means the difference between a wife being able to get over her divorce and move on with her life feeling positive about her future and feeling trapped and forever controlled by her former husband. That is why the Get is so important and why the London landmark private prosecution will generate a lot of interest in Whitefield and North Manchester. It is another option to explore to secure your Get.’’Manchester Divorce solicitors If you are contemplating a separation or starting civil divorce proceedings but are worried about obtaining a Get then Manchester divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law in Whitefield can help you. Call the Whitefield divorce solicitor us on 0345 222 8 222, complete our online enquiry form or email robin@evolvefamilylaw.co.uk   Whitefield based Evolve Family Law solicitors are approachable and friendly, providing pragmatic expert divorce, children and financial settlement law advice. Call Evolve Family Law on 0345 222 8 222 and let us help you.Latest From Our Marriage & Divorce Blogs:

When it comes to pension rights and answering the question ‘do I have to share my pension if I divorce,’ the frustrating response to hear from a Manchester divorce solicitor is that there isn’t a yes or no answer to your pension rights question. In this blog we look at just how complicated it can be to unravel pension rights on divorce and answer some of the common questions that are raised by husbands or wives worried about the thought of having to share their pension on divorce.   Pension and divorce experts Our Manchester divorce solicitors are often told by husbands or wives that their pension can't be shared on the breakdown of their relationship for a whole variety of reasons including: The pension can't be touched until I retire so can't be shared now The pension was started before the marriage The pension is linked to the family business You can't share a final salary pension on divorce The pension isn’t valuable enough to share on divorce My employer won't let me share my work pension on divorce Pensions can't be shared if you are in a civil partnership and not married.   All of those are wrong! If you start off on ‘the wrong foot’ with misinformation about pension rights on divorce it is very easy to either: Believe your pension can't be touched and therefore be unwilling to negotiate on pension rights and divorce Assume that your husband or wife's pension can't be worth much and is incapable of being divided or shared until you both reach retirement age.   To avoid reaching fixed views on pension rights and divorce it is best to take early legal advice from Manchester divorce solicitors and financial advice so you know where you stand legally and financially. Early advice means neither of you should have entrenched pension positions and be more open to negotiating a financial settlement that may or may not involve sharing pensions.   Joint pensions Many husband and wife's assume that their pension is a joint pension with their spouse. A Manchester divorce solicitor or financial advisor will tell you that a pension is only legally owned by one party so technically the pension will belong to you or to your spouse. Even though you may or may not own the pension, on divorce most pensions are capable of being shared so that the non-owning husband or wife gets a share of the pension.   Pensions can be a complex topic as there are so many different types of pension. You may be adamant that your pension is joint with your husband or wife because: You are both shareholders and company directors in a family business and have a pension linked to the business You both set up private pension schemes at the same time You have property or land owned in a pension fund.   No pension is a jointly legally owned asset. Even if you and your spouse both have funds in a SIPP or own a business property within a pension fund you will both have individual shares in the pension pot.   Although pensions are not joint assets because they are not legally owned by both of you they will normally be taken into account in any divorce financial settlement and can be shared or the pension value offset against the value of other family assets. Are pensions ever ignored in divorce financial settlements? In most separations and divorces pensions are not ignored in the divorce financial settlement. That is because the pension is often the most valuable asset after the equity in the family home.   There are a few limited family scenarios where the value of the pension won't feature highly, for example: A young couple with no children A very short marriage with no prior period of cohabitation before marriage and no children A marriage where the husband and wife agreed to ignore the value of pension assets if they separated or divorced by signing a prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement. This is OK if the terms of the prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement meets the needs of the husband and wife.   Are pensions always shared equally? Pension assets may not be shared at all, for example, you may agree or the family court may order that one of you gets a bigger share of other assets, such as the equity in the family home or savings.   If you do agree to a pension share or the financial court order includes a pension sharing order then your husband or wife could get a percentage from one to a hundred percent of your pension fund.   The court is more likely to make a financial court order that includes pension sharing where: The value of the pension funds makes it worthwhile to share the pension. If the pension only has a small value then the administrative costs of sharing the pension may not be justified There are sufficient assets to not require one of you to need to receive all or the majority of the equity in the family home to rehouse yourself and to offset the value of the pension.   Even if you and your spouse or the family court orders that a pension is split equally between husband and wife that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will both get the same amount of pension income from your equal share of the pension fund. The pension income differential can be down to age or gender. That is why many Manchester divorce solicitors and family courts prefer to arrange for pensions to be shared to achieve equality of pension income on retirement rather than a straight equal division of the capital value of the pension fund.   How to value a pension in a divorce financial settlement It is often thought by a husband or wife that valuing a pension in divorce and financial settlement proceedings is easy as you can just rely on the annual statement that pension administrators provide. Most of these annual pension statements will include what is said to be the ‘cash transfer value’ of the pension fund.   If the fund value of the pension is accurate then you may think it is a straight forward process to either agree a pension offsetting figure (the amount that one of you will receive for not getting a share of the pension) or agree the percentage of the pension share. However, the cash transfer value of a pension can be wildly inaccurate or misleading. For example, two pensions may both have a cash transfer value of £500,000. You would assume therefore that as both pensions are worth the same amount they will produce the same pension income on retirement. That’s not the case because one pension may be a final salary pension and the other a personal pension or a SIPP.   Getting expert legal advice and actuarial pension advice can be crucial in helping you: Accurately value your pension assets Reach a fair financial settlement.   Can I ring fence my pension and leave it out of the financial settlement? Manchester divorce solicitors are often asked if pensions can be kept out of divorce financial settlements. Even if you both agree to ignore the value of a pension the asset still needs to be disclosed. A husband and wife are under a duty to provide full financial disclosure. Failure to give information about your pension isn’t in your interests. If you do not disclose an asset then any agreement or financial court order could potentially be overturned at a later date because of the lack of full and accurate financial disclosure.   It therefore pays to disclose the existence of all assets, including pensions, even if you and your spouse chose to ignore the value of the pension in your financial settlement negotiations.   Many husband's and wife's struggle with the idea that the value of their pension may not be ignored in the financial settlement, even though: They started the pension before the marriage and all the pension contributions were made prior to the marriage Their pension is in payment Their spouse is in a new relationship and so they don’t think that he/she needs a share of their pension They signed a prenuptial agreement to say that the value of a pension would be ignored.   Whilst all of the above point are very valid, a family court looks at a range of factors when deciding whether or not to make a pension sharing order as part of a financial settlement. For example, the court will look at both a husband's and wife's needs including pension income needs but will also factor in the length of your marriage, your ages and any pre-marriage contributions or wealth and the existence of any prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement.     When is a pension shared? Many husband's and wife's are very keen to avoid a financial settlement that includes a pension sharing order because they mistakenly believe that their spouse will continue to receive the benefit of their hard work and ongoing pension contributions and pension growth from the date of the financial settlement until eventual retirement and pension draw down. That isn’t the case.   If you agree to your pension being shared or the court makes a pension sharing order after a contested financial settlement court hearing then: The pension sharing order will be implemented after the pension administrators receive the financial court order, pension sharing order annex and the decree absolute of divorce. The pension administrator has four months from receipt of the relevant paperwork to implement the pension sharing order Once the pension sharing order has been implemented there will be two separate pension pots (assuming there isn’t a one hundred percent pension sharing order) and any future pension contributions made by you after the order has been implemented will be credited against your pension pot and you will get the benefit of all the pension and investment growth in your pension pot In most cases you will be able to decide when to take your pension completely independently of when your former husband or wife choses to retire and get the pension income from their share of the pension. The position is more complicated if your pension pot consists of property and is a Self-invested pension plans (SIPPs) or is a Small self-administered schemes (SSASs). It is also sensible to take detailed advice about the earliest date you will be able to take the pension income as the pension rules may be different for you and your former spouse and it is best to be fully informed before agreeing to a pension sharing order.   [related_posts] Should I pension share or pension offset? The question of whether you should pension share or offset is really down to your priorities. However, if you are not able to reach a financial settlement with your husband or wife by agreement then the decision over whether to pension share or pension offset may be taken out of your hands as a family judge will decide how your assets , including pensions, should be divided.   If you agree to a pension offset then the value of the pension is offset against other assets owned jointly or individually. This may be vital to you if your priority is to stay in the family home or to keep your shareholding in the family business or family farm. Equally, it can be short sighted to ‘put all your eggs in one basket’ and just get equity in the family home rather than a share of your spouse’s pension.   You may think that, in time, you can downsize and get money out of the family home to fund your retirement. However, the cash from the sale of a family home may not generate anywhere near as much in pension income as a share in your spouse’s final salary pension scheme would have.   Alternatively, you may be adamant that you want to keep one hundred percent of your pension because you realise just how valuable your National Health Service, police, fire service or final salary pension is in comparison to the income you could realistically generate from the pension offsetting figure. However, you may benefit from reality testing your plan to keep all your pension and get less or no equity from the family home as that may mean you struggle to rehouse yourself so you are asset poor and pension rich. All very well for the future, but does it mean you will have a tough time of it until your hoped for retirement and is it worth it?   When it comes to pensions and divorce financial settlements there are always choices to be made, from how you value the pension to whether you share or offset the pension. Taking expert legal advice from Manchester divorce solicitors can help you make informed choices, looking at the short and long term needs of you and your family.   Whitefield based Evolve Family Law solicitors are approachable and friendly, providing pragmatic expert divorce, pension and financial settlement solutions. Contact us today and let us help you.

A divorce can be traumatic but when a divorce occurs in a farming family, it can be particularly tough when the farm is not only the family business but also the family home. In my experience as a family finance and divorce solicitor in Whitefield and Cheshire it is not uncommon for spouses to stay in unhappy relationships for fear of separating and the consequences on the family farm. Some may question why divorce and a family farm are different to any other type of divorce. After all every divorce can be painful. However, with divorce and the family farm, often the farm has been in the family for generations. There is therefore great sentimental attachment to the farmhouse and land. Not only that, the farm is normally both the family home and the source of income for all the family, including extended family. Adding to the complexities, the farm or some of the land could be owned by the older generation or parents may be paid an income out of farm profits as a means of providing a pension after they have transferred ownership of the family farm to a son or daughter. Therefore, where do you start when facing the prospect of a divorce and sorting out what happens with the family farm. In an ideal world, a farming family takes advice before handing over ownership of the family farm to a son or daughter. Often a farming family is told by a private client solicitor that it is tax efficient to transfer ownership of the farm to the younger generation to minimise the payment of inheritance tax. That is all very well but unless specialist family legal advice is taken the family may be reducing the risk of paying a big inheritance tax bill but exposing the family farm to divorce claims. Some farmers think that if the family farm has been gifted or inherited it will automatically be ring-fenced from any financial claims on divorce. That is not the case. Even if an asset is: Owned in the sole name of one spouse; and Was owned by the spouse prior to the marriage ;and Has been in the family ownership for a long time Divorce financial claims can be made against the asset. In a farming family, the asset in question is normally the farm and land. When a couple get divorced all the assets they own, individually or jointly, are taken into account when negotiating a financial settlement or the court makes a financial court order. Although the court will factor in the relevance of a family farm having been inherited or gifted by a husband or wife the court has to look at the husband and wife's needs and, most importantly, the needs of any children. Prenuptial Agreements and the Family Farm If a family own a farm and want to leave it as a legacy or gift to a son or daughter the best option to protect the family farm from divorce claims is for prenuptial agreements to be signed at the time of any marriage. Although the prenuptial agreement can try to ring-fence the family farm from any financial claims in divorce, whether or not the prenuptial agreement will work fully depends on the family needs at the time of the divorce and the availability of other assets to meet divorce financial claims. In any family situation involving a family farm, divorce solicitors recommend legal advice is taken on the benefits and potential disadvantages of a gift or transfer before the family farm is transferred to a son or daughter. Advice can then be taken on the option of a prenuptial agreement or, if they are already married a post nuptial agreement . Divorce and the Family Farm If you are getting divorced and one of you owns a family farm then it is particularly important that both husband and wife get expert legal advice from specialist divorce and family finance solicitors. It is likely to be the case that the farm owner wants to keep the farm and the spouse that does not own the farm wants it to be sold to raise money to buy a house to rehome him or her. There may be mention of the land’s increased value if farm buildings or land could potentially get outline planning permission so it can be developed for housing. In any divorce and financial proceedings, assets need to be valued. That applies just as much when the asset is a family farm. A specialist valuation will be needed to look at the value of the farm and land as well as any ‘’hope’’ value in relation to planning permission and development opportunities or the sale of part of the acreage. In addition, the value of the farm asset will depend on the income produced. [related_posts] If a farm is owned in the sole name of a husband or wife (rather than ownership being shared with parents and siblings) then it may be possible to sell part of the land or a farm building or to raise capital by mortgage to meet a husband or wife's divorce financial claims. When it comes to a family farm and divorce, the court may view the family farm as a non-matrimonial asset and hence will not say that the value should be shared equally between the husband and wife. However, the bottom line is that a husband or wife may get an award that affects the family farm if it is the only way that their housing and other needs can be met. When a divorce solicitor is giving legal advice to either a farmer or their spouse the aim is to achieve a financial solution that provides a home for the husband, wife, and children and ideally does not affect the continued viability of the working farm. This can require creative resolutions to secure the family farm for future generations. For help with divorce and financial claims or prenuptial or postnuptial agreements please contact our expert family lawyers

If you have taken the decision to separate from a husband or wife, it is tempting to leave sorting out financial and property matters and things can drift. Alternatively, a husband or wife can rush into an agreement, often without first getting accurate or up to date valuations of property and other assets.   Which Property Should be Valued in Your Divorce? It is assumed by a separating couple that only the family home needs to be valued as part of their separation or divorce. That is not necessarily correct, as it is important that all relevant property is valued.   What then is ‘’relevant property ’’ that should be valued? The honest answer from a Whitefield divorce solicitor is that it all depends on the individual personal and financial circumstances of a husband and wife. However, property can be relevant even if it is owned in the sole name of a husband or wife. Property does not have to be owned jointly to be relevant to divorce proceedings and form part of the family wealth and financial settlement options.   If a husband and wife are splitting up then consider valuing: The family home ; and Any second home or holiday home or chalet (including overseas property ) ; and Buy to let property portfolio; and Any property owned by a family business. This is because if the property is included in the company business accounts the company shares cannot be accurately valued unless there is an up to date valuation of the property ; and Any property held within a pension fund, such as a SIPP. This is because the value of the pension fund cannot be accurately ascertained without an up to date value of the property held in the pension fund ; and Property owned by a third party, for example a family member, if a husband or wife has a beneficial interest in the property. An expert divorce solicitor will look at the financial disclosure and advise you on what property should be valued and talk to you about the best way to obtain accurate valuations. The solicitor’s advice may depend on a range of factors, for example, the length of the marriage or when a property was last valued. Sometimes an independent surveyor may have recently valued business or pension property for business related or pension administration purposes. That can mean that a further report is not necessary but careful thought should be given to the purpose of the original valuation and the reliance that can be placed upon it. [related_posts] Valuing Property in Financial Court Proceedings The first step in reaching a financial settlement is to find out what the family home and other property and assets are worth. If property and assets are not accurately valued then the financial settlement can result in unfairness to either the husband or wife.   If a couple cannot agree on the value of a property value, a court can order a formal valuation by a surveyor who is a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.   Normally a family judge will say that one surveyor, jointly instructed by the husband and wife, should undertake a valuation of property for use in financial court proceedings. The main advantage of using one single joint expert is there are no conflicting opinions on a property value by different surveyors and costs do not escalate by surveyors going to court hearings to justify their different property valuations.   A single joint expert is: Independent of both husband and wife ; Will not of had undisclosed prior dealings with either the husband , wife or the property ; and Not influenced by whether the property is owned jointly or by the husband or wife or jointly with a third party. This is because the expert is focussed on the value of the property and not its ownership; and Under professional and court rules on reporting duties to ensure that the report is independent and impartial.   Specialist Whitefield divorce solicitors also recommend that you take advice on the tax implications of the sale or transfer of property so that the tax bill can be factored into the financial settlement to achieve a fair net result.   A divorcing couple can worry about the cost of getting legal advice, property valuations and tax advice. However, given the importance of knowing how much property and assets are worth before looking at the wide range of property solutions, it is always sensible to get expert advice before deciding what to do. The cost of this advice and preparing any legal documentation is tiny compared to the cost and stress involved if something goes wrong without the right valuations and documentation in place. For legal assistance with divorce financial settlements and representation in financial court proceedings please contact our expert divorce lawyers today

As leading Cheshire divorce solicitors, we are often asked if there is a simple hack to reduce the stress of a divorce. Many people thought that the government announcement that it intends to introduce ‘’no fault’’ divorce   would result in less stressful divorces but most divorce solicitors say most of the stress of a divorce comes from: Taking the initial decision on whether to separate or not; Thinking about how you will tell the children about a planned separation or the decision to start divorce proceedings ; Reaching an agreement about how much time the children will send in each household ; Breaking the news of your decision to separate to close family or to mutual friends; Worrying about how you will cope financially after a divorce ; that can either be immediate worries or long term concerns about the effect of getting divorced and the impact on your pension and retirement planning; Concerns about whether or not you will need to move out of the family home and, if so, how that will affect the children, for example ease of getting to their current schools or seeing friends.   A good divorce solicitor will tell you that there is no one magic solution to reduce divorce stress, but some simple steps can help:   Take time for yourself If you are facing a separation or divorce, you may be worried about how your children or family will react to the news. Often your wants and needs are low down on your list of priorities. Whilst that is understandable, it is not healthy. Whilst it is not legal advice, most good divorce solicitors would recommend that you take time for yourself, whether that is taking time for a chat with a friend or a trip to the gym.   Acknowledge how you are feeling If you are feeling emotional or you think things feel out of control then speaking to a counsellor or to your doctor about how you are feeling can be a good option.   Limit social media Social media and contact with friends via face book and other social media sites can be a comfort but it can equally be the major cause of divorce stress.  That is because content and messaging, especially with a former partner, can quickly become overwhelming and distract you from the things that you do need to sort out.   Talking to the children Parents are often reluctant to tell their children about a planned separation. That is normally because they want to protect their children for as long as possible. Parents also tend to think that they cannot talk to their children until they themselves know the answers to what the agreed parenting arrangements will be or whether the family home will be sold or not. However, children will pick up on the atmosphere or tensions at home and normally adult stress levels are reduced once children have been told about a planned separation.   Take legal advice A divorce solicitor will be able to reach an agreement over parenting arrangements, custody and access and your financial settlement options. Practical and pragmatic advice taken either before your separation or at an early stage after your separation can help you reduce divorce stress and the likelihood of contested children or financial proceedings. [related_posts] For legal advice on your divorce or dissolution of civil partnership proceedings please contact us.

It is tempting to answer the question ‘’does length of marriage affect divorce settlement?’’ by saying that ‘’it all depends’’. However, many would say that reply is a typical politicians or lawyer’s answer and, if you are getting divorced, you want a clear answer, not something woolly. The reality though is that the length of a marriage is a relevant factor when the court decides how much a husband and wife should get in a divorce financial settlement. Just how relevant the length of the marriage is depends on the couple’s financial and personal circumstances. The short marriage and the divorce financial settlement Many people assume that if a couple have only been married for a couple of years then the divorcing spouse will not get  spousal maintenance or even a ‘’pay out‘’ or divorce financial settlement but it all depends.   If three couples have each been married for two years the financial settlement will be different for each couple, as highlighted by these three case examples:   Couple 1 Janet and John Janet and John are both high flyers and each owned property before their marriage. They have no children. The short length of their marriage will be highly influential in reaching a financial settlement and clean break financial court order.   Couple 2 Mariah and Nick The couple only got together just before their marriage two years ago and shortly afterwards the twins arrived. Mariah left work to look after them as Nick agreed juggling work and childcare was not in the interests of the twins. Although the couple have only been married for two years, the length of their marriage is not highly relevant, as the court will focus on the children’s needs when determining a fair financial settlement.   Couple 3 Bill and Ben Bill and Ben married two years ago but within a matter of months, Bill realised that he had made a mistake. He has moved out and started divorce proceedings. He has assumed that he will get a clean break financial court order as the couple only lived together for twelve months out of their two-year marriage.   However, before the marriage, Bill and Ben had lived together in a continuous relationship for about fifteen years. The court takes into account pre-marriage cohabitation when looking at the length of the marriage, if it was ‘’seamless living together’’. Although the marriage may have officially only been of two years duration, the family court could assess it as a long relationship of seventeen years when looking at what sort of divorce financial settlement would be fair to both Bill and Ben.   Does the length of marriage affect divorce settlement? The case studies show that when a Whitefield divorce solicitor answers the question ‘’ does the length of a marriage affect divorce settlement ‘’ with a ‘’maybe’’ that whilst it may be a woolly answer it is the correct one until more information is available on a couple’s financial and personal circumstances.   For help with your divorce financial settlement please contact our specialist divorce lawyers. [related_posts]

Most separated and divorced parents find some of the child support service rules relating to the calculation of child maintenance incomprehensible. Child maintenance solicitors have to try to explain how child support is calculated without attempting to try to justify the rules or tribunal decisions.   Child maintenance and shared care Nowadays, in the vast majority of family situations, if you separate or divorce and you have dependent children, the child maintenance service (rather than the family court) will have the jurisdiction to calculate how much child support should be paid and to enforce the assessment.   In order to try to keep child maintenance simple to calculate, some years ago the child maintenance service introduced a new child support formula. How much you pay in child maintenance is calculated as a percentage of your income. That sounds simple enough to most parents but then added child support rules start to creep in , such as if there is a shared or equal parenting arrangement with the children spending the same amount of time with each parent then no child maintenance is payable by either parent .   The rights and wrongs of the shared parenting rule and child maintenance is a moot point. Most child maintenance solicitors say it can produce both fair and unfair results. Take two scenarios: Two parents equally share the care of the children and both earn roughly the same amount – no child maintenance is liable under child maintenance service rules, not because of the earnings of the mother and father are the same but because care of the children is shared; Two parents equally share the care of the children. One is a high earner and the other barely scrapes by on their salary each month. No child maintenance is liable under child maintenance service rules as the parenting is shared. The parent who is on a lower income will not be able to ask for spousal maintenance to help address the income gap in the two households if they were in a cohabiting or unmarried relationship with their ex-partner.   Child maintenance and contact It is not just shared parenting that can produce odd results with child maintenance service assessments. If a parent has overnight contact with their child, the amount they pay in child support under a child maintenance service assessment is reduced. The amount of the reduction depends on the extent of the overnight contact.   This child maintenance service rule can throw up some equally fair and unfair results, depending on whose perspective you look at child support from. Take two scenarios: A mother is the main carer of the children. The father sees the children each night but cannot have the children overnight as he works shifts and his shift patterns mean that the children would have to get up too early. Although the mother earns twice as much as the father and despite his seeing the children each day, he is liable to pay the full child maintenance service assessment with no reduction for his daily contact as he does not have the children overnight; A mother is the main carer of the children and the father has overnight contact on three nights a week. Although the mother still needs to pay her mortgage and pay for school clothes and holidays, the amount of her child support is reduced significantly because of the father’s overnight staying contact. The mother earns half the amount of the father. That scenario may seem unfair to the mother but imagine if the mother earnt double the father’s income. The father would still have to pay the same amount in child support and pay for his children’s upkeep on three nights a week. However, the father would pay nothing in child maintenance if care were shared equally. The difference a day makes in child contact can add up to hundreds of pounds a month in child maintenance. [related_posts] Child maintenance rules The child maintenance scenarios are just a few examples of why child custody solicitors and child maintenance solicitors do not try to justify the child maintenance service rules.   The best advice , if you are splitting up from a partner and have children together , is to try and reach an agreement over who gets the house , who gets the pension and how the children are financially supported in one package so the fairness of the overall financial settlement can be looked at.   For information about child maintenance and contact and financial settlements please contact our expert children law solicitors today. Appointments are available online or in Whitefield, Manchester and Cheshire.    

Living with a husband or wife who has dementia can be more than some spouses can cope with, especially when there were marital difficulties for a long time prior to the dementia diagnosis. Although there is an increasing amount of support available and understanding of the impact of a dementia diagnosis on the family, for some married couples the right option is divorce. That is particularly the case when the breakdown of the marriage is not thought to be due to the personality changes that sometimes occur following the onset of dementia. Divorce proceedings and dementia Whether the dementia diagnosis has played any part in the reasons for the marriage breakdown there are likely to be feelings of guilt about the divorce and worry about how a spouse who is ill will face the future. A diagnosis of early onset dementia can be particularly cruel when a husband or wife is relatively young. However, a spouse can find the situation at home equally unbearable. As a Whitefield divorce solicitor, I have advised a number of spouses who have contemplated separating or divorcing after there has been a diagnosis of dementia. Many are loath to take legal advice, as they fear judgement by family, a solicitor or the court. It is an impossible situation to be in and I recommend that legal advice is taken so that you know what your options are. Financial settlement and dementia If you decide to separate, it is important that you get specialist legal advice. This is because in some financial and pension circumstances it will be in both of your interests not to get divorced. In other financial and pension circumstances it will be important to get divorced, rather than just live apart, so the court can make a pension sharing order. When you are thinking about a separation or a divorce most people do not want to base their decision on whether to get divorced or not on financial considerations but the impact of not getting expert advice can have a massive impact on your retirement and personal and financial circumstances. Many people worry about how a dementia diagnosis will affect a financial settlement. The court takes a number of factors into account when deciding what a fair and reasonable financial settlement is. One of those factors is the health of the husband and wife. A dementia diagnosis means that a spouse’s needs will be carefully considered by the court. However, the court will aim to make a financial court order that meets the needs of both husband and wife. Dementia and taking part in divorce and financial settlement court proceedings People also worry about whether a spouse will understand divorce and financial proceedings and think that they cannot get divorced if their spouse cannot play a part in court proceedings and instruct a solicitor. If a spouse does not have capacity to instruct a solicitor or make decisions you can still get divorced and reach a financial settlement. That is because court rules provide for your spouse to be represented in the court proceedings and their interests protected. [related_posts] How can Evolve Family Law help? The decision to separate or divorce is never easy. It is even harder when a spouse is ill. In my experience as a Whitefield divorce solicitor, it is possible to divorce with dignity after a diagnosis of dementia as in many situations, whilst a spouse cannot cope sharing a home, they want their spouse to be provided for. The first step is to look into your options so you can make an informed decision about what is right for you. For advice about separation or divorce or financial settlement options please contact us.