Deeds of Separation

...now, or get on with the divorce 

Deferring divorce might be a sensible course if there are young children or religious objections, but where there are no children or they have 'flown the nest', it seems sensible to us that the parties should get on and agree the financial division,  so that they can both get on with their lives.

The divorce courts must look at the finances as at the date of hearing, not as at some date years earlier when the parties separated. The Court can take the Deed and the financial circumstances at separation into account, but they are not bound by the terms of the Deed

Often the parties' financial situation may have changed by then and the one who has 'made good' financially since the separation is aggrieved to hear that their estranged spouse has a claim on their new found wealth.

Think what could have happened in the intervening years!  One may have inherited money, got promotion and enhanced salary at work, but the other party may have been made redundant or fallen ill, so that they cannot earn at all.

No-one has a crystal ball and so it can work either way. If you fall on hard times, then you might be glad to hear that you have an enhanced claim against your estranged spouse who has done rather well.

If you were the one who has prospered, then you feel aggrieved. We find that most people make the decision that they would rather get things sorted now and 'paddle their own canoe' in the future.

We have dealt with cases recently where the Deeds of Separation were in 1992 and 1998 respectively. Luckily for the 1992 husband, the wife stuck by her agreement and a divorce consent order was readily agreed in the terms of the original deal between them

Unfortunately for the 1998 husband, the wife had spent what she had got originally and wanted to come back for more. At first sight, it looked as though the husband had prospered but it took a lot of initial work, a court hearing and further work over nearly a year to persuade the wife that

• His circumstances had not altered dramatically.

• He had made full disclosure of his financial circumstances at separation and she had entered into the Deed with legal advice (both of which she initially denied.

• Taking into account all the circumstances the Court would probably make an Order in terms of the Deed of Separation.

Eventually, we succeeded. Then arose the question of who should bear the husband's legal costs incurred? They were not inconsiderableá..but that is another story

 

Call to set up a fixed fee meeting

• one of our Family Team  

 click Our Team  in left hand side bar

• 0845 270 2511