Second Marriage Divorce

If your second marriage is in trouble you may already know a bit about divorce and financial settlements because of your experience from the first time around.

This time you may find that some things are different. Firstly, divorce law has changed. Secondly, your first husband or wife may have been very reasonable and this enabled you to reach a financial agreement. The situation may not be as straightforward with your second marriage divorce.

In this blog, our divorce solicitors look at what you need to be aware of when ending a second marriage.

For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

No-fault divorce proceedings

Divorce law in England has changed with the introduction of no-fault divorce and new divorce terminology. Family law solicitors no longer talk about divorce petitions or decree nisi or decree absolute. The new terminology is divorce application, conditional order of divorce and final order of divorce.

Whilst you still need to have been married for at least 12 months before you can start divorce proceedings the remaining rules on divorce applications have been changed. You no longer have to say that your husband or wife committed adultery or behaved unreasonably to start divorce proceedings or wait 2 years from the date of your separation to start your divorce petition. Now, all you need to say in your divorce application is that your marriage has irretrievably broken down. You do not need to go into the reasons why.

Applying for a joint no-fault divorce

Another major change to the divorce process is that you can now apply for a divorce jointly with your husband or wife. You or they still have the option to bring an individual or sole application if one of you prefers to do so.

Our divorce solicitors will normally recommend that you start the divorce proceedings either jointly or in your name if you want to get the divorce sorted out in your timeframe. You may be concerned that your estranged husband or wife may delay starting divorce proceedings if they are the ones given the task of starting the divorce application. Getting quick divorce advice is important if you are concerned about your estranged spouse selling the family business, cashing in investments or hiding assets. If you or your spouse are from overseas then you may need urgent advice on court jurisdiction and where it is best to start the divorce proceedings.

Whether you decide that a joint or single divorce application is the best option for you the actual divorce process is similar. A divorce application must be filed at a family court and a fee paid.

At Evolve Family Law we offer fixed fee divorce services for most divorce applications.

The no-fault divorce process

The no-fault divorce process involves:

1. Divorce application – either a joint application or an individual application by one of you
2. A wait – court rules say the applicant for the divorce must wait 20 weeks before they can confirm they want a divorce and go ahead with the no-fault divorce process
3. Conditional order – the court makes a conditional order. This is the same as the old decree nisi of divorce
4. Another wait – after waiting another 6 weeks, the applicant can apply for their final order of divorce (this is the new name for the decree absolute of divorce)No-fault divorces take about 6 months to complete from applying for the divorce to getting your final order but the no-fault divorce advantages are that you do not need to go to court to get your divorce order and you do not need to blame your spouse (or vice versa) to get your divorce.

Second marriages and financial settlements

In second marriages there is a good chance that you signed a prenuptial agreement before your second marriage. Your divorce lawyer will want to know if you signed one and the terms of the agreement. They will also want to know if anything has changed since you signed the prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement. For example, the birth or adoption of children, the failure of a business or either you or your spouse suffering ill health or a disability. These are the sort of things that might lead to a family court saying that the terms of a prenuptial agreement should not be followed or not followed in their entirety.

If you signed a prenuptial agreement, it should be possible to secure an agreed financial court order unless there are major changes in circumstances or you or your ex are saying that the terms of the agreement were unfair or there was no financial disclosure.

If you did not sign a prenuptial agreement, it may still be relatively straightforward to negotiate a financial settlement by agreement if you are both keen to finalise your divorce and secure a clean break financial court order. Complexities can arise in situations where:

• You are paying spousal maintenance to your first spouse and your second spouse also wants spousal maintenance – you think there is a limit to how much you can afford to pay out in spousal maintenance
• Your ex-spouse wants a share of your pension but the pension pot was accumulated before your second marriage and your pension was your financial settlement from your first marriage as your first spouse got to keep your family home
• Your second spouse wants you to financially support your step children but you are still financially supporting your children from your first marriage
• Your ex-spouse wants to keep the family home as they bought it before the marriage. If they keep the family home and do not down size, they will not be able to pay you a lump sum as they do not have significant savings and they only have a limited mortgage capacity because of their age. You do not want to be left homeless as your mortgage options are also limited because of your age or because you are committed to supporting your children from your first marriage through their teenage years and through university

There may be other reasons why it is hard to negotiate a financial settlement when coming out of a second marriage. Our expert divorce solicitors will be able to help you by talking to you about the circumstances of your second marriage, your assets and commitments, and then looking at the alternate financial settlement options.

Filing for divorce using the Evolve Family Law One Lawyer Divorce Service

If your separation from your second spouse is relatively amicable our One Lawyer Amicable Divorce Service may be able to help you both file for divorce and obtain an agreed financial consent order.

This service is provided by specially trained family lawyers who comply with the guidance from Resolution (an organisation for family justice professionals who work with families and individuals to resolve divorce and family issues in a non-confrontational manner). The service is not the right option for every couple coming out of a second marriage but it can be ideal if you both ‘know the score’ and are both keen to reach a fair financial settlement with the minimum of fuss and no added costs being built up by your each receiving separate and different advice,

For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.