Family & Divorce

AGR knows that every divorce or separation is different. You will be treated as an individual with individual needs.

The lawyers in the family department are specialists and will deal with you sensitively. AGR offers clear expert advice to help you reach a fair and swift solution. Most disagreements are settled by negotiation before proceedings come to court. If agreement is not reached and matters proceed in court we will discuss your objectives and how they can be achieved and we will offer clear and frank advice on the options available to you.

Your lawyer will have expertise in the following areas:

• divorce
• separation
• financial matters settlements, including pension sharing
• domestic abuse injunctions
• children, including residence and contact
• property and financial disputes for unmarried couples
• pre and post-nuptial agreements
• cohabitation agreements
• inheritance disputes

AGR offers a free initial consultation (usually about hour) and is committed to providing the best possible legal advice at affordable prices. However there may be occasions when you just cannot afford to use the law to protect your legal rights. In such circumstances your lawyer will discuss your entitlement to Legal Aid (Public Funding).

If you would like to talk to someone about your personal situation, please contact Harriet Hawkins on 01623 460444 or Paul Grimditch on 01623 748522 or by e-mail .

Divorce and Money

When it comes to dealing with money and divorce, it is important to know what has to be taken into account and the powers available to arrive at fair decisions.

For most couples, the basic problem is how to finance two separate households from income and assets which previously provided for only one.

The first consideration of the courts is the welfare of any children, although in most cases they have little power to order maintenance for children because that function is now performed by the Child Support Agency.

The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 sets out the factors to be considered by the courts in deciding questions about money. The courts will consider: on the one hand, the income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources available and, on the other hand, the financial needs, obligations and responsibilities, which each of the parties to the marriage has or is likely to have in the foreseeable future;

• the standard of living enjoyed by the family prior to the breakdown of the marriage;
• the age and health of each party to the marriage and the duration of the marriage;
• the contributions which each of the parties has made or is likely in the foreseeable future to make to the welfare of the family, including looking after the home or caring for the family;
• the value to each of the parties to the marriage of any benefit (for example, a pension) which, by reason of the dissolution or annulment of the marriage, a party will lose the chance of acquiring.

Essentially, the courts, or the solicitors or mediators negotiating in anticipation of obtaining a court order, will apply these factors to the family assets which are available to be split between a divorcing couple. It is a process of listing all sources of finance to discover how big a cake is available to be cut up and then achieving a fair and reasonable division.

The court has virtually unlimited powers to transfer and divide assets between spouses and usually does this by using the following types of order, for one or other of the spouses, or for the child(ren), together known as ancillary relief:

• an order for maintenance pending suit;
• a periodical payments order;
• a secured provision order;
• a lump sum order;
• a property adjustment order; and
• for a spouse only, a pension sharing/attachment order.

The main concern of the court where there are children is to minimise the impact of the marriage break-up on them. In exercising its powers, the court has an obligation to consider whether to make an arrangement which will bring about a 'clean break' between the parties as soon as is reasonably possible. In most cases this does occur.

Recent case law, such as the House of Lords ruling in the landmark case of White v White has made significant changes to the approach of the courts when ruling on the division of assets on divorce.

The thing that surprises most clients is that the courts will not take conduct into account except in the most extreme circumstances and if it would be unjust to ignore it. The courts are mainly concerned with practical money matters.

The best way to achieve a fair settlement is to ensure that all the necessary financial information (such as pension and house valuations, investments held and earnings) is collected at an early stage.

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