Can I Afford To Get Divorced?

What Happens To The Money When You Divorce

This advice applies to England.

Break-Up Britain

There were around 38,000 divorces in the first half of the year. In fact almost half of all marriages end in divorce and on top of the emotional distress it can cause, there are a lot of financial headaches to sort out.

Q: How does the court agree on who gets what?

A: The courts base their decision on how long you’ve been married or in a civil partnership, as well as your:

• age

• ability to earn

• property and money

• living expenses

• standard of living

• financial needs and responsibilities

• role in looking after the family, for example if you were the main earner or caring for the family or home

• disability or health condition, if you have any

The judge will decide on the fairest way to divide the assets if there’s enough to meet everyone’s needs. They will make arrangements for any children first - especially their housing arrangements and child maintenance. The reason for the divorce or dissolution is not taken into account.

The judge will usually try to arrange a ‘clean break’, so everything is shared out, and you no longer have any financial ties to one another.

Q: Who gets the home?

A: The family home is often at the centre of the division of assets in a divorce or civil partnership dissolution. There is no single rule for who gets the house in a divorce. The outcome will depend on your specific financial and personal circumstances, and those of your spouse. If you have children then their welfare is the priority.

According to the lawyers, Hawkins Family Law Both partners have a right to stay in the shared house in the short-term. This is regardless of whose name is on the title. This is known as ‘home rights‘. The court may decide to issue an “occupation order” which enables one party to stay in the home – for the safety or welfare of their children or themselves. These types of arrangements are normally temporary and may change once a final settlement is reached.

It doesn't mean you get half the home. While a 50/50 division may be the starting point in many cases, it often is not the final outcome. The court will focus on what is fair, not equal. For example, if one party is the main carer of young children, they may receive a larger share of the assets to secure suitable housing.

Q: What do you need to consider in terms of what gets divided?

A: When you divorce or end a civil partnership you and your ex-partner need to agree how to separate your finances.

This includes deciding how you’re going to divide:

• pensions

• property

• savings

• investments

If you’ve been living together as a couple and then separate, you have fewer rights than couples who divorce or dissolve their civil partnership.

The MoneyHelper website has a useful divorce calculator (actually an Excel sheet) which can give you an idea of your financial situation before a potential divorce settlement. It’ll also help you work out what you have, what you owe and how you might split assets and finances.

Q: Do we need to get lawyers involved?

If you and your ex-partner agree on how to divide money and property, you need to apply for a consent order to make it legally binding. Even if you agree on everything, unless you make it legally binding, there may be no clean break and it can lead to arguments in years to come.

There was a famous case, Wyatt v. Vince. According to the MoneySavingExpert - "The couple separated in the early ’90s with nothing to split, but years later the husband founded a hugely successful company, made millions, and the wife came back with a claim. The court ruled that there’s no time limit—she had claims, though it wasn’t going to be 50% or anything like that. Still, without a clean break order, those claims last indefinitely."

Q: What's the timeline of a divorce and the financial settlement?

A: It depends on a number of things but here is a general idea by the divorce service Amicable.

Step 1 - Submit your divorce application to the court

This step should only take one to two days. The divorce court fee is £612.

Step 2 – The court starts your divorce and your reflection period begins

Your reflection period will last 20 weeks. This exists to ensure you both have time to consider whether divorce is your only option.

Step 3 – Apply for your conditional order

After submitting your application for the 'conditional order’, a legal advisor reviews your application and if they approve your divorce they'll provide a date when your application will be pronounced by a judge.

Step 4 – The court grants your conditional order

It will take around 4-5 weeks for the court to grant your conditional order

The day the judge pronounces your conditional order, the 6-week waiting period begins, before you can apply for your final order.

Step 5 – Apply for your consent order

This step isn't mandatory but recommended, says Amicable. You will be able to apply for a consent order after the court grants your conditional order

Many people are unaware that divorce alone doesn't end your financial relationship. In order to legalise your financial split and end the possibility of claims in the future, submit a consent order to the court to save yourself from any nasty surprises in the future.

Step 6: Apply for your final order

You can apply for your final order 6 weeks after your conditional order is granted. This step usually takes one day to complete.

Important: You may wish to hold off on this step if you are waiting for your financial split to be approved by a judge.

Step 7: The court grants your final order and you are officially divorced

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The earliest you could be divorced is 7 months after you start proceedings.

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Q: So if we agree on everything - what do we do?

A: It's much easier of course if you agree on everything. But to make your agreement legally binding you need to draft a consent order and ask a court to approve it. If your agreement is not legally binding, a court cannot enforce it if there are any issues later. A consent order is a legal document that confirms your agreement. It explains how you’re going to divide up assets like:

You can ask the court to approve your draft consent order when you apply for your divorce or dissolution, or at any time after that.

It’s usually simpler to ask for approval:

• after you have your conditional order or decree nisi – the court cannot approve a consent order before this

• before you get your final order or decree absolute – if you ask after this, there may be financial consequences, particularly for pensions

• The consent order will only take effect after you get your final order or decree

Q: What if we don't agree?

A: If you and your ex-partner cannot agree how to divide your finances you can ask a court to make a financial order (also known as the ‘contested’ route or an ‘ancillary relief order’).

This means the court will decide how assets will be split.

Q: Where can I get help from?

Citizens Advice will offer you free advice and so that is a good place to start. You can see their general advice here but you can also call them on the phone or pop in . You can find your local office by putting your postcode here

There is an unusually sensible and easy to read guide from the government website which you can read here

Amicable is a service which appears to be a bit different from the general divorce laweyer service you get. It says "Our vision is to transform the way people end relationships in a kinder and better way and to help couples avoid the emotional and financial turmoil of traditional solicitor approaches."

Resolution is a collection of family lawyers who are committed to a Code of Practice, "promoting a constructive approach to family issues that considers the needs of the whole family."

The Law Society has a search function for all kinds of lawyers in England and Wales

The Law Society of Scotland helps connect you to lawyers practicing in Scotland

The Law Society of Nortern Ireland helps connect you with lawyers in Northern Ireland

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Please remember everything on this site is journalist commentary and is not financial advice or guidance in anyway.

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