How To Get An Online Financial Court Order?
Evolve divorce solicitors are delighted to announce that Evolve divorce solicitors have been asked to join a pilot scheme arranged by the Court service to lodge agreed Financial Court Orders online.
All the divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law think that it is great news that Evolve Family Law has been asked to participate in the Court led projects to file divorce petitions and now Financial Court Orders online. Why? Well online filing of Financial Court Order applications and all the supporting paperwork is a massive step forward for client service, something that the divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law strive to improve by using the latest digital technology in a client friendly way to progress divorce documents as quickly and as efficiently as possible. That means that if a client is very techy, Evolve Family Law can contact them with secure online email and with paperwork for online approval. If clients aren’t technologically minded, our divorce solicitors are equally happy to meet clients and pick up the phone and chat. The inclusion of Evolve Family Law in the Court digital project is good news for all our divorce clients.
Prior to being invited to join the Court’s latest online project Evolve divorce solicitors had to send Financial Court Orders to the Court by post. Assuming the post arrived at the correct Court department the Financial Court Order paperwork would then be sent to a judge to look at. Some weeks later, subject to the vagaries of the postal service, a reply might be received at Evolve divorce solicitors; either asking for additional documents, seeking further explanation or clarification of the husband's and wife's financial or personal circumstances or asking for the Financial Court Order to be drawn up and then sent back in the post to the Court for sealing and return to Evolve Family Law solicitors. At times the process of getting the Court to approve a financial document agreed upon by a husband and wife was painfully slow
Why Does a Delay in Getting Your Financial Court Order matter?
From the point of view of the divorce solicitors at Evolve Family Law it is a question of pride in our professionalism and client service. We all want clients to feel that they have had an efficient but personal service and when things go astray in the post or there are delays in receiving letters we believe it reflects badly on us. From a client’s point of view the delay in getting a Financial Court Order matters because:
Until the Financial Court Order is approved by the Court and sealed by a Court official you can't apply to the Court to enforce all or part of the Financial Court Order if it isn’t complied with;
If the Financial Court Order contains a pension sharing order the sealed Financial Court Order has to be sent to the pension administrator to implement the order before the pension can be shared;
If the financial agreement included an agreement to sell or transfer property to a spouse it may be the case that the property sale or transfer can't go ahead until the Financial Court Order is received;
Sometimes a husband or wife will refuse to apply for the Decree Absolute of divorce until the Financial Court Order has been sealed by the Court.
So although the delay in getting a Financial Court Order can be a bit frustrating to some clients to other divorce clients the wait to send and receive the Financial Court Order through the post can cost them money as well as adding to the stress of the divorce proceedings.
Online Financial Court Orders
In the 21st century, online production of Financial Court Orders must be a good thing for both divorce solicitors and clients. Evolve Family Law welcomes the opportunity to take part in the Court pilot project for the filing of online Financial Court Orders. We hope that the pilot project will establish that use of technology, combined with a personal legal service from caring and committed divorce solicitors, is the right way forward for divorcees.
How much does a Financial Court Order cost?
If you have reached a financial agreement with your husband or wife over how you want to split your assets and you want the security of a Financial Court Order then the cost of obtaining a straightforward Financial Court Order is £866. There are no hidden extras – that amount includes VAT and the Court fee. If your finances are more complex and you need your Financial Court Order to cover pension sharing and / or spousal maintenance then the fixed costs are higher or, if you can't reach a financial agreement with your husband or wife Evolve divorce solicitors can give you a bespoke quote for representation in Court proceedings.
Contact our team today for more information
Robin Charrot
Oct 22, 2018
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5 minute read
Enforcing Family Court Orders
Pilot faces a £600,000 payment and a freezing order after losing his Court battle over the enforcement of a family Court order.
Whenever a divorcing couple end up in Court with a family judge making the decision on how their assets should be divided or how much spousal maintenance and child support should be paid there is always a risk that either the husband or wife or both of them may be very unhappy with the outcome of the Court proceedings and their Court Order.
The dissatisfaction with a family Court judgement and financial order can lead to appeals against the decision or to orders being deliberately flouted in the hope that an ex-husband or wife won't want to launch further Court proceedings to enforce the original financial Court order.
Sometimes financial Court proceedings can take on a life of their own. The media has recently highlighted the case of Richard Wilmot and his ex-wife Viki Maughan who have been engaged in a 16 year battle over payment of child support, with paternity of the youngest child being in dispute despite DNA testing.
The Court has ruled that just shy of £600,000 should be paid to the ex-wife, consisting of child support arrears and legal costs. Importantly the Court has also made a freezing order freezing property, money in bank accounts as well as pension and insurance monies.
The Court decision to freeze assets shows just how far family judges are prepared to go to make sure that Court orders are complied with.
A read of the Court judgement emphasises just how exasperated the judge was by the ‘’utter folly’’ of the ex-husband’s actions resulting in him being ordered to pay nearly £600,000 when the child support arrears only amounted to about £115,000 with the rest of the monies being legal costs and the costs of specialists employed by the ex-wife to trace and recover the money.
The case highlights the financial and emotional costs of engaging in a long drawn out Court battle but, perhaps more importantly, shows the long arm of the law, in this case over a 16 year period to enforce the payment of child support .
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In my view this unhappy Court saga reveals why it is so vital to try and reach an out of Court financial settlement that both an ex-husband and ex-wife can live with to avoid enforcement Court litigation and costs. That isn’t always possible. If a financial Court order has to be made by a judge it is important to take legal advice on appeal options and, if necessary, enforcement options to avoid the costs of the Court proceedings getting out of hand and ultimately, as in the case of Mr Wilmot, dwarfing the amount in dispute between husband and wife.
If you need help with the terms of a financial settlement or a Court order please contact us.
Robin Charrot
Mar 19, 2018
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3 minute read
Jail for Breach of Family Financial Court Order
When I read that an 83 year old had been jailed for 14 months I assumed that he had been sent to prison for a very serious criminal offence. Reading on I learnt that the businessman had been incarcerated for breaching a family financial Court order.
The case of Mr and Mrs Hart highlights that family law judges do have the power to enforce financial Court orders although it remains very rare for a family Court to jail a husband or wife for contempt of Court.
What led to the incarceration? In 2015 Mr and Hart got divorced and Mr Hart was ordered to pay his ex-wife 3.5 million of the couple’s reported assets of 9 million. The Court order involved the transfer of shares in a property company from the ex-husband to his ex-wife. Mrs Hart complained that her ex-husband had breached the financial Court order and she wasn’t able, as a result of Mr Hart’s actions, to run the property company. Those difficulties led to an application by Mrs Hart for Mr Hart’s committal to prison for contempt of Court. When sentencing Mr Hart to custody the judge highlighted the attempts made by Mrs Hart and her lawyers to avoid pursuing the committal application but ultimately, in the judge’s view, there was no option other than a prison sentence to ensure the original financial Court order would be complied with.
Can all financial Court orders be enforced? A lot depends on the precise wording of the Court order. That is why, in my opinion it is vital to make sure that Court orders are written in a way that if either a husband or wife doesn’t comply with what they were ordered to do that the Court order can be enforced. In some situations it is important to anticipate difficulties and to therefore make sure that the family finance Court order gives a tight deadline for the transfer of property, or sets out exactly how a family home will be sold (for example recording the mechanism for agreeing the sale price and the choice of estate agent) and, where possible, providing for the sale of an asset if a transfer of property doesn’t take place by the Court imposed date.
The other important thing to bear in mind is to try and keep financial Court orders as straightforward as possible, subject to the nature of the family assets. Sometimes an ex-husband and wife want to continue to co-own a property or a company together after a divorce but that type of financial settlement, even if incorporated into a Court order, can lead to difficulties and enforcement applications. That is why if there is a simple financial solution the family Courts often prefer that type of Court order to achieve closure and avoid the cost of bringing enforcement action.
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Can financial orders be varied? If a family judge has made a final financial order then normally most aspects of the order can't be changed save for the amount of any spousal maintenance. However depending on the precise wording of the order the Court could be asked to extend time to make a payment or to change how a property is sold. That is why it is important to get specialist legal advice when sorting out a financial agreement so that both an ex-husband and ex-wife know where they stand if they want to vary the financial Court order or they need the order to be enforced.
For advice on enforcing family financial Court orders or to discuss divorce financial settlement options please contact us.
Robin Charrot
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3 minute read
You Can Get an Extra Financial Order in the UK After an Overseas Divorce
International families are becoming increasingly common as the world reopens to travel after the global pandemic. Nowadays it isn’t uncommon for a couple to get divorced in a country where they are living and for a husband or wife to then want to see if they can get a divorce financial settlement in England.
In this article, international family lawyer and divorce financial settlement solicitor, Robin Charrot, looks at when you can get a divorce financial settlement in England where you got divorced overseas.
For expert Divorce and Financial Settlement advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Financial settlement claims after an overseas divorce
Even if you got divorced abroad you may be able to ask the court in England for a financial settlement as part of your divorce. This may be the case whether you got a foreign financial court order or you got no divorce financial settlement overseas.
The law on divorce financial settlements and foreign divorces
The law on divorce financial settlements after foreign divorces is contained in part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984. The law allows some people to bring a financial claim in England even though their divorce took place overseas.
The law is designed to protect spouses whose partners have rushed to start divorce proceedings in a country where they know that their husband or wife will get a reduced financial settlement in comparison to what an English court would order.
Can I apply for a divorce financial settlement after my overseas divorce?
You can only apply for a divorce financial settlement in the UK if you got divorced abroad and the foreign divorce court either made no financial court order or it was not sufficient. In addition, you must satisfy these three eligibility criteria:
You have sufficient connection to England
Your divorce is valid legally
You have not remarried
If you satisfy these three eligibility criteria you need to make a court application for permission to pursue an application under the 1984 Act.
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Sufficient connection to England
Sufficient connection to England is the eligibility criteria that raises most questions and where disputes over an application under part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 tend to focus.
Sufficient connection with England can be demonstrated by one of:
You or your ex was domiciled in England at the time of the overseas divorce or at the time of the application
You or your ex was habitually resident in England for 12 months before the date on which the overseas divorce was finalised or for 12 months before the date of the application
You or your ex has an interest in a property in England that was the family home or matrimonial home. You do not need to be the legal owner of the property to make a claim but if court jurisdiction is based solely on the existence of an interest in property your claim is limited to the value of the property
Domicile and habitual residence are complex legal concepts and whether you are domiciled or habitually resident in England will depend on your circumstances. For advice on jurisdiction to bring a claim after an overseas divorce call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
How does the English court decide on a divorce financial settlement after an overseas divorce?
The English court has discretion to make a financial settlement once you have leave to make your application. To succeed in your application, you need to be able to show that you tried to get reasonable financial provision in the foreign country and you either received no divorce financial settlement or the award was unreasonable.
The court can order the transfer or sale of property, a lump sum payment, spousal maintenance or a pension sharing order.
Sometimes when a couple have agreed a divorce financial settlement overseas, they need a UK pension sharing order to implement the pension share of an English pension scheme and this can be achieved using the 1984 Act.
Foreign divorces and divorce financial settlement claims are not easy and that is why you need specialist legal advice from a family law solicitor with expertise in international family law.
For expert Divorce and Financial Settlement advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.
Robin Charrot
Feb 10, 2016
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4 minute read
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