CLAIRE DYER and Yasmin Butler, in leading law firm Blandy & Blandy’s Family Law team, look at updates to the law and out of court settlement options for couples facing divorce, in response to recent survey results.
‘Divorce day’, also known as 5 January, recently passed by for another year.
A timely survey conducted by Opinion Matters has indicated that a significant number of people are remaining in marriages for convenience or out of fear of the prospect of divorce.
What do the statistics say?
38% of people surveyed said they remained married for practical reasons, with 16% saying it was financially easier to stay married.
Potentially more alarmingly, around 24% believed it was ‘too late’ to get a divorce after 65. Although it is easy to sympathise with the prospect of a divorce feeling daunting, there is potential that people’s beliefs are being heavily swayed by the misconception that divorce has to be a hostile process where both parties do battle in Court.
Changes in Family Law and the alternatives to Court
From the outset, a more anodyne approach to divorce is encouraged with the introduction of ‘no-fault’ divorce.
This removes the need to detail why the marriage has broken down when issuing a divorce application.
Further still, reaching a financial settlement can be made easier and more straightforward by utilising the vast array of methods available.
Indeed, couples are encouraged to use out of Court methods to resolve their disputes, with contested Court proceedings often being commenced as a last resort.
For instance, the ‘One Couple, One Lawyer’ method allows couples who wish to minimise conflict and who are largely aligned on their views on settling their finances, to instruct one solicitor who will advise them both and support them in finalising their agreement.
Other couples use mediation, benefitting from the help of a neutral mediator, usually a family lawyer, who can facilitate discussions between them to help them formulate an agreement. This method allows an opportunity to explore options together, often working with the guidance of their solicitor alongside the process.
With the above two methods being part of a range of bespoke options for reaching a financial settlement, separating your finances from your spouse does not have to be a hostile, convoluted process.
A good solicitor will also always look at what support their clients have in place outside of the legal process.
Ensuring that you have friends and family to offer support can be beneficial during any separation.
Likewise, professional therapists, divorce coaches and counsellors can all provide additional support where needed and we regularly help our clients find suitable individuals.
Financial disclosure and settlements
The survey also indicated that 31% of married people aged 65 and over have admitted to keeping some assets secret from their spouse.
In addition, in 58% of the couples, one spouse would manage the household expenses, leaving the other spouse often feeling uneasy about their finances (10%) or anxious because they do not know how much money they have (14%).
This is not an uncommon concern and we regularly advise on, reassure and help clients to ensure that their financial settlement is only finalised once they are confident and comfortable that they have a clear picture of their family finances.
The process of reaching a financial settlement does not easily lend itself to successfully concealing assets.
As a pre-requisite to any settlement proposal, both spouses are required to provide full and frank financial disclosure.
Each spouse then has the opportunity to look at the other’s disclosure and raise questions if they believe anything has remained undisclosed.
Solicitors are well versed in conducting this investigatory exercise too so, in tandem, they will analyse financial disclosure and help to identify gaps and/or discrepancies and raise this with the other spouse.
This double level scrutiny makes it very difficult for a spouse to hide assets in reality and ensures that both spouses have an equal picture of the financial situation.
In rare cases, where suspicion remains, there are other tools which can be utilised to help uncover assets, such as instructing forensic accountants and/or applying to the Court for orders for mandatory disclosure or freezing injunctions.
The family court takes non-disclosure and dissipation of assets very seriously so although uncommon, Judges are willing to assist here where necessary.
Overall, even though divorce can seem a very daunting prospect, there are now a variety of methods to achieve a financial settlement outside of court.
An experienced solicitor, who ensures that you are fully supported along the way, can help to alleviate many of the concerns and reservations that you may have.
Blandy & Blandy is a leading Thames Valley law firm with offices in Wokingham, Henley-on-Thames and Reading.
For further information or legal advice, call: 0118 951 6888 or visit: www.blandy.co.uk.
