Financial Settlement Agreement
Advice
Divorces can be complicated and emotional, please note, this chapter is for both divorce proceedings and proceedings to end a civil partnership.
There are five major things here that need to be discussed prior.
- If you have children, who are they going to live with and where;
- How will each of you support your children;
- Where each party lives;
- How much will you live on; and
- How will you share out any savings or pensions and divide responsibility for any debts?
Deciding on these matters can be emotionally testing and personal. The focus is based on what is most beneficial for the children, areas considered are incomes, debts, age of children, period of marriage, your ages, health issues, etc. Courts expect all parties to have tried to resolve matters before going to court.
Acting without court intervention can help save money as well as make a challenging situation smoother. However, if you feel unsafe in the presence of your spouse and are unable to afford court fees, you may be able to access legal aid to cover legal costs. If negotiating with each other is not a viable option, you can use an impartial mediator, these are specially trained to support you throughout the proceedings. If, however, you feel unable or unsafe to meet your ex-spouse and negotiate in person you should consider getting a ourselves, or a a solicitor to negotiate on your behalf.
Once you have an agreement, you must then apply to the court for a consent order which will make any agreement legally binding. A judge may also arrange a court hearing to ensure that all parties understand the agreement. Judges may direct alternative distributions to assets if they feel the agreement is unfair. If you have children, their welfare will be considered of prime importance and may well affect how the assets are allocated. If you are a local authority or housing association tenant the judge may transfer the tenancy. If you have a private landlord, the judge doesn't have the same ability but will still need to know how you intend to deal with the tenancy.
How we can help
The process of getting a divorce is a difficult period for all involved, the financial settlement agreement would be part of the divorce papers. Both third-party financial advisors would liaise to develop what they feel is an acceptable determination, this will then be put to their respective clients for consideration. As in every negotiation there needs to be some give and take. Ultimately if there is an impasse then the court will decide.
To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.
Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our appointed experts and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.