Divorce & Financial Disclosure

When you are separating in an age where almost everything is carried out electronically and online, it is important that your divorce solicitors understand the digital assets that your husband, wife or civil partner may hold and how to trace them. In this article, financial settlement solicitor Robin Charrot answers your questions on divorce and digital assets. Contact Evolve Family Law for Expert Divorce Advice. Digital assets in divorce financial settlements There is no definition of a digital asset in financial remedy applications and financial settlement negotiations. That is probably sensible, because the world of digital assets changes rapidly with the latest developments in tech. Divorce solicitors find it best to outline the type of digital assets that you or your spouse might own to trigger a discussion about what assets you or your husband or wife might hold digitally. It is essential to do that, as whilst you may not forget about the existence of a holiday home, a collection of watches, or your partner’s shares in the family business, you may easily forget about an online bank account or the cryptocurrency that your spouse mentioned years ago. Digital assets can include: Cryptocurrency Bitcoin Non-fungible tokens (NFT) Ethereum Online share dealing account PayPal account Air miles Online gaming and betting accounts Income-generating social media accounts Sentimental assets such as photo libraries You might also be interested in [related_posts] Cryptocurrency and its relevance to a divorce financial settlement Digital assets such as cryptocurrency can be family assets in the same way as property, pensions, or shares in a family business. Just because something is held digitally, rather than physically, it does not mean that it is irrelevant to your financial settlement. Reaching a fair divorce financial settlement involves: Working out what assets a husband and wife own individually, jointly, or with a third party and assessing if the assets are family or matrimonial assets or non-matrimonial assets. Tracing assets where there are valid suspicions that an estranged husband or wife has not fully disclosed assets. Getting the assets accurately valued. Looking at the needs of a husband, wife and any dependent children to work out the relevance of any non-matrimonial assets. If the asset is not considered to be a family asset, the court can have recourse to it if it is necessary to do so to meet a husband or wife’s reasonable needs. Negotiating a financial settlement, and if that is not possible, representation in a financial remedy application to obtain a financial court order. Dealing with cryptocurrency in financial remedy proceedings A good divorce solicitor combines bloodhound tracing skills with technical knowledge and a hefty dose of pragmatism. For example, an eBay account may not seem significant, but it is if it is the primary source of sales in a family business, or if a spouse has been squirrelling money away by keeping it in a PayPal account. Likewise, everyone talks about cryptocurrency, but your financial settlement lawyer needs to track down the information to find the investment or to show the discrepancies between disclosed assets and lifestyle. Whilst some digital assets, like photos or the dog’s Instagram account, may only have sentimental value, they still are important to you, so need to be sorted out fairly but without racking up massive legal bills. A financial settlement solicitor will determine whether a forensic digital expert is needed to track down digital assets, and when pragmatism and common sense suggest the expense is not proportionate. When dealing with digital assets in financial negotiations after a separation, it is essential to consider: Drawing up a digital inventory – what you know that you or your spouse holds as digital assets. What you suspect and why you suspect it – was the talk of bitcoin hot air, or is there a basis to trace assets or gather evidence of their existence? Are the digital assets capable of being shared, and if not, who will keep them? The fairness of one spouse keeping the digital assets and the other keeping non-digital assets. That consideration may be relevant if there is a large online share dealing account subject to stock market fluctuations, but there may be an equally uncertain property market if the other spouse wants to keep the family home. Financial remedy solicitors at Evolve Family Law At Evolve Family Law, our team of expert financial settlement lawyers have vast experience in: Tenacious asset tracing of digital assets and property held in the UK or overseas. Divorce settlements involving high net worth individuals, assets held in trust and assets not held within the jurisdiction of the court. Providing specialist legal advice in between family mediation sessions and converting a mediated agreement into a financial consent order. Representing husbands and wives in complex financial remedy applications involving extensive financial disclosure requests and asset tracing, as well as disputes over asset valuations and the classification of assets as matrimonial or non-matrimonial. Advising on potential financial claims after an overseas divorce. Whether you have reached a financial agreement with your spouse and want it converted into a binding court order or need help with an ex-partner who won't provide financial disclosure or negotiate, our lawyers can help you obtain the financial settlement and court order you need. Contact Evolve Family Law for Expert Divorce Advice.

If you think your ex-partner is hiding assets in divorce proceedings, it is best to get expert family law advice on your options. Contact Evolve Family Law for expert divorce and financial settlement advice.   The requirement for financial disclosure in divorce financial settlements Divorce solicitors will tell you that husbands and wives are under a duty to provide full and frank financial disclosure of their assets when negotiating a financial settlement. That applies whether you are negotiating a financial settlement through: Direct discussions. Solicitor negotiations. Family mediation. Financial disclosure is also a requirement if a family law judge or an arbiter is deciding the financial settlement in financial court proceedings or through family arbitration.   The extent of financial disclosure  The court has a standard list of financial disclosure requirements, but a husband or wife can request additional information and ask questions. The judge will decide if the extent of the additional questions and the request for extra documents is relevant and proportionate. You may not want to engage in extensive financial disclosure if: Both of your finances are straightforward, and You both had access to bank statements and assets, so you know that money has not been moved from accounts, and You can reach a negotiated financial settlement. Every family situation is different. You probably know if your ex-spouse has hidden financial information and assets from you throughout your marriage. Alternatively, you may suspect that they started doing so when they met someone else, or when the marriage got into difficulties, and the relationship started to drift apart.   Red flags and financial disclosure in financial proceedings If your husband or wife appears keen to reach a clean-break financial settlement without providing financial disclosure, this may raise a red flag for your divorce solicitor. The family lawyer may question why your spouse objects to financial disclosure and why they are pressing you to reach an agreement so quickly. You need some minimum paperwork to check your spouse’s financial settlement proposals and for the court to be with the terms of a proposed financial court order that a family law judge is asked to make. If an estranged spouse is trying to pressure you to agree to a financial settlement without first providing financial disclosure and wanting you to accept their word about the extent of the assets or their current value, then you should consult a financial settlement solicitor. Your ex-partner might be totally honest and want to ‘cut to the chase’ and get a binding court order, but you are entitled to see the required financial disclosure and to take family law legal advice on their financial proposals and the wording of the court order.   You might also be interested in [related_posts]   Reasons why assets are hidden from spouses There are many reasons why an ex-spouse may try to hide assets or minimise their value. Divorce solicitors come across these common excuses: It is inherited or gifted money. It is savings from one spouse’s income. The ex-spouse’s new partner owns their current house, and the ex-spouse says they have no right to any equity in the property.  There is no need to get a business, pension or other asset valued, as your ex thinks you should take their word that the asset either has no value or is not sellable. Money was owed to a family member and was transferred to them to repay a loan rather than to hide assets Cash put into additional bank accounts was forgotten. An ex thinks property owned abroad or owned before marriage is irrelevant to the financial settlement and should therefore not be disclosed. These are all excuses. None of them is a good reason not to provide complete financial disclosure. Sometimes an asset will not be relevant to a financial settlement, but your financial lawyer needs to know about the asset and its current value so they can advise you on its relevance in your family circumstances. For example, a pension accrued before a short marriage with a cash equivalent transfer value of £10,000 may not be of significance. Your ex may waste their time and money by trying to hide an asset that may be of limited relevance because of the duration of your marriage or your ages. However, by failing to disclose the pension, you and the court may be far more sceptical about whether your ex-spouse has fully disclosed the existence of the pension or how honest their other financial disclosures are. For example, you may question the extent of your ex’s declared self-employed income or the reason they have transferred money to a sibling or new partner.   Steps to take if an ex is hiding assets If you are separated or getting divorced and believe your ex is hiding assets, you may need urgent financial settlement advice and help with an injunction application to safeguard and preserve the money until the court makes a financial order. Examples of when a spouse may require a financial injunction include: Your ex is transferring money or property to a third party. Your ex is putting their pension in payment and taking the maximum tax-free cash sum to put the money out of your reach. Your ex is syphoning money out of the family business to make sure the family business has a lower value placed on it, as profits will be reduced. Your ex is buying property overseas or transferring assets abroad. Your ex is moving money out of joint bank accounts and putting it into cryptocurrency or bitcoin.   Financial injunction applications A financial injunction order is a temporary measure to stop your ex-spouse from hiding or disposing of assets. It is best to consider applying for a section 37 injunction rather than assume that, in financial settlement court proceedings, your ex-spouse’s new partner, parent, or sibling can be joined to the financial application to try to unravel the transfer of assets. If you have not already done so, a divorce solicitor will also advise you to start financial court proceedings for a financial court order. Within the financial remedy application, the court can make financial disclosure orders that your ex will need to comply with.   Consequences of noncompliance with financial disclosure rules If your ex does not comply with the financial disclosure orders, then you can ask the judge to enforce the disclosure orders against your ex or ask the court to draw inferences. For example, if the court ordered disclosure of historical bank statements to reveal what happened to the equity of £100,000 after the sale of a buy-to-let property. If your ex flouts the disclosure order, you can ask the court to draw inferences as to why and ask the court to add back in the £100,000 so you get a greater share of the other family assets.   Financial proceedings and ex hiding assets If you have started financial proceedings and you are not satisfied with your ex’s Form E financial disclosure, a specialist family solicitor can review the financial disclosure with you and draw up a list of additional questions and request extra non-standard paperwork. For example, if your ex-spouse is the director and shareholder in a family business and you suspect they have been syphoning money off to their new partner by creative accounting or use of the director's loan account, you can ask for a forensic accountant to value the business and look at the accounting concerns. Alternatively, you can ask the court to make financial disclosure orders to help you investigate if: Your ex is self-employed, and the family lifestyle does not match their declared earnings. Your ex has withdrawn significant sums from a business or personal account, and the withdrawals are not their usual pattern of spending. Your ex previously mentioned an asset that was a rainy-day asset or pension, but there is no mention of the asset in their financial disclosure. There are lots of ways a tenacious divorce solicitor can ‘get to the bottom’ of financial disclosure, through your background information and knowledge of your ex, combined with financial disclosure orders,  valuations and freezing injunctions.   Contact Evolve Family Law for expert divorce and financial settlement advice.

In this blog, our family law solicitors examine what happens if you keep financial secrets during a separation or divorce.   Contact Evolve Family Law Today for Expert Family Law Advice.   Reasons for hiding money during a relationship There are many reasons why someone might hide money or not reveal their financial situation whilst in a relationship, such as: Wanting to build up a safety net of savings that their partner won’t spend, so there is a rainy-day savings fund in case of redundancy or a large unforeseen bill, such as replacing the boiler. Feeling the need to save money so that there is an escape route from an abusive relationship where the partner secreting the money is afraid that without the hidden money if it will be impossible to leave their controlling partner. Hiding credit card debt or loans because you know that your partner will worry about the debts. Feelings of embarrassment about having incurred debt. In some cases, the debt may have been incurred before the new relationship, and it now feels ‘too late’ to mention it. If a couple decides to separate, it can be challenging to reveal financial secrets that were kept during the relationship. However, when negotiating a financial settlement, there is an obligation to provide full financial disclosure.   Financial secrets and separation, and divorce   At Evolve Family Law, our divorce solicitors will ask questions about your finances and those of your spouse to provide the best advice on financial settlement options. Sometimes people are reluctant to mention undisclosed credit card debts or loans, as their husband or wife doesn’t know about them. However, it is essential to do so as the debts may impact your ability to take over the mortgage on the family home or secure another mortgage to purchase a new property. In cases where there is debt, then in financial court proceedings, the court rarely undertakes a forensic exercise into how the debt was incurred and whether, for example, you should have bought the shoes or motorbike. Instead, the court will ask: Is the debt family debt– in other words, although the debt was hidden from a husband or wife, was the loan or credit card money used for the benefit of the family? What impact does the debt have? The court will want to know if the debt will prevent a husband or wife from buying another house, staying in the family home, or meeting their other needs. In addition to debt and divorce, when it comes to financial disclosure on separation or divorce, there is an obligation to provide complete and frank financial disclosure of all your assets. That includes secret bank accounts that your husband or wife doesn’t know anything about, or money given to a family member to ‘hold’ for you, or cash that you keep.   You might also be interested in [related_posts]   The consequences of not providing full financial disclosure Failure to provide full financial disclosure after a separation or divorce may mean: Your spouse will not go to family mediation to reach an agreed financial settlement, or the family mediator may say that mediation is not suitable as full financial disclosure is a requirement for mediation. Your spouse may start financial proceedings so they can get an order requiring you to file a Form E financial disclosure document and supporting paperwork, and can ask additional questions about your finances and transactions. Your spouse could ask the court to make additional disclosure orders, ask for valuations of assets such as the family home or a family business and make Section 37 injunction orders to prevent the sale or transfer of assets to third parties. The court could draw inferences or make findings against you in a financial settlement court hearing. For example, if your family businessgenerates cash but according to your accounts, you receive an income that amounts to less than your essential outgoings (mortgage payments, utility bills or other known expenditure), then the court could make inferences or findings against you. Any financial settlement recorded in a separation agreement or in a financial court order could be overturned later if it is discovered that the agreement or order was made without you having provided full financial disclosure. Therefore, whilst there may be many reasons why you would want to keep things secret during a relationship, when it comes to a separation or divorce, there are many compelling reasons why you should provide full financial disclosure.   Manchester and Cheshire Divorce and Financial Settlement Solicitors Evolve Family Law specialises in family law, divorce and financial settlements. If you need advice on your divorce and financial settlement options, our friendly experts can help.   Contact Evolve Family Law Today for Expert Family Law Advice.

When you are divorcing and you or your spouse runs a business or has shares in a family firm, you need to know if the business is relevant to the divorce settlement and how it will be valued. Our North West divorce solicitors specialise in negotiating financial settlements where one or both spouses own a family business. In this blog, we answer your questions on business assets in divorce proceedings and how you value company shares in divorce. For expert family law advice, call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form. Your frequently asked questions on business assets in divorce proceedings   Divorcing couples ask these questions when they or their spouse has business assets: Can the divorce court decide what happens to a business? Will company law and the shareholder agreement determine what happens to the shares in a family business? Are business assets relevant to divorce proceedings? How are businesses valued in divorce proceedings? Can the company accountant value the business in divorce proceedings? Is the book value of a business an acceptable valuation of a business asset in divorce proceedings? How are minority interests in family companies valued in divorce proceedings? What is the relevant date to value a company shareholding? Can a shareholder in a family business be forced to sell their shares as part of a financial court order? What happens to a family business when both spouses are shareholders in a family business?  At Evolve Family Law, our family lawyers can answer all your business-related financial settlement questions, whether you own a family business or are married to someone who is either a sole trader, in partnership or a majority or minority shareholder in a family business. Can the divorce court decide what happens to a business? The divorce court can decide what happens to business assets in a divorce. The court will consider: Is the business a family asset? What is the value of the business? What is a fair financial settlement? If the spouse’s shareholding is not classed as a family asset, the court will only include it in the financial court order if necessary to meet the needs of a spouse. If a spouse’s reasonable needs can be met without reference to the business asset, its value will be ignored. In divorce proceedings concerning a family business, the judge can order: The spouse who owns the business asset retains it as part of their share of the family wealth. The shares in a family company are sold, and the sale proceeds are divided in the proportions ordered by the judge. The shares in the family company are transferred from one spouse to the other.  If one spouse is the only one actively involved in the family business, the court will normally order that the spouse retain ownership of their shares. However, the other spouse may receive all the equity in the family home, a lump sum payment, spousal maintenance, or a combination of these. If one spouse is a minority shareholder and the other a majority shareholder, the court may order the minority shareholder to transfer their shares in the company to their spouse. If the divorcing couple can still work together in the business and want to continue joint ownership, the court could leave both spouses with shares in the company. This scenario is unusual unless the couple asks the divorce court to make an agreed financial consent order. Will company law and the shareholder agreement determine what happens to the shares in a family business? Spouses sometimes assume that the divorce court lacks jurisdiction to decide what happens to a business in divorce proceedings. For example, if a husband and wife are the major and minor shareholders in a company and are in a shareholder dispute. Logically, you would assume that the dispute is a matter of corporate law. It is and it isn't. If one spouse starts proceedings in the commercial court under the Companies Act 2006, the judge has jurisdiction to resolve the corporate dispute.  However, if the husband or wife initiates financial proceedings because they cannot reach a divorce settlement, the family court has wide-ranging discretion to make orders, including orders over business assets. Therefore, it wastes time and money for a shareholder dispute between a divorcing husband and wife to be litigated first in the commercial court using corporate law principles when the family court can decide how to divide assets, including the business, using the principles contained in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Are business assets relevant to divorce proceedings? Business assets are relevant to divorce proceedings. The judge will decide if they are: A matrimonial or family asset, or A non-matrimonial or non-family asset. If deemed a family asset, the business is relevant to the divorce settlement. If it is classed as a non-matrimonial asset, its value could be considered if it is necessary to do so to meet the reasonable needs of the spouse who does not own the business. How are businesses valued in divorce proceedings? Business assets must be disclosed as part of the Form E financial disclosure process. In Form E, a spouse is asked to value their business and other assets. The other spouse may agree on the valuation. If so, an accountant doesn’t need to carry out a valuation. A business valuation may be agreed in scenarios such as: The spouse works freelance and their earnings are paid into their company account. There are no valuable business assets and no goodwill value. The business is valued at the amount of cash in the bank. The husband and wife are shareholders in a company, and an offer for purchase has been accepted from a third party unconnected to either spouse. In other situations, the court may be asked to order an independent valuation of a sole trader's business, a partnership interest, or a company shareholding. The court typically orders the instruction of a forensic joint accountant as a single joint expert. Both parties instruct the expert and agree to the terms of the letter of instruction. The court will typically specify the scope of the expert's report, for example, whether the expert is to assess company liquidity in addition to providing a valuation. Can the company accountant value the business in divorce proceedings? A company accountant can provide the Form E value for the business. If additional information is necessary, the court may be persuaded that a detailed valuation by the company accountant is more appropriate than the instruction of a forensic accountant with no prior knowledge of the business. The approach taken by the court will depend on the size and structure of the company, as well as the representations made on behalf of both spouses. For example, one spouse may claim that the majority shareholder heavily influences the company's accountants. You might also be interested in [relate_posts] Is the book value of a business an acceptable valuation of a business asset in divorce proceedings? The book value of a business can be an acceptable valuation for certain types of small businesses, such as a company set up by a freelancer to channel their income through, and the business has no goodwill value or significant assets. A divorce solicitor can explain the valuation options and why you may need a more detailed valuation of your spouse’s shareholding or partnership interest. How are minority interests in family companies valued in divorce proceedings? If a spouse is a minority shareholder in a family business, special consideration needs to be given to the value of the shares. The shares may not be attractive to a third party, who would be buying shares in a business where they have no control or power to veto.  The professional conducting the valuation will generally apply a discount to a minority shareholding, depending on the percentage shareholding and the degree of control, if any, the minority shareholder has. The value of a minority shareholding should be examined carefully. For example, minority shareholding may not be heavily discounted in a company with significant cash reserves. What is the relevant date to value a company shareholding? Sometimes, spouses and their lawyers argue about the date to be used for valuing the shares in a company, as the fairness of the financial settlement may depend on the valuation date. For example, a forensic accountant may be asked to value company shares at: The date of separation, and The date of cohabitation or marriage, and The date the company shares were transferred or gifted to a husband or wife. The importance of business asset valuation dates was explored in the Court of Appeal case of Martin v Martin (Rev 1) [2018] EWCA Civ 2866. The Martin case illustrates the complexity of valuing shares in a non-listed company. A high court judge awarded Mrs Martin 40% of the 182 million family fortune. Mrs Martin appealed, saying she should have got 50%. Mr Martin counter-appealed, arguing that his ex-wife should have received less than 40% of the assets. The crux of the appeal was the relevance of the value of Mr Martin's shares when the couple began to live together. The court concluded that it was fair to assess the value of the shares at the date of cohabitation and, therefore, ringfence the value of the husband's pre-marriage-acquired shares. This resulted in Mrs Martin receiving 40% rather than an equal division of the family assets. The court said that a financial settlement ‘’ involves a holistic, necessarily retrospective, appraisal of all the facts and then the application of a subjective conception of fairness, overlaid by a legal analysis.’’ That subjective approach makes it even more critical for spouses to seek early specialist legal advice from divorce solicitors experienced in divorces involving family businesses and in assessing what a court is likely to determine as a fair financial settlement. Consult Evolve Family Law for advice on divorce and business assets The specialist divorce lawyers, led by Robin Charrot, have substantial experience representing spouses, civil partners, business owners and non-business owners in financial proceedings involving businesses ranging from SMEs to listed companies. With many years of experience advising on business assets in divorce, our team is well-equipped to hone in on the key aspects. That could be tracing vital financial disclosure, analysing company accounts or instructing a shadow accountant to assess the relevance of the transfer of business assets into a SIPP pension and leaseback at an overvalue to the company, impacting company profitability at the time of the divorce proceedings, or spotting unusual movements or discrepancies in director loan accounts. Alternatively, when acting for a majority shareholder, it could be robustly arguing against fishing expeditions for excessive financial disclosure or arguing for the instruction of the single joint expert to be limited to current issues rather than their remit extending to a historical trawl of company transactions. At Evolve, we combine expertise with a personal touch, providing strategic advice tailored to your family and business circumstances, as well as robust court representation. For expert family law advice, call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

You need specialist legal advice from a divorce solicitor if you suspect your spouse has or will hide assets from you to reduce your financial settlement after a separation or divorce. Our North West divorce lawyers answer your questions on how they find hidden assets in financial negotiations and court proceedings. Contact our specialist family lawyers for a consultation on your financial settlement. Why do spouses hide assets in divorce proceedings? Concerns about ex-spouses hiding money or property from their partner in financial negotiations and proceedings are common. The newspapers are full of stories about international or multi-millionaire families involved in financial proceedings, with accusations that a husband or wife has hidden assets. However, assets can be hidden when the wealth isn't vast. In some ways, that is more understandable; a husband trying to safeguard an inheritance received from parents or a wife trying to retain the money she set aside from years of savings. Our experienced divorce solicitors say that, in their view, the top five reasons spouses don’t comply with financial disclosure and hide assets in financial negotiations and court proceedings are: Sense of entitlement to the asset. Fear that the financial settlement will leave them with reduced wealth. Belief that they won't be found out. View that everyone does it. Revenge. Is hiding assets in financial negotiations ever justified? Attempting to hide assets in divorce negotiations or court proceedings is never a good idea. Some spouses don’t reveal assets because they are hurt. Perhaps their spouse has met a new partner or, in their view, their spouse has behaved unreasonably, causing the marriage breakdown. A finance lawyer can advise you on whether you can raise the issue of your spouse’s conduct in financial proceedings. However, revenge is never a reason to hide assets. Entitlement is a common reason for non-disclosure. A view that a spouse is entitled to an asset and it therefore does not need to be disclosed, can arise because of: Inherited assets. Pre-marriage purchased assets. Assets held in discretionary trusts. Being the sole or primary earner during the relationship. Gifted monies through parental or family inheritance tax planning strategies. Whatever the reason behind the sense of entitlement to the asset, it should be disclosed to the other spouse and the court. The correct procedure to follow is to: Provide full financial disclosure. Argue that specific assets, such as an inheritance, gifted monies or pre-marriage acquired assets, should be classed as non-matrimonial property and should not be shared with their spouse. Put the case that the spouse’s needs can adequately be met by receiving a fair share of the available family or matrimonial assets without recourse to the ringfenced asset. Divorce lawyers can advise on whether an asset will likely be classed as a family asset and the relevance of needs arguments to your financial settlement. You will need bespoke advice because the court’s approach will depend on several factors, such as: If the asset was shared during the marriage. The extent of the agreed-upon family assets. The standard of living enjoyed during the marriage. Ten common ways spouses hide assets in financial negotiations: Opening another bank account in their sole name. Taking out cash from their sole account or your joint account. Transferring assets or property to family or friends. Syphoning money from a family business and putting it into a hidden account. Transferring money overseas or buying liquid assets knowing they will be difficult to trace. Investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Underreporting their income, such as deferring large commission payments. Not disclosing employment share incentive schemes, such as EMIs. Using shell companies and trusts to hide assets. Buying property or assets in their new partner’s name and having a secret beneficial interest in the property. [related_posts] Red flags that your spouse is hiding assets from you Here are some red flags or pointers that your ex-spouse may be hiding assets from you: Change in spending patterns and behaviour, such as frequent large cash withdrawals. Sudden improvement in a relative’s or new partner’s wealth, such as purchasing a property. Rapid deterioration in a spouse’s financial position after the decision to separate, or after you think they have decided the marriage is at an end. Previous history of non-disclosure. For example, in their first marriage or with a business partner. The disclosed assets do not correlate with your family lifestyle. Financial disclosure and hiding assets in financial court proceedings In financial court proceedings, a husband and wife must give each other full and frank financial disclosure. That does not always happen. Additional enquiries, such as questionnaires and single joint expert and shadow expert reports, can be commissioned to trace assets. Sometimes a finance solicitor can spot that a spouse is trying to hide money, property or income through: Transferring money from a bank account as cash and saying that the cash has been spent, but opening a secret bank account with the money. Producing incomplete internet transaction histories for bank accounts to avoid revealing entries. Saying that money taken out of a savings account was to repay family debt, but the debt was artificial, with the plan being for the alleged debt to be repaid after the financial proceedings are finalised. Pretending that they do not own a new property. A simple search of the Land Registry can reveal the truth about property ownership. Not disclosing the existence of family trusts or inheritances. These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to hiding assets in divorce proceedings. How do divorce solicitors find hidden assets? Specialist divorce solicitors employ a variety of tactics to find hidden assets, including: Starting a financial application so that the court orders financial disclosure. Carefully reviewing Form E financial disclosure. Enforcing orders for Form E financial disclosure. Conducting searches with the Land Registry and Companies House to verify property ownership and company information. Filing questionnaires to ask for additional financial disclosure. Applying for Section 37 injunction orders to stop a spouse from transferring or selling assets or property to friends or family. Where relevant, joining parties to court proceedings, such as trustees of a discretionary trust, a corporate entity, or a family member who says they are entitled to a significant percentage of the equity in the family home. Employing asset tracers and forensic accountants to trace assets and wealth. Asking the court for permission to instruct an expert to analyse specific issues, for example, movements on a director's loan account. Liaising with experts overseas to trace international assets. These are just some methods family lawyers use to find hidden assets. At Evolve Family Law, we always discuss the best asset tracing options relevant to your family circumstances. Should assets be traced in financial proceedings? A specialist divorce solicitor will consider with you: The cost of tracing hidden assets. The benefits to be gained. Alternatives to asset tracing. For example: If you can prove your spouse is worth at least 12 million and you are only seeking 5 million to give you a very comfortable lifestyle, is the extra cost justified in proving that your ex-spouse has an additional 1 million in assets? Asking the court to infer that your ex-spouse has additional wealth because their disclosed assets do not support their provable expenditure and lifestyle. If you were married for 12 months and signed a prenuptial agreement after taking legal advice. None of these examples means you should not trace hidden assets, but they do demonstrate the need to discuss the cost-benefit ratio. There is no point in running up a big solicitor’s bill or instructing a forensic accountant to pore over company accounts unless the extra work and costs are likely to produce more by way of financial settlement than the additional expenses incurred. That is because you cannot guarantee that a court will order a spouse to pay your costs in tracing assets. It is a pointless victory if extra legal costs swallow up the larger financial settlement because the court either does not make a cost order in your favour, or the order does not cover the full extent of your asset tracing costs. How Evolve Family Law can help you achieve a fair financial settlement It is not surprising that there are allegations of hidden assets in divorce proceedings. After all, divorce proceedings often start because of a lack of trust in a relationship. A spouse's affair can cause a husband or wife to lose emotional and financial faith in their partner. When a separation is imminent or divorce proceedings are started, past actions and financial behaviours can take on a new significance. At Evolve Family Law, our divorce lawyers work with you to help you achieve a fair financial settlement. That involves tracing all assets after assessing the cost-effectiveness of doing so. We work with you because spouses know their spouses' behaviour best, and you will potentially have lots of invaluable information to help us ensure you receive the financial settlement you deserve. Contact our specialist family lawyers for a consultation on your financial settlement.

Failure to disclose financial information in divorce financial proceedings carries consequences. In this article, our North West specialist divorce solicitors explain what dishonest financial disclosure is and what you can do about it. Contact our specialist family lawyers for a consultation on your financial settlement. Dishonest financial disclosure in divorce proceedings Sometimes, when a divorce financial settlement solicitor explains the duty on both spouses to provide full and frank financial disclosure, they are greeted with laughter. Some divorcing spouses know their partners and realise that honesty and fairness are not part of their vocabulary. If you suspect your spouse will be dishonest, it's best to be upfront about it. That’s because dishonesty suspicions will affect your family lawyer's approach on how best to reach a financial settlement and the type of financial court order they negotiate or ask the court to make. Not everyone is dishonest Most divorcing couples know all about each other’s income, savings, and property. If you are in that position, there is no need to authorise extra costs being spent, as your divorce solicitors will not find assets that don’t exist. Instead, the focus should be negotiating a financial court order that meets your needs and minimises legal costs. Dishonest spouses A husband or wife can be dishonest about some aspects of their lives but not others. You are probably the best person to know if your husband or wife hasn’t been honest about relationships, but is likely to have been upfront about money matters. Alternatively, you may suspect that your spouse has been planning to leave you for a while and is managing their financial affairs, so you won’t get the financial settlement you are entitled to. If you think your husband or wife won’t provide full and frank financial disclosure, then discussing this with your finance solicitor is best. They will then decide what additional information should be requested and what follow-up questions may need to be asked. If you have a strong suspicion of dishonesty but no concrete proof or ‘smoking gun,’ then don’t worry. Divorce lawyers are experienced in ensuring all assets are disclosed and accurately valued before reaching a financial settlement or before the final hearing of a financial settlement application. Types of dishonesty in financial proceedings Dishonesty comes in different forms: Not disclosing assets or property. Not revealing material information. Not providing an accurate valuation. Here are some examples of dishonesty in financial settlement negotiations and court proceedings: Not disclosing a property purchased after separation in the Form E, as the spouse did not consider it relevant. Mentioning the ownership of 1,000 shares in a listed company but failing to mention their other 10,000 shares. They did not explain that they had received an offer on the business or other assets. Not providing information about a bank account or legacy received but kept separate from a spouse. A spouse must provide full financial disclosure. In financial proceedings, the divorce lawyers and the court then determine the relevance of the asset and its value. For example, the court may conclude that an asset purchased after the separation or a legacy received after the divorce is not a family asset. However, full financial disclosure is a requirement because, in some cases, the court will either conclude that an asset is matrimonial property that should be shared or decide that, although it is non-matrimonial property, it should still be shared because of a spouse’s needs. [related_posts] Why do you think your spouse is dishonest? Sometimes you know your spouse will be dishonest in financial disclosure, as they haven’t been honest in financial dealings with third parties over your marriage, and you think dishonesty is just part of their genetic make-up. In other situations, you may have been warned about the dishonesty by your spouse’s business partner or a family friend. It is essential to understand why you think your husband or wife is being financially dishonest as you don’t want divorce financial settlement solicitors to explore and analyse your spouse’s bank statements or business accounts or ask additional questions about their financial affairs if your views on their honesty is being clouded by your upset about your spouse walking out of the marriage or any of the many other things that a husband or wife can do to aggravate an already difficult and emotional time. Tackling dishonest financial disclosure When you split up, you are entitled to a fair financial settlement. What’s ‘fair’ depends on your personal and financial circumstances. However, you can’t reach a financial settlement unless you know the full extent of the family and non-family assets in your joint and sole names. If your spouse won’t voluntarily give full and frank financial disclosure, you must start financial proceedings. During the financial case, your husband or wife will need to give honest and full information when: Completing the standard Form E financial disclosure document and providing supporting paperwork. Answering questionnaires about their finances and disclosing additional documents as ordered by the court. Speaking to a single joint expert, such as a forensic accountant appointed by the court to value the family business. Giving evidence at the financial court hearing. Remedies if a spouse doesn’t comply with disclosure orders during financial court proceedings If your husband or wife does not comply with financial disclosure orders during financial court proceedings, you can ask the court to: Enforce the disclosure order. Draw inferences because of a failure to comply with the disclosure order or incomplete provision of information. Structure the award to account for the spouse’s conduct during the financial proceedings. Make a cost order. An example of drawing inferences is where financial disclosure reveals drawings from the business of £80,000 gross per year, but documented expenditure on mortgages, cars, and holidays shows outgoings of at least £110,000 per annum. If there is no corresponding debt or use of savings to meet the income shortfall or other reasonable explanation, other than cash syphoning, your finance lawyer could ask the court to draw inferences that your spouse is being dishonest about their income level from their business and its profitability. Discovering dishonest financial disclosure after a financial court order Sometimes, you don’t know that the person you loved and trusted has been dishonest with their financial disclosure until after you have agreed on a financial consent order or the court has made an order after contested court proceedings. Even if you discover dishonest behaviour after the event, it may not be too late to act. Divorce solicitors issue a warning, though – it is easier and cheaper to show dishonesty before a financial order is made, as there are no guarantees that you can reopen a financial court order. If you can show there was dishonest financial disclosure, the court has the power to set aside the financial court order it made. Leading court cases on fraud and dishonesty in financial proceedings Divorce solicitors emphasise the importance of full and frank financial disclosure citing the Supreme Court cases of two ex-wives, Mrs Sharland and Mrs Gohil, who took their cases to the Supreme Court to try to win justice on the basis that their former husbands had deliberately misled them and the court about the true extent of their wealth. In Sharland v Sharland [2015] UKSC 60 (14 October 2015), Mrs Sharland and her husband had agreed on a financial settlement. Their divorce lawyers drafted a court order that the judge approved. After the order was approved, Mrs Sharland read in the financial press that her husband’s shareholding in his IT company was worth more than he told the court. In Gohil v Gohil [2015] UKSC 61 (14 October 2015), Mrs Gohil agreed to her divorce financial settlement based on information her husband disclosed: a modest income and no assets. However, Mrs Gohil started a battle to overturn the divorce settlement after it became apparent to her that her husband's disclosed assets and income could not support his lifestyle. The husband was later convicted of fraud and money laundering. The evidence in criminal proceedings enabled Mrs Gohil to pursue her claim. In the cases of Mrs Sharland and Mrs Gohil, the Supreme Court ruled that if a husband or a wife in divorce proceedings intentionally keeps financial information from the court, then the court will presume that a different financial order would have been made if the hidden evidence had been made available at the time. Deliberately misleading the court can, therefore, invalidate a financial settlement. That means the financial court order can be changed. Accordingly, being dishonest means uncertainty and extra costs for the dishonest spouse, plus the real possibility of the court making a more generous financial settlement to their spouse. The penalties for dishonesty in financial proceedings The 2025 court case of VTY v GDB [2025] EWFC 110 (B) (24 April 2025) highlights the penalties of failing to provide full financial disclosure in court proceedings. The judge tasked with deciding how the couple’s assets should be split said ‘’On occasions too frequent for the court to do justice to here, the husband has been demonstrated not to be telling the truth. The husband, bluntly, cannot be believed. His disclosure and litigation conduct has been appalling and has been designed to confuse and obfuscate. He is thoroughly and determinedly dishonest.’’ Financial disclosure was described as woeful and messy. The wife was awarded around 1.2 million in assets, and the husband, around £483,000. The judge said he was giving the wife a greater share of the assets rather than ordering the husband to pay the wife spousal maintenance because of the husband’s behaviour. The husband was also ordered to pay over £54,000 in costs to the wife. Suspicions of dishonesty and financial disclosure If you are suspicious about financial disclosure and believe your husband or wife is dishonest, don’t negotiate a financial settlement thinking that you can change it later—you may not be able to do so, or the costs and timescales may be a deterrent. If you are concerned that the figures don’t add up or your spouse is doing some of the classic concerning actions (such as transferring assets to friends or family or closing bank accounts or telling you that the family business is at risk of going under but the order book seems as strong as ever) then speak to an expert divorce solicitor so you can understand your options and achieve a fair financial settlement. Contact our specialist family lawyers for a consultation on your financial settlement.

Sorting out how you split the equity in the family home can be tricky. It can be a lot harder to reach a divorce settlement when you are also trying to agree on who pays the bank loan and credit cards, what happens to the pensions, and whether one of you should pay spousal maintenance and for how long. In this blog, our family law solicitors answer your questions on divorce financial settlements.  Call us for expert family law advice or complete our online enquiry form.  Reaching a divorce settlement  In the UK, divorce settlements are discretionary and based on reasonable needs. The statutory factors make it hard for couples to reach a financial agreement as English family law doesn’t say that a husband and wife must split their assets equally or that a wife must return to full-time employment when the youngest child is 11 or that a husband will always keep a family business owned before the marriage or even that the divorce court must follow a prenuptial agreement. If there are no hard and fast rules, how are divorce settlements reached? Ultimately, if a husband and wife can't agree, it is down to a family court judge to decide what happens to each asset and make a financial court order. The judge will look at statutory criteria and case law when making the order. When a divorce solicitor advises on likely divorce settlement outcomes, they base their advice on their experience in negotiating settlements and representing spouses in contested financial court proceedings.  Divorce settlement advice   If you need divorce settlement advice, it's crucial to speak to a divorce lawyer. The solicitor will talk to you about your circumstances before offering advice. Examples of why information and talking are important include: It is often assumed there should be a 50/50 split of assets after a long marriage. However, that assumption could be displaced for several reasons, such as the wife can't get a mortgage and needs more than 50% of the assets to buy a new family home for herself and the children or most of the assets were inherited by the husband before the marriage and the wife can comfortably rehouse herself and meet all her other needs with 30% of the total assets. Alternatively, the couple may have signed a prenuptial agreement to ringfence inherited money Clean breaks should be achieved to end any financial or other ongoing ties between husband and wife. However, if the family home is sold, the equity won't be enough for either the husband or wife to buy another property, so both parents will be stuck renting. Maybe the parent who is the primary carer of the children should stay in the family home until the youngest child is 18. The house can then be sold, and the proceeds of the sale can be split in percentages fair to the ex-husband and wife   Discretion and how it works with divorce settlements Family law solicitors will outline the discretionary factors the court applies when making a financial court order after a contested final hearing of a financial application. The factors are just as relevant if you are negotiating an agreement through family mediation, solicitor negotiations or trying to do a deal at a financial dispute resolution hearing. The discretionary factors are contained in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The lawyer shorthand for them is ‘Section 25 criteria’. The court’s first concern should be the welfare of any dependent children and how the children's needs will be met. The court should then consider the Section 25 criteria: The income, earning capacity, property, and other financial resources that the husband and wife have or are likely to have in the foreseeable future. With earning capacity, this includes any increase in that capacity which it would, in the opinion of the court, be reasonable to expect a husband or wife to take steps to acquire The financial needs, obligations, and responsibilities that the husband and wife have or are likely to have in the foreseeable future The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage The age of the husband and wife and the length of the relationship  Any health issues affecting either the husband or wife or their children   The contributions made by the husband or wife or likely to be made in the foreseeable future to the welfare of the family, including any contribution as a homemaker or stay-at-home parent  The conduct of the husband or wife if that conduct is such that it would, in the opinion of the court, be inequitable to disregard it The value to the husband and wife of any benefit (for example, a pension) that they will lose the chance of acquiring because of the divorce With this list of factors, it is easy to see how, in some situations, a judge may order a different financial settlement from another judge. However, the difference in judicial view should be within a band of reasonableness. For example, it would be unreasonable for one judge to say an equal split of equity in the family home and for another one to say a 90/10 split of the equity in the family home would meet the Section 25 criteria. With the uncertainty of judicial discretion, most divorcing couples prefer to try to negotiate a divorce financial consent order based on their family lawyer’s assessment of the Section 25 criteria. [related_posts] How to get the best divorce settlement  Some people think the only way to get the best divorce settlement is to apply to the court for a financial order.  They may be right. For example, if their former spouse is refusing to provide financial disclosure, is transferring assets to friends or family or is refusing to agree to a valuation of the family home or business. In other situations, a divorcing husband or wife must weigh up the costs and time in making a financial application against the benefits to be gained.  A family law solicitor will tell you that if your ex-spouse is only offering you 10% of the family assets, you need to go to court. It is far harder to advise on the decision to start financial proceedings if your former spouse is offering you 45%. The decision may then come down to the value of the 5% of the assets you may be losing out on balanced against the costs of going to court. Things are often more complicated than that, as you may also dispute your ex-spouse’s valuation of his business or home, or you may argue that your ex-partner is offering you assets that are not as valuable to you as the ones you want. For example, they may be proposing that they will keep all the equity in the family home and you keep all your pensions, but that deal doesn’t give you the capital to rehouse yourself even though it will provide you with an income in eventual retirement. At Evolve Family Law, our North West divorce solicitors focus on finding out what your ideal divorce settlement would look like and why. We then work on discovering the full extent of the family assets and any property that might be classed as non-family assets. We can then have an informed discussion with you about your realistic settlement options so you can weigh up the pros and cons of court proceedings over family mediation or arbitration or weigh up the advantages of spousal maintenance over a bigger share of equity in the family home. Having the right expert support behind you can give you the confidence to say yes or no to what is on offer from your ex, knowing that your lawyers have a strategy to get you the divorce settlement you need. Call us for an appointment to discuss your divorce settlement or complete our online enquiry form. 

Potentially, your ex-wife could claim against your estate. That’s why when you are separating or getting divorced you need joined-up advice from a family lawyer and a Will solicitor. In this article, the estate planning lawyers at Evolve Family Law answer your questions on what happens to your estate if you pass away leaving an ex-wife. For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce and estate planning lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.  Ex-wife's claims against an estate   An ex-wife's claims will depend, to a large extent, on whether you are divorced or not. No-fault divorce proceedings are not finalised until your final order of divorce is pronounced. If you divorced before the divorce law reform you may have received a decree absolute from the court ending your marriage. If you have not completed the divorce process you may still be married at the date of death. Therefore, your estranged wife is your legal next of kin. However, you may have made a new Will when you separated so she is no longer a beneficiary of your estate. Your ex-wife can claim your estate or a share of it even if: Your divorce has been finalised  You have a separation agreement  You have a financial court order  You are not paying your ex-wife spousal maintenance  You have remarried You have children  You have made a Will excluding your former wife  The only circumstances when an ex-wife cannot bring a claim against your estate is when the court has made a clean break financial court order preventing any further monetary claims by her or your ex-wife has remarried. Do you have a clean break financial court order? If you got divorced some years ago you may not be certain if you secured a clean break financial court order. If you are unsure, you should ask one of our specialist family lawyers to review the order for you. They can look at the technical wording and advise you.  If you do not have a financial court order our family lawyers can help you obtain a financial court order to give you peace of mind. Your Will solicitor can then prepare a bespoke Will for you, confident in the knowledge that your ex-wife cannot make a claim or the risks of her doing so are reduced. If you have a financial court order, but it is not a clean break order, our family law solicitors can advise on whether it would be sensible to ask the court to vary the order to make it a clean break order. Their advice will depend on your circumstances and those of your ex-wife. [related_posts] Does making a new Will prevent my ex-wife from making a claim on my estate?  If our Will solicitors make a new Will for you then an ex-wife could still bring a claim against your estate if there is no clean break order in place from the family court. A Will solicitor can advise on the prospects of an ex-wife successfully challenging your Will after your death. There are ways that you can minimise the risks of an estate claim or reduce the amount payable. The law on your ex-wife making a claim on your estate The law on people making a claim against your estate if you die without making a Will (called dying intestate) or die with a valid Will  is contained in the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975. An ex-wife can claim against your estate if the intestacy rules or your Will does not make reasonable financial provision for her. Reasonable financial provision depends on her and your circumstances. For example, your former spouse may rely on your spousal maintenance that ends on your death. Alternatively, your estate may be modest and you may have dependent children from your first and second marriages who need providing for. The 1975 Act says that all the following people could bring a claim against your estate:  Your husband, wife or civil partner – this includes someone who is separated but not divorced from you  A former husband, an ex-wife or a former civil partner if there is no clean break order in place and if your ex-spouse or civil partner has not remarried A child or someone treated as a child by you   Someone who was living with you for 2 years before your death  Anyone who immediately before your death was financially dependent on you. For example, an unmarried partner    Worst case scenario, a current cohabitee, your children and an ex-wife could all be disputing who gets your estate. This level of conflict could be stopped or reduced with a Will prepared by a specialist estate planning solicitor. For expert advice call our team of specialist divorce and estate planning lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.