How do you start financial proceedings in a divorce?

Lawpack on March 27, 2020

If you want to formalise your financial situation when you split up with your spouse, then you need to make an application to the court to consider and separate your finances.

Before any formal financial proceedings can begin you have to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting to explore all non-court based ways to find a resolution. If no resolution can be found, then you can start financial proceedings.

Financial proceedings are started separately from divorce proceedings. So, although you may have already started divorce proceedings, you will have to fill in extra paperwork for your financial application.

Here is an outline of the documents that you need to complete:

1. Divorce Form A

The first thing you need to do is fill in a document called Form A. You must include the addresses, Land Registry numbers and mortgage details of each property that you may have a claim against. It’s also sensible to tick all the boxes on Form A even if you don’t intend to make a claim in the end.

The court fee is currently £255. However, this does change, so you should always contact your local court to check the fee. Your completed Form A and the fee is sent to the court which is dealing with the divorce paperwork.

Once you have filed your Form A then the court fixes a hearing date – called a First Appointment – within 12 to 16 weeks. Before the First Appointment there are some forms that have to be sent to the court and your spouse.

2. Divorce Form E

The main form is called Form E. This is a long form that is designed to give a comprehensive view of each spouse’s financial position. You have to include various documents with this form.

These are:

  • Any property valuations from the last six month
  • The most recent mortgage statement
  • The last 12 months’ worth of bank statements
  • The surrender value of your insurance policies
  • The last two years’ worth of business accounts
  • A recent pension valuation
  • Your last three payslips
  • The most recent P60.

This has to be sent to the court at least 35 days before the First Appointment.

At least 14 days before the First Appointment both spouses have to file with the court and give to the other spouse the following:

  • A concise statement of the issues in the case
  • A chronology of events in the marriage
  • A questionnaire with questions for your spouse about the answers they have given in their Form E
  • Form G, which asks you to state if you are ready to skip the First Appointment and consider a more complex hearing called a Financial Dispute Resolution Appointment.

3. Divorce Form H

Just before the First Appointment you have to send Form H to the court outlining an estimate of your legal costs (if any).

The First Appointment is mostly a procedural appointment that will determine how the case will proceed. The court will make orders about what questions your spouse should answer; what valuations are required; and whether any expert reports or other evidence is required.

Help from Lawpack

All the divorce forms you need – and expert guidance on how to use them – can be found in Lawpack’s Separation & DIY Divorce Kit.

If you need assistance in completing the forms, then you can use our DIY Divorce Service who will complete them for you. With our Managed Divorce Service they will complete them and also file them at court for you.

If you want more in-depth information from a divorce lawyer about all aspects of divorce law then read our guide, How to Get a Divorce by Punam Denley. Packed with tips and expert advice to ensure that you get through the divorce process smoothly.

Other information

Maintenance orders and payments

Lawpack on March 27, 2020

A significant number of divorce cases don’t clearly ‘end’ with the decree absolute. Even when a couple have agreed on the level of maintenance payments beforehand, one partner may still go back to the divorce court afterwards and ask for a higher level of maintenance payments, or for maintenance payments to continue for a longer time if the other ex-partner’s circumstances change.

Similarly, one partner may attempt to reduce the maintenance payments they make, due to the effects of inflation, retirement, redundancy or a change in their circumstances, such as a job loss, significant drop in income or new and special needs that may arise. Any significant increase or decrease in income by either spouse may cause the divorce court to modify the periodical payments order.

If the payer stops the maintenance payments, this may be for a valid reason, such as job loss. But the payer should never simply stop maintenance payments; instead, they should ask the divorce court to vary the maintenance order immediately.

When maintenance payments stop without being approved by the divorce court, you can register the outstanding periodical payments order at a Magistrates’ Court. This compels your ex- to pay future maintenance payments through the court, who will then enforce any missed maintenance payments or make an application to enforce payment of the arrears through a divorce County Court.

Expert legal advice should be taken as to which application is appropriate since the law in this area can be complex.

Alternatively, the Department for Work and Pensions may take up your case and help enforce the collection of any maintenance payments outstanding.

Do note that even when spouses reach an agreement as to the level of maintenance payments for the children, it will still be possible for either parent to apply to the Child Support Agency (CSA) for an assessment of the child support that the non-resident parent will have to pay from then on.

If the court has made an order for child maintenance which includes a condition that the child maintenance order will fall down if an application is made to the CSA after the child maintenance order is a year old, there is nothing the other spouse can do to prevent it.

In Scotland, if you have either a court decree or separation agreement for maintenance (called periodical allowance), it does not need to be registered at a court. To enforce the court decree or separation agreement, you should instruct a Sheriff Officer (usually done through a solicitor).

There are various powers available to the Sheriff Officer which include arrestment of wages, where the sum outstanding is taken from the non-paying spouse’s wages or salary on a weekly or monthly basis and paid either directly to the dependent spouse.

Or a current maintenance arrestment, where the maintenance payments are deducted at source from the non-paying spouse’s employers and paid directly to the dependent spouse.

All maintenance orders stop automatically when the receiving party remarries.

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Divorce: how can I protect myself financially?

Lawpack on March 27, 2020

Divorce law in England and Wales requires both parties to tell the absolute truth about their financial circumstances and there can be dire consequences if they don’t – usually the offending person is made to pay more in money and property to their ex-spouse, as well as being ordered to pay all of the divorce costs (which can be considerable).

Although it can be possible to protect yourself to a certain extent (financially speaking) upon divorce, you are not allowed to hide assets and income by fibbing about what you have. The divorce court also doesn’t ignore assets and income held by third parties as a matter of convenience (whether at home or abroad). The general rule is that all assets and income, in whatever manner they are held and wherever, are put into the ‘melting pot’ and are seen as available for the divorce court to redistribute between the couple upon divorce.

Divorce law is littered with cases of people trying to hide their assets and income in thousands of ingenious ways. The majority are unsuccessful – even offshore trusts and companies hold no sway with the divorce courts, which take a much more realistic view of ownership than, for instance, HMRC.

Also, a spouse who has tried to protect their money using tax-avoidance schemes (such as a trust) will not necessarily have the divorce court’s backing. To the contrary, the divorce court may not view the money to be an arms-length asset and it will be open to redistribution in the other spouse’s favour. Before embarking upon any exercise designed to put your wealth out of the reach of your spouse, take good legal advice or you may end up paying more than you would have done before you attempted to protect yourself.

So-called ‘simple’ ways of keeping assets from your spouse – such as placing assets in your sole name – also don’t really work as all the assets belonging to both spouses are taken into account by the divorce court. Putting all of the assets into joint names also doesn’t help and it may even make matters worse if the judge takes the view that unless there is evidence to the contrary, assets passed from one spouse to another are considered a gift and stay that way.

The only way you can really protect yourself financially upon divorce is to avoid a big contested financial battle through the lawyers and the courts so that you avoid the big legal fees that such litigation always entails. (Sir Paul will no doubt vouch for the huge divorce costs that can be incurred in such circumstances.)

The best way to avoid such a battle is to reach an agreement between the two of you in the divorce. Forget about the rest: the legal forms, the divorce lawyers, the divorce law and the divorce court.Your divorce is actually about you and your partner. So get talking!

If you can’t do this over the kitchen table, then try mediation or, failing that, collaborative law, where the parties agree in writing to reach a settlement without going to divorce court. Both are tried and tested methods of reaching settlements with the minimum of divorce lawyer and divorce court intervention. They are cheap (relatively) and they avoid the unpleasantness which inevitably accompanies contested divorces.

For more information, contact Resolution, or take a look at Lawpack’s Separation & DIY Divorce Kit which provides hundreds more tips on how you can handle your own quickie divorce and save legal fees and heartache.

Related Products:

Our Fixed-Price Divorce Services:

  • DIY Divorce Service
  • DIY Divorce & Consent Order Service
  • DIY Consent Order Service
  • Managed Divorce Service
  • Managed Consent Order Service
  • Managed Divorce & Consent Order Service

What is a consent order?

Lawpack on March 27, 2020

Unfortunately, marriages break down and spouses are forced to make a decision over who gets what, either in a court of law or mutually without legal intervention.

The problem is, financial disputes can arise and even when things seem to have been settled, exes can return and start to claim assets that the other spouse believes are rightfully theirs, among a vast array of other issues.

That’s why it’s a good idea to invest in a consent order, otherwise known as a clean break order, and protect yourself from losing more than is justifiable in a divorce.

What is a consent order?

A consent order is the legal document by which financial matters are finalised on divorce.

Without one, you may be vulnerable to your partner making a financial claim years later.

The advantages of a consent order

One of the great benefits of a consent order is that it is a cost-effective way of getting your financial divorce settlement in writing, saving loads in legal fees.

What the order ultimately sets out to achieve is a mutual agreement between you and your spouse regarding financial matters, while ensuring the other party cannot come at you with a financial claim in later years.

They are highly reliable documents (99.9% reliable) but there are rare occasions when they can be overturned; for example, if fraud takes place.

What is included in a consent order

1. The home you once shared together

Both parties to the divorce must agree what will become of the former matrimonial home, such as whether it will be sold or left to the spouse in custody of the children (where relevant). You might also consider whether the other spouse will begin or continue to make mortgage payments.

2. Other assets

Next up is to consider what will happen to other relevant assets. These could be shares, endowment insurance policies or a family business, among others. It is necessary to determine how they will be distributed.

3. Personal property and furniture

In a similar vein, it must also be decided what will happen to personal property and furniture, such as who will preserve the fine china. Generally this involves each party taking rightful ownership of their own goods; however, discrepancies can arise over who truly owns what. Typically, a standard clause will suggest each spouse retains goods in their possession at the time the order was drawn up.

4. Pensions

Couples making the break in retirement need to decide if they will pursue pension sharing or perhaps offset their funds against other assets.

5. Maintenance

It must also be decided if one spouse will pay the other maintenance. This is particularly relevant where children are concerned, with most courts ruling the parent with child custody deserving of maintenance. You must also agree when such maintenance payments can be completed; for example, upon death or when the child reaches 17.

6. Child maintenance

It is worth pointing out that while the Child Support Agency (CSA) generally determines child maintenance, courts can also order maintenance and either spouse can apply to the CSA for an assessment.

7. Private health care, insurance and school fees

Other factors that must be taken into consideration are expenses such as insurance premiums, private health care and school fees, especially if one party receives these benefits via their employer.

8. Debts

This clause should outline who will take on the responsibility of any debts of the marriage. If they are joint debts, will the paying party compensate their ex spouse?

9. Pets

Who will takes ownership of the family pet?

10 Termination upon death

The consent order should also outline that neither party will have a claim on the other spouse’s assets after they die.

Consent orders are easy to draw up with Lawpack. Our DIY Consent Order Service can help you to make an order for the fixed price of just £100.