As leading financial and divorce lawyers we specialise in helping people to finalise the details of a divorce. We work in all aspects of family law, and that means that we’re used to dealing with clients working through highly stressful life events. Whether it’s navigating the divorce process, dealing with the complexity of wills and probate or handling children disputes, we always work in a manner which combines technical legal expertise with empathy and understanding. As financial and divorce lawyers we do our best to minimise the conflict and help our clients to work toward an agreement that is fair to all parties. Our aim is to avoid the stress and expense of having to spend time in court, and divide the assets of the relationship in an amicable manner, creating an agreement which is not only acceptable to all parties but also legally watertight.
As financial and divorce lawyers we know that the way in which assets are divided after a divorce – the creation of something called a divorce financial agreement – will have an impact on both partners and any children of the marriage for many years to come. We’ve seen for ourselves the chaos and unhappiness which can be caused years later if circumstances change and the original agreement wasn’t detailed and fair enough to make allowances for those changes. Our financial and divorce lawyers have the expertise and experience to make sure this doesn’t happen.
It’s often the case that disputes over finances come to be the most difficult and damaging of any divorce case. As financial and divorce lawyers we’ve repeatedly seen how matters such as where any children will live and be educated may cause disagreement but can be resolved due to a mutual desire to do what’s best for the children themselves. Finances, on the other hand, are often looked at in terms of who is going to be the ‘winner’ in the divorce and who the ‘loser’, and this approach can make it extremely difficult to come to fair, rational and practical agreement.
One of the issues which makes dividing the assets fairly so important is that, in England and Wales, a divorce being finalised doesn’t actually mean the financial relationship between a couple has ended. If circumstances change in years to come it’s possible for one partner to use that change as the reason to make a claim against the other. The only way to stop this happening is to work with expert financial and divorce lawyers in order to draw up an agreement which can then, if needed, be turned into a Court Order. Getting all the details of such an agreement right is only ever going to be possible with the help of experienced legal professionals, since it will have to deal with a range of highly complex issues such as property, shares, savings, insurance products, pensions, debts, savings and any maintenance payable in the future. The first step of dividing these assets will be for both parties to fully divulge the details of their financial status. This means each party sitting down and detailing their income streams, liabilities, outgoings, assets and pensions, and providing the paperwork to back up their claims. If either partner fails to disclose any of their financial details, this will mean that any agreement which is turned into a Court Order can be challenged in the future.
Once all the details have been pulled together both parties should work together to come to an agreement of how they will be split. This may prove difficult, of course, but the financial and divorce lawyers at Higgins Miller are highly experienced at working as mediators in situations such as this, and will bring their experience of case law and the latest legislation to bear when offering advice. Any agreement reached will be a permanent arrangement which sets the level of maintenance for the future and decides which assets each partner leaves the relationship with. Making a mistake at this stage, or working with lawyers who are less diligent and experienced than those at Higgins Miller, could have severe long term ramifications. If the parties can’t come to an agreement then it will be up to the court to divide the assets. Predicting exactly how this will work out is difficult, since the Courts have a degree of flexibility when it comes to deciding what they think is a ‘fair’ division of assets. Although our financial and divorce lawyers work with clients to ensure that they get the fairest possible treatment from the Court, we would always recommend that both parties work together to come to an agreement they can both be happy with.
If you’d like to find out more about our financial and divorce lawyers, or about the divorce process in general, please call us on 0161 429 7251 or email us at [email protected]. We’ve recently passed our Cyber Essential accreditation, something which demonstrates our forward thinking attitude and determination to remain ahead of the competition. Our first 20 minute appraisal is provided free of charge, and we’ll give you a fixed fee first appointment, so you don’t have to worry about how much our advice is going to cost. If you want to explore our wider charging system then please take a look here.
