Divorce

You may need a freezing order if your estranged or ex-spouse is selling or transferring assets to try to reduce the amount of money available for distribution in planned or ongoing divorce financial proceedings. Family law and freezing order solicitors can help you navigate the process of applying for a freezing injunction and assist you in securing a financial settlement and court order. Get in Touch With us Today.  Freezing orders There are several types of freezing orders, including Section 37 injunctions and Mareva injunctions. These court orders can be applied for as part of a financial remedy application started by a husband, wife or civil partner. The injunction order freezes assets to prevent them from being sold or transferred before a spouse can obtain a financial court order to split the family assets fairly. You do not need to be the applicant in the financial remedy application to apply for an injunction order. However, often the applicant for a freezing injunction starts financial remedy proceedings at the same time as their injunction application. A spouse can also apply for a freezing order mid-way through a financial remedy application if they discover that their estranged or former spouse is intending to transfer or sell assets discovered during the financial disclosure process. Alternative safeguards to freezing orders The family court views freezing injunctions as a draconian measure of the last resort. Family lawyers will therefore consider the alternatives to applying for a freezing injunction. Alternatives to a freezing injunction may save money, reduce court animosity, and avoid the risk that the court will say the threshold for securing an injunction is not met. The alternatives to a freezing order depend on the assets needing protection and the extent of the other family assets. A freezing order solicitor can carefully look at all the options, including: Working out the estimated value of the family assets and non-family assets to see if an injunction application is justified. Writing to the spouse explaining the potential consequences of selling or disposing of assets and the adverse inferences the court will be asked to make against the spouse in the financial court proceedings. Asking the spouse to give an undertaking or promise not to sell or dispose of an asset until an agreed financial settlement is reached or the court makes a financial court order. Asking a bank to freeze a bank or an investment account. Asking the land registry to place a notification on the property register to help stop the owner of land from being able to sell or remortgage it. Divorce solicitors can help you work out the most cost-effective solution to preserve assets until the final hearing of a financial settlement application. Assets that a freezing injunction can freeze An injunction can freeze many types of assets, provided the injunction applicant has evidence to justify the court making the order. Freezing injunction orders are typically made to stop the sale or the transfer of: Bank accounts. Property or land. Investments, stocks and shares. Shares in a family business or company assets to prevent asset stripping. Expensive items, such as gold or jewellery.   The steps to obtain a freezing order    The procedure to obtain a freezing injunction can be broken down into five steps: Injunction application and supporting statement explaining why the freezing order is being sought. Ex parte or without notice hearing for the court to decide if an urgent freezing injunction is necessary without the respondent first being made aware of the application and initial court hearing. Application and any interim order are served on the respondent with a hearing date (called a return date) for the respondent to attend and oppose the injunction order being made or from continuing. The respondent lodges a statement if they oppose the injunction being made or continuing. The respondent may decide that they don’t object to the order freezing an asset, but they may say the wording of the order is impracticable because it doesn't allow them to pay their reasonable living expenses or to operate their business. The injunction hearing with the respondent present takes place, and the judge decides if the freezing order should be made or continue until the date of the final hearing of the financial application.   If the court makes a freezing order, the order must be served on the respondent and any other relevant persons or organisations, such as the respondent’s bank if the order relates to a bank account. [related_posts]   Do you need a freezing injunction? A freezing injunction solicitor can assess whether an application is justified and whether the court is likely to make the order in the terms sought. Using an example is the best way to illustrate whether a freezing order application should be pursued. The freezing injunction example Mike has a house worth £2m, a business worth £3m, and joint bank accounts with his wife, Claire, with a balance of £2m. All the assets total around £7m. Mike is selling his shares in his business to his brother for £2m. Claire thinks that it is a sale at an undervaluation because she thinks the shares are worth an extra £1m. She believes Mike thinks he is being clever and that he plans to get his brother to transfer the shares back to him once a financial court order is made, in the process avoiding giving her an extra £500,000, half the additional value in the shares. She wants a freezing injunction to stop Mike from selling his shares. As the house is the family home, Claire can ask her divorce lawyers to register a notice with the Land Registry to prevent it from being sold or remortgaged. As the bank account is a joint account, the bank can be asked to freeze the account. Potentially, Claire can safeguard assets of up to £4m without applying for a freezing order, and £4m, based on Claire’s knowledge of the business, is over half the value of all the family's assets. Claire’s divorce solicitor can write to Mike’s financial settlement lawyer to explain that if Mike goes ahead with the transfer of shares to his brother at an undervalue, Claire will argue that Mike should be attributed as getting £3m rather than £2m for the shares, as that is the actual value of the shareholding. Therefore, Mike’s ploy won't work, and by his actions, he will unnecessarily increase the costs of the financial remedy proceedings, risking a cost order being made against him and the freezing of the joint bank account. Claire may still prefer to apply for a freezing order to stop the sale of the shares, but she understands her options and how she can safeguard over 50% of the family's assets without one. The divorce lawyer’s advice on the advisability of applying for a Section 37 injunction may depend on whether Claire was married for 3 or 30 years and whether Mike and Claire signed a prenuptial agreement ringfencing Mike’s shareholding in his family business. Do you need substantial family assets to justify applying for a freezing order? Some people think that you can only justify a freezing injunction application if a former spouse is a high-net-worth individual who is intending to sell or dispose of assets worth more than £1m. That’s not the case. If the family assets are modest, an injunction application may be imperative. Preventing an ex-spouse from dissipating £100,000 of family assets by obtaining a freezing injunction may make the difference between a spouse having enough money to buy a new property from their financial settlement or being stuck in rented accommodation because they do not have a large enough lump sum to put down as a deposit on a new house purchase. Each family situation needs careful assessment, and spouses need advice tailored to their personal and financial circumstances so they can weigh up the pros and cons of applying for a freezing injunction. Freezing orders and asset ownership Securing a freezing order over an asset does not mean that the ownership of the asset will be transferred at the date of the injunction hearing or that the asset will be ring-marked for you in the final hearing of the financial settlement application. A freezing order is intended to serve as a neutral, temporary measure pending a financial court order. The order freezes the asset as a holding measure. In some situations, the injunction to stop the sale or transfer of an asset or the movement of money overseas is vital if you are going to get a fair financial settlement. In other scenarios, a Section 37 injunction would be ideal but not critical. How freezing orders work How freezing orders work depends on the asset being frozen. For example, if Claire decides she wants to apply for a Section 37 injunction to stop Mike selling his shares in the family business to his brother, then she does not want the freezing order to have the effect of freezing the company. That would not be in her interests or those of the company's employees, as the order could render the company's shares valueless by the date of the final hearing of her financial settlement application. Freezing orders can be worded so a business can still operate, or if they relate to a personal bank account, the freezing injunction can be phrased so the bank account holder can pay existing standing orders and their usual and reasonable living expenses. Speak to freezing order solicitors in the North West You need specialist freezing order advice if you are worried about family assets disappearing or if you are facing what appears to be aggressive tactics to secure an injunction in circumstances where you have no intention to fritter away assets, and your ex has unfounded suspicions about historical business or personal financial transactions. At Evolve Family Law, our expert divorce and financial settlement solicitors can advise you on the grounds for a freezing order, represent you in the injunction application and financial settlement proceedings. Get in Touch With us Today.

Family solicitor Robin Charrot examines divorce and inheritance and offers advice on how the court resolves divorce financial settlements involving inheritances. Get in Touch With us Today. Divorce and inheritance issues For many young couples, it is a real struggle to get on the property ladder. The combination of house prices and the increase in the cost of living has made homeownership an uphill battle for most young married couples. Frequently, parents and in-laws provide gifts or loans to help young families buy their first home or move to a larger family home. Alternatively, a young couple may be helped if one of them receives a substantial inheritance from a parent or grandparent. When a couple separates and initiates no-fault divorce proceedings, one stumbling block to reaching an agreed financial settlement is where either spouse has received an inheritance or is likely to receive a substantial legacy in the future. Protecting inheritance from divorce There are ways to protect an inheritance from divorce financial claims. Examples of how to protect an inheritance from a financial claim include: Signing a prenuptial agreement. Signing a postnuptial agreement. Creating a discretionary trust. Keeping the inheritance separate. Relationship agreements and protecting inheritances A prenuptial agreement is relevant if you are engaged and have not married. If you are married, you can sign a postnuptial agreement to protect assets from divorce financial claims. Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements can be limited to ringfencing the inheritance, so the spouse who inherited the money from their side of the family keeps it if the couple splits up. Alternatively, the agreement can be comprehensive and set out your agreed financial settlement in the event of a separation. Either type of relationship agreement only works if safeguards are in place to protect both parties, such as financial disclosure and independent legal advice. Trusts and protecting inherited monies The creation of a discretionary trust can be effective in protecting an inheritance from divorce claims. Setting up a discretionary trust requires specialist private client and estate planning advice. Inherited monies classed as non-family wealth  If you have received an inheritance, one way to keep it out of any future divorce financial settlement is to decide not to share the money with your spouse. This strategy does not always work. Whether it is feasible to keep money separate depends on the extent of your other assets, the length of your marriage, and several other factors. Keeping inherited money separate from your husband or wife means keeping it in a sole account, not placing it in a joint account, and not using it to pay off the mortgage on the family home or to invest in the family business. The court will decide in financial court proceedings whether the money falls within the definition of family money or is non-family wealth. The asset can also be referred to as a non-marital asset. If a court concludes that an inheritance qualifies as a non-marital asset, the court will not share the inheritance as part of the financial settlement unless it is necessary to do so. It will be necessary to do so if your spouses' and the children's needs cannot be met without recourse to the non-marital asset. Non-family wealth – the practicalities Family lawyers recognise the difficulties of keeping inherited money separate from shared funds. Keeping an inheritance separate from your wife's funds or in your sole account may conflict with financial advice or tax advice. For example, from a financial standpoint: It may be best to pay off the mortgage on the jointly owned family home mortgage rather than keep your inheritance in a bank account or in investments in your sole name, or From an income tax perspective, it may be best to make use of your ISA allowance and the ISA allowance of your husband or wife. The professional legal, financial, and tax advice is correct but conflicting. That’s because each professional addresses the inherited funds from different angles. A family law solicitor can assist you in working out the option that best suits your needs and priorities. You might also be interested in [related_posts]   Inheritances and financial disclosure when negotiating a financial settlement In financial settlement negotiations and court proceedings, there is often an assumption that inherited money or inheritance and trust prospects do not need to be disclosed to your spouse or to the court. However, all husbands and wives must provide complete and frank financial disclosure. If you do not disclose an inheritance, it can result in: Your spouse being suspiciousabout other financial aspects, such as the value of the family business or the extent of your income. This suspicion makes it less likely that you can reach an agreed divorce financial settlement. In the financial proceedings, the court being asked to make inferences about your honesty. The court could be asked to infer that you have additional undisclosed wealth because you did not initially disclose the existence of an inheritance or a trust. If a financial court order is madeand it subsequently comes to light that you had received an inheritance or were a discretionary beneficiary of a trust, your spouse can ask the court to review the order and make a new one based on the argument that the court would not have made the original order if you had disclosed the existence of the inheritance or the trust. Family solicitors recommend that if you have received an inheritance or if you are named in a Will or a trust, you discuss your financial disclosure with a specialist divorce financial settlement solicitor before you start financial settlement negotiations, attend family mediation, or complete Form E financial disclosure as part of the divorce financial settlement court process. Disclosure of inherited monies and inheritance prospects Even if the advice is that you must disclose the inheritance, you can still argue that the inheritance should not be considered in the divorce financial settlement. For example, because you have not received the legacy yet and the testator may change their Will or because although the inheritance has been received, the inherited money did not become marital property because of the existence of a prenuptial agreement or as a result of the money being kept separate. Many future inheritances can be safely ignored and will be disregarded by the court. For example, if you are getting divorced in your 20s and your parents have named you as a beneficiary of their Wills but they are in their 60s and fit and healthy. Why? Firstly, you may not inherit for another 30 years, and secondly, by the date of their death, they may have spent your legacy or decided to leave it to a charity. The relevance of a future inheritance may be different if you and your spouse are in your 60s and you are divorcing after 30 years of marriage. An imminent inheritance could be relevant if there is insufficient equity in the family home to rehouse you both or to meet your retirement needs. The inheritance could mean your spouse gets more of the equity or pension share than would have been the case if you were not due to imminently receive a substantial inheritance or had recently received it. Divorce, inheritance and protecting family wealth Divorce and inheritance can be a very emotional topic. Invariably, people want to protect an inheritance because they believe it is family money left to them and that their relative would not want their estate shared with their former spouse. Divorce financial settlement solicitors and estate planning lawyers can guide you and your family on your options.   For expert advice on divorce and family law, call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

Living with a husband or wife who has dementia can be more than some spouses can cope with, especially when there were marital difficulties before the diagnosis. Although there is an increasing amount of support available and understanding of the impact of a dementia diagnosis on the family, for some spouses, the right option is separation or divorce. At Evolve Family Law, our divorce solicitors have advised several spouses who have contemplated separating or divorcing after their spouse has received a diagnosis of dementia. Many are loath to seek legal advice, as they fear judgment from family, a divorce lawyer, or the court. It is an impossible situation, and we recommend seeking specialist legal advice to understand your options. Contact Evolve Family Law for specialist divorce legal advice. Divorce proceedings and dementia Whether or not the dementia diagnosis played any part in the reasons for the marriage breakdown, there are likely to be feelings of guilt about applying for a divorce and worry about how a spouse who is ill will face the future. There is also likely to be a concern that you will not meet the legal criteria for a divorce. With the introduction of no-fault divorce proceedings, all you need to show to obtain a divorce is that, in your opinion, the marriage has irretrievably broken down. Your spouse does not need to agree with you, and in most cases, there are no grounds on which they can oppose the divorce. If you are worried that your spouse is not well enough to instruct a divorce solicitor or to play a part in the proceedings, the family procedure rules allow the court to appoint a person to represent your spouse’s interests. Financial settlements when one spouse has dementia  If you decide to separate, it is important that you get specialist legal advice because, in some financial and pension circumstances, it will be in both of your interests not to get divorced. In other situations, it will be important to get divorced rather than just live apart, so the court can make a binding financial order that may include a pension-sharing order. When contemplating separation or divorce, most people do not want to base their decision solely on financial considerations. However, you do need both expert financial and legal advice to understand the ramifications of staying together or separating, as either option could significantly affect your retirement and personal and financial circumstances. Many people worry about how a dementia diagnosis will affect a financial settlement. The court takes several factors into account when deciding on a fair and reasonable financial settlement. One of those factors is the health of both the husband and wife. A dementia diagnosis means that the court will carefully consider a spouse’s housing, capital and income needs. 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 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 the 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 to be protected. You might also be interested in [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. Divorce solicitors say that it is possible to divorce with dignity after a diagnosis of dementia. In many situations, whilst a spouse cannot cope with sharing a home, they want their spouse to be provided for. The first step is to investigate your options so you can make an informed decision about what is right for you. Contact Evolve Family Law for specialist divorce legal advice.

Pension divorce claims are always tricky because pensions are not the same as other assets: a pension cannot normally be accessed straight away, whereas other assets usually can. Pensions also often come with complicated pension scheme rules. A divorce pension solicitor can help you understand the option of pension offsetting and help you achieve a fair financial settlement. Contact Evolve Family Law for specialist divorce legal advice.   Pension sharing or offsetting There are two main ways to share the value of pensions in divorce financial claims: Pension sharing, or Pension offsetting. With a pension share, you get a share of your spouse’s pension, ranging from 1 to 100% of the pension fund. The shared pension then becomes your pension fund, and any further contributions to the fund after the pension-sharing order is implemented belong to you as the owner of the pension fund. Many spouses don’t want to share their pension because they feel that either they or their employer contributed to the retirement fund, and it is their money. Their spouse may not want to share a pension with a pension sharing order because they want more cash or equity from the family home to buy a new property. Whether you are looking at pension sharing or offsetting, it is vital to get all your pension and your spouse’s pension funds correctly valued before you negotiate a financial settlement.  Comparing pension values Most people receive an annual cash equivalent value of their pension, which shows its value if they want to transfer it to a different pension fund. People assume that two pensions, each with a cash equivalent value (CEV) of £250,000, are of equal value. While the figure may be the same, the two pension funds may produce two very different levels of pension income in retirement. That may be because one fund is an NHS, local government, or defined-benefit scheme, while the other is a personal pension scheme invested in cash or yielding low-risk returns. As you cannot compare the real value of pension funds by comparing CEVs, your divorce solicitor should consider getting advice from a pension actuary to make sure that one CEV is not underplaying the true value of the final salary pension fund or overvaluing a pension fund where the fund is in deficit. The importance of accurately valuing pension funds Spending money getting an asset valued when you may be many years away from retirement may seem wasteful and a daft idea. However, if you both agree to keep your pension funds at their identical CEVs of £250,000, one of you may be able to retire with a pension of £18,000 per year, and the other with £9,000 per year. With most financial court orders, you cannot ask the court to even out pension income injustice when you reach retirement age. That’s why it is so important to accurately value pensions before you reach a financial settlement. Duxbury calculations and pension values for offsetting Instead of using the pension CEV to value a couple's pension funds, the family court can value each fund based on projected future income. This is a more reliable indicator of the pension's true value. Once the income values have been ascertained, the court can undertake a Duxbury calculation. A Duxbury calculation is usually used by the family court when determining the lump sum required to capitalise spousal maintenance payments. This means the amount a financially weaker spouse needs as a capital or lump-sum payment to compensate them for not receiving ongoing monthly spousal maintenance payments. Adopting the same principles and Duxbury methodology, a pension offset amount can be calculated to help reach a financial settlement. You might also be interested in [related_posts]   An example of pension offsetting Here is an example of how pension offsetting can work in solicitor negotiations, family mediation or when a family law judge decides what financial court order to make after the final hearing of a financial remedy application: A husband and wife are both 50 years old. They jointly own a family home with equity of £500,000. The husband has a pension with a CEV of £500,000. The husband's pension is projected to provide £20,000 a year at age 60. The wife has no pension provision. The husband wants to keep his pension, and the wife wants more than 50% of the equity in the house to offset the value of her husband's pension. Without pension offsetting, the wife would be walking away with £250,000 from the house sale proceeds. The wife’s fair share of the projected pension income is £10,000 a year from age 60. A Duxbury calculation says that the capital payment which would produce an income of £10,000 a year from age 60 is £160,000. A discount may be applied for an accelerated payment of the £160,000 because, with a pension sharing order, the wife’s share of her husband's pension would only start to be paid in ten years. Applying a 25% discount reduces £160,000 to £120,000. This results in a pension offset figure of £120,000, and the wife therefore gets £370,000 from the house sale proceeds, and the husband gets around £130,000 from the house and keeps his pension. The order for the sale of the family home and the division of the equity would usually be expressed as percentages to avoid the husband or wife losing out if house prices increase or decrease. Under the figures, the wife would receive 74% of the net proceeds from the sale of the family home, and her husband would receive the balance and keep his pension.   In any contested financial remedy proceedings in which a judge decides how the assets are divided and the extent of any pension offset, there is an element of judicial discretion. For example, some judges may not discount the pension offsetting figure by 25%, and others might decide not to use the Duxbury method. A specialist divorce finance solicitor can advise you on the likely range of pension outcomes in financial proceedings to help you come to an agreed financial settlement through solicitor negotiations, using our One Lawyer Divorce Service or family mediation, and our family lawyers can then assist you in converting your financial agreement into a binding financial consent order. Contact Evolve Family Law for specialist divorce legal advice.+++

It may be possible for you or your former husband or wife to reopen a divorce financial claim if you didn’t obtain a clean break financial court order at the time of your divorce. A recent court decision has highlighted the need for specialist family law advice on whether a delayed court application is appropriate and on the best way to approach your ex-partner. At Evolve Family Law, our divorce settlement lawyers provide expert advice on financial settlements and court orders. Contact Evolve Family Law for specialist divorce and financial settlement advice.   Divorce and financial settlements Some people get divorced but either accidentally or deliberately don’t finalise their financial claims. Here are a few situations where one ex-spouse could either bring a delayed financial claim against their former spouse or reopen a claim: A couple divorced but did not sign a separation agreement and didn’t ask the court to make a financial court order because they did not see the need to do so, as neither owned property nor had much wealth. A couple separated and divorced, but didn’t ask the judge to convert their separation agreement into a binding financial court order because they did not understand the difference between a separation agreement and a court order. A couple went to family mediation and negotiated an agreement. However, they didn’t convert their memorandum of understanding into a court order, as neither considered it necessary to incur the costs of obtaining one. A couple obtained a financial court order at the time of their divorce proceedings, but the financial order left some financial claims open, such as future spousal maintenance claims.   Is there a financial agreement or clean break order? If you are uncertain about whether you have a financial court order or whether your order is a clean break order or not, then it's best to speak to a family law solicitor. The status of a document or the wording in a separation agreement or financial court order can be confusing. That’s why it’s best to get a professional opinion. The need for advice applies if: You are an ex-spouse wondering if you can begin a late financial claim or ask for additional money, or You are a former spouse concerned that you are vulnerable to your ex coming after you for a share of the wealth and assets accumulated after your separation.   The importance of getting specialist family law advice on late financial claims The recent court case of LIN v PAR [2025] EWFC 401 (21 November 2025) has highlighted: It is essential to obtain a financial court order at the time of your divorce, even if your assets are modest, you did not have children together, you signed a prenuptial agreement or were only married for a few years. The importance of how you approach a financially stronger ex-spouse if you want to bring a delayed financial claim. The need to get expert advice to assess if a financial settlement claim is likely to be successful after a substantial delay between the date of the divorce proceedings and the late financial claim. The benefits of trying to negotiate rather than litigate a financial settlement claim. The importance of assessing whether the legal costs in a delayed financial settlement claim will outweigh the value of the potential financial settlement.   [related_posts]     The court decision in Lin v Par A former wife applied for a financial court order after divorcing her ex-spouse over 20 years earlier. She was able to do this because she and her ex-husband had not obtained a financial court order at the time of their divorce. At the time of their divorce, the couple reached a financial agreement that involved a roughly equal split of their then-modest assets. At the suggestion of a friend and advisor, the ex-wife alleged that her ex-husband failed to provide full financial disclosure, rendering the agreement unfair and invalid. Her ex-husband disputed this. The ex-wife was encouraged to make a delayed financial application as her ex-husband's financial circumstances had changed significantly over the 20 years since their divorce, with the ex-husband said to be worth over 100 million. The ex-wife’s first solicitors asked for a preliminary payment of 10 million and an undertaking not to dispose of assets until her financial claim was resolved. Unsurprisingly, the letter came as a shock to the ex-husband as he had not had contact with his ex-wife for over 12 years. The judge ruled: There had not been any substantial non-disclosure or undue pressure when the couple negotiated the financial agreement at the time of the divorce proceedings. Delay in bringing a financial claim and the extent of the delay are relevant factors when the court assesses the fairness of making an order. A hostile first letter can set the tone for the future negotiation and the decision to commence a financial remedy application. One spouse's substantial wealth compared to their former partner’s finances does not justify the court making an order in favour of a financially weaker ex-spouse. An ex-spouse is not responsible for meeting the ongoing and future needs of their former husband or wife when their needs were not relationship-generated.   The court made no financial award in favour of the ex-wife, holding that the husband's £100m business and other assets were generated after the couple had reached a financial agreement and shared their assets. However, to secure that court ruling, the ex-husband spent nearly £1.8m on his legal fees and in contributing towards his former wife's legal expenses. Every family court decision is made on the facts. Therefore, in other circumstances, a judge may have been persuaded to make a financial court order in favour of the ex-wife. That risk can be avoided by securing a clean break order at the time of the divorce proceedings or by subsequently negotiating an order.   Reopening a financial claim after a divorce The decision in Lin v Par should not deter ex-spouses from seeking advice on reopening a financial claim after a divorce, but you should take specialist advice on the best way to do so and the likelihood of a successful negotiation or court claim. At Evolve Family Law, our divorce settlement lawyers pride themselves on offering commercial, pragmatic legal advice tailored to your situation. The fact that you have the right to bring a claim does not necessarily mean you should do so. Equally, ignoring the risk of an ex-spouse resurfacing and asking for millions is something that your family law solicitors can help resolve by negotiating a clean break to give you financial certainty and security. A conversation about your old financial agreement or court order does not commit you to reopening a financial claim, but it will give you an indication of what you could do so you can make informed choices. Contact Evolve Family Law for expert divorce and financial settlement advice.

According to the latest research, women face a bigger income drop than men in the year after their divorce. Our family law solicitors look at the latest research and explain how the structure of a financial settlement and childcare arrangements can affect your post-divorce income.   Contact Evolve Family Law for Specialist Family Law Advice.   Research into the impact of divorce on incomes The latest research from Legal & General reveals that on average, women see their income fall by 50% in the year following their divorce.  In contrast, men’s incomes fall by 30% in the year following the divorce. L&G refer to this as the divorce gap. The L&G research goes deeper and reveals that: Nearly a quarter of women (24%) felt financially vulnerable after their divorce. Nearly a fifth (19%) of women struggled to pay their bills. 13% of women are concerned about the financial implications of retiring alone. How about the men? Only 16% of men felt financially vulnerable, and only 10% of men struggled to pay essential bills. 8% of men were more concerned about their retirement plans and retiring alone after their divorce. Some people may think the L&G research shows that women worry more about finances than men, but the data goes beyond the headlines and explains the rationale behind the divorce gap.   Research into the reasons for the divorce gap The L&G research revealed the reasons for the divorce gap as: 63% of women felt the financial impact of stopping sharing finances and outgoings with a partner, compared to only 39% of men. Roughly a quarter of the people surveyed said that the wife was the primary breadwinner before the divorce, and in 22% of marriages, the husband and wife earned about the same amount. After their divorce, around a fifth of women returned to employment.  Women are twice as likely as men to reduce their hours of work after their divorce because of parenting responsibilities. Only 13% of divorcing couples considered pension splitting when reaching a financial settlement. Women tend to prioritise non-pension assets when reaching a financial settlement. 28% of women did not receive pensions as part of their divorce settlement compared to 17% of men.   You might also be interested in [related_posts]   Will a divorce have an impact on my income? When a couple separates, it is common to move from a two-income household to a one-income household, resulting in a reduction in income. Unfortunately, it is often not possible to achieve a corresponding decrease in outgoings across the two households created by the separation. It is crucial that your divorce solicitor looks carefully at the impact of divorce on your income, as that should massively influence the size and structure of the financial settlement. Reaching a divorce settlement is a bit like putting a jigsaw together because the capital settlement (the share of the family home sale proceeds or the split of savings and investments) can influence how much income you need to meet your outgoings or your ability to pay spousal maintenance. For example, if you receive sufficient equity from the sale of the family home, you may be able to buy a new property either mortgage-free or with a modest mortgage. If you are the financially stronger spouse and receive a reduced share of the equity in the family home, you may not be able to afford to pay spousal maintenance and pay your bills.   Income support after a divorce If a divorce will impact your income, then you can consider ways to enhance your income through: Spousal maintenance. Child support. Improving your earnings capacity through increasing your hours of employment or retraining.   Income issues after divorce There can be income issues after divorce because with all three options, problems can arise, such as: The court prefers to achieve a clean break with no spousal maintenance payable in cases where a clean break is appropriate and there is sufficient capital to achieve that type of financial court order. Spousal maintenance stops if you remarry and may end if you cohabit with a new partner or if your former spouse loses their job or their income decreases. A former spouse may not comply with a spousal maintenance order, so you may be forced to apply to the court to enforce the order. Child support is not payable if parents agree or the court orders equal shared parenting under a child arrangement order. This rule applies even if your former spouse earns substantially more than you. You may agree on a financial settlement based on shared parenting, but your ex-partner then says they cannot share care, leaving you with additional childcare responsibilities. It may not be possible to increase your earnings capacity if you are undertaking the lion's share of parenting or if you were out of the job market as a stay-at-home parent during the marriage.   Assessing if you will receive or be ordered to pay spousal maintenance Whether the court will order that you pay spousal maintenance or receive it depends on a range of factors. These include: Whether you have young children to support, and whether the care of the children impacts your earnings capacity. Whether any disability or age impacts your ability to seek employment or increase your income, or your ex-spouse’s ability to do so. Your income and earnings capacity, and those of your former spouse. The extent of your respective reasonable outgoings. The length of the marriage. Other factors, such as the existence of a prenuptial agreement that sets out whether and how long spousal maintenance should be payable after your divorce. Depending on the ages of the children and future earnings capacity, the court may order that a former spouse should pay spousal maintenance on a time-limited basis so that you can adjust to the divorce and reduction in household income. Alternatively, the court may prefer to award you more capital so you can buy a home with an affordable mortgage (compared to your ex’s financial settlement), meaning that you have lower monthly outgoings than your former spouse and therefore no requirement for spousal maintenance.   Talk to a family lawyer   Whatever your priorities, it is best on separation or divorce to take legal advice from a specialist divorce solicitor so you can understand the range of options for your financial settlement and work out which one is best for you and your family.   Contact Evolve Family Law for Specialist Family Law Advice.

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.