Divorce & Dissolution of Civil Partnerships

The law regarding prenuptial agreements has developed significantly over time and the Court is now giving significant weight to prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements that that satisfy the following criteria: 

1. Being signed at least 28 days before the marriage

2. Both parties obtaining or having the opportunity to obtain independent legal advice

3. Both parties having full understanding of the agreement, its terms and effect, including the rights they are acquiring or surrendering as a result of the proposed agreement

4. The agreement being based on full financial disclosure

5. The agreement being fair and reasonable

6. Neither party being placed under undue pressure to enter into the agreement

Any agreement that does not enable one party to meet their needs (i.e. being fair and reasonable) is unlikely to be upheld by the Court if there is a later divorce. Agreements that are fair and enable both parties to meet their needs stand a very good chance of being upheld by the court. We work alongside other family lawyers collaboratively to assist you and your partner agree a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement that can help you preserve your wealth and protect your assets in the event of a separation.

We will work with you to identify assets and then advise you about what we believe a fair division of the matrimonial resources would be, with consideration of the criteria that a Court would use to consider a financial settlement. There is no one answer about the division of assets and often there are several solutions that may work for you with those being specific to your particular circumstances. Our advice will be tailored to reflect this. You should be careful about taking advice from others who have been through the process or prepared their own agreements as their outcome may be very different to yours.

In certain circumstances, assets acquired before a relationship may be ‘ringfenced’. However, whether this happens will depend on how long the relationship was, what other assets have been created during the relationship, whether the assets from before the relationship have been ‘used’ or incorporated into the marital acquest and what each party needs to move on with their lives.

Any financial agreement that is reached should be underpinned by full and frank financial disclosure. Obtaining this disclosure is one of the most important parts of the process. If full financial disclosure is not provided by your spouse, there are steps that can be taken to enforce this through the Court with various enforcement options available to secure compliance. There may be experts that can become involved to help trace assets and identify the extent of wealth if this is of concern. We use trusted third parties to assist with such difficulties where necessary.   

In certain circumstances, if an order is based on disclosure that proves to be intentionally misleading the court order can be set aside so that everything can be relooked at.   

A common misconception is that you equally share each individual asset that you own. This is not the case. Instead, we work with you to consider the overall value of the assets that you each own solely and that you own together. We then consider how that total value should be divided and adjusted between you after separation.

Any welfare decisions relating to your children require all those with parental responsibility to agree. Welfare decisions include moving out of the jurisdiction (or moving away from the locality of the family home). If you both agree to this move (and have this confirmed in writing) there is usually no need for a Court Order. If the other parent does not agree, mediation is another option to try to resolve these issues. If mediation is not successful in resolving where the children will live, an application can be made to the Court to determine the jurisdiction the children should be allowed to stay or move to by reviewing what is in their best interests. 

Mediation and other forms of Non Court Dispute Resolution (NCDR) are actively encouraged however it should only be considered if it is safe for you to do so.

NCDR can be used by parties to discuss issues relating to their separation/divorce and the arrangements for children. However, the courts recognise mediation is not suitable in every situation and this should be assessed carefully on a case by case basis.

We will be robust in our advice and our strategy to ensure that you consider all options available to you providing they are safe and appropriate. Alternatively, we will support you with a court application if required.