It’s impossible to predict what decisions our children will make in the future, or what might happen along the way. The impact they will have on our financial planning and dynastic wealth protection, therefore, is a complete unknown. In other...
Separating from your spouse or civil partner at the wrong time could result in you having to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) that you could otherwise avoid. CGT is payable when you dispose of an asset whether you sell it, gift it or are ordered to transfer it...
Newspapers are reporting that Paul Hollywood, of The Great British Bake-Off fame, has chosen to settle his divorce financial matters out of court. He and his wife have chosen to use a process called family arbitration. There will be several advantages...
Parental alienation continues to be increasingly recognised by the family courts. What is more, judges are taking increasingly robust steps to resolve situations where one parent turns a child or children against the other parent. In the recent case of...
If the United Kingdom leaves the EU without a deal, then the cost of getting divorced in some cases will increase dramatically. If both partners in a marriage currently apply to different countries in the EU for a divorce, then the country where the first...
A consent order in divorce or separation proceedings formalises any financial agreement that you and your partner have reached and converts it into a binding, final order. The order specifies who will pay or receive what with regard to income, capital in...
This is our second article exploring disclosure within divorce and dissolution of civil partnership proceedings. The first article called “Divorce and financial disclosure” can be found by clicking here. This article explores how...
When a couple resolve financial matters at the end of their marriage or civil partnership, then it is necessary for both parties to provide full and frank disclosure of their financial circumstances. One or both of the couple often remain sceptical that the...
The tabloids have been reporting on a cautionary tale about divorce finances - the temptation to hide assets and the danger of relying on advice from the wrong places. Meet Mrs Byrne Mrs Byrne was thinking about divorcing her husband. The problem...
The 2018 case of Waggott v Waggott confirmed that there is no presumption of sharing income, even very high levels of income, after a divorce . The recent case of O’Dwyer v O’Dwyer has revisited this thinking and provided some additional...
When a couple gets divorced then one or both parties’ pensions might be distributed between the couple. In many cases this is done by the pension owner having a percentage of their pension being deducted from their fund. That percentage is then...
A couple of recent cases have repeated the assertion that the concept of “judicious encouragement” should be consigned to the history books. Judicious encouragement was the practice of a family court judge ordering a potential beneficiary of a...
The recent Pensions Advisory Group report suggests that there are four answers to the “pensions before marriage” question. We need to be clear on a bit of terminology, however, before looking at the answers. First, remember that pensions can...
Pensions are often some of the largest assets in divorce settlements and can also be the most widely misunderstood. A new report, released in July 2019, provides stark warnings for professionals working in divorce law. We will be looking at several...
A nuptial agreement is an agreement in writing entered into by two parties prior to, or after, their marriage or entry into a civil partnership, which records how they wish their finances to be treated and distributed in the event that they should separate...
Most grandparents have a close and loving relationship with their grandchild(ren). However, the sad reality is that their relationships are discounted following a relationship breakdown. Some grandparents are left with little or no alternative but to apply...
Many people are under the impression that they can only divorce in the country in which they marry. This is in fact a myth. Here, we look at the ability to divorce in an EU member state pursuant to “Brussels II Revised”. Brussels II Revised...
