Financial Matters

How our divorce solicitors can help you with financial matters on divorce

Our divorce lawyers specialise across all areas of family and divorce law and are particularly skilled in helping separating couples discuss money matters and come to financial arrangements in the course of divorce proceedings. Our expertise includes:

• Providing advice on methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution to agree financial matters outside of court
• Negotiating the fair division and distribution of money, assets and property
• Arranging spousal maintenance agreements
• Arranging child maintenance agreements
• Drafting and formalising your financial settlement by way of a Consent Order
• Enforcing Financial Consent Orders through the courts if necessary
• Advising and drafting a Separation Agreement if you and your spouse have not yet decided whether you want to divorce.

We can also help with the procedural aspects of implementing financial matters once you and your ex-partner have reached an agreement.  For example, we can arrange for a property to be transferred from joint names into the sole name of one party and we can arrange for Pension Sharing Orders to be implemented. We can even arrange for you to speak to an Independent Financial Advisor about your financial options.

Negotiating financial settlements

We always suggest dealing with financial claims as part of the divorce process or claims against one another will merely remain open, even after the divorce has been finalised. We also recommend that you and your spouse fully disclose your financial positions to one another, and back this up with documentation before you enter into negotiations.

We can support you with advice and guidance at every stage of the process, including helping you through the disclosure and negotiation process and advising you on a sensible financial settlement.

Division of assets

Deciding how money, assets, and personal belongings should be divided is often a contentious part of any divorce. You will need to discuss:

• The family home
• Any other properties you own
• Savings
• Shares and investments
• Pensions

You will also need to discuss your debts and how they will be paid going forward.

The best way to approach negotiations with your former partner is to follow how a court would approach your matter.

Under the law, when deciding how a divorcing couple’s assets and finances should be divided, the court must ensure the arrangement is fair. A 50-50 split should always be the starting point and a ‘clean break’ between the parties is preferable.

However, to ensure both parties’ needs are fulfilled and to enable them to maintain a good standard of living, various factors are taken into consideration, meaning the final division may not be equal. These factors are:

• The couple’s income, resources, and future earning capacity
• The welfare of any children
• The couple’s standard of living before the divorce
• The couple’s ages and the length of the marriage
• Any contributions made to the marriage by both parties, including financial and non-financial contributions (such as staying at home to raise the children)
• Any physical or mental disability
• Whether either party will lose any benefits as a result of the divorce, such as the other party’s pension benefits
• The conduct of either party, but only if it is so unjust that it cannot be disregarded

Spousal maintenance

We can help you negotiate an arrangement for spousal maintenance with your former partner, including:

• One-off lump sum payments – where the financially stronger party settles any future maintenance issues with a one-off payment or several large instalments. This option is attractive where both parties want a ‘clean break’ and no ongoing commitments.
• Ongoing spousal maintenance payments – this usually involves the parties agreeing monthly payments which enable the financially weaker party to maintain their living costs.

Child maintenance

Making decisions about children can be the most emotionally charged aspect of divorce. Our friendly and sympathetic divorce lawyers understand how important the happiness of your children is. We can help you discuss and arrange an amicable child maintenance agreement with your former spouse to help you keep any disruption to your children’s life to an absolute minimum.

Financial Consent Orders

Once you and your former partner have come to an agreement regarding your financial matters, we can help you apply to court for a Financial Consent Order to make your agreement legally binding.

This means, if, for example, your former partner stops paying spousal maintenance, we can assist you in applying to court to enforce the Order.

Why choose JCP Solicitors to help arrange your financial matters on divorce?

At JCP, we specialise in providing high-quality legal services to clients across England and Wales. Our solicitors are all experts in their areas and the advice we provide is always clear, understandable, and practical.

We know how challenging the process of divorce can be and how difficult decisions about living arrangements, children, and finances can cause a lot of stress and disagreement. We aim to help you come to a harmonious agreement with your former partner and our expertise in negotiation means we are able to help the majority of our clients settle their financial matters and arrange their divorces with minimal confrontation.

Several of our team, including Angela Killa, are members of Resolution, a community of legal professionals who devote themselves to Alternative Dispute Resolution as a beneficial way to resolve family issues.

Our knowledge and experience in family law is formally recognised by the Law Society and we are members of the Family Law Panel and the Advanced Family Law Panel (for our expertise in complex and specialist family matters).

We have offices in Swansea, Cardiff, Carmarthen, Caerphilly, Cowbridge, Haverfordwest, Fishguard and St Davids, extending our expertise across South, West, and East Wales.

JCP Solicitors is independently regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

Get in touch with our divorce solicitors in Wales today

Get in touch with our specialist divorce solicitors today by calling your local branch, emailing law@jcpsolicitors.co.uk, or by filling in the simple enquiry form at the top of the page.