Nicola Williams & Co

We know we’re all different. We like different music and films. We choose different hobbies, cars and holidays. And when a marriage breaks down we react in our own unique way as well.

No two people feel exactly the same. Some feel sadness or guilt. Others shame or relief, anger or hurt. And everyone reaches the point of acceptance in their own time.

My aim is to help you reach agreement about how your assets are divided as economically and quickly as possible without compromising on how well informed your decisions are. And to begin with I will explain a bit about the role of the court.

The Court’s role in your finances on divorce.

At the conclusion of a divorce the court can make an order setting out who is having what from the family assets and what maintenance is payable, if any.

When these details have already been agreed between the husband and wife it is known as a “consent” order.

When the husband and wife are not able to agree who should have what, the court will make an order for them, based on the legal principles laid down in the Matrimonial Causes Act.

The court will try to be as fair as possible to both husband and wife, but naturally they will have less control over the outcome than if they had been able to agree the terms of the order themselves.

Generally speaking there is less flexibility in the types of order a court can make without agreement.

Is an order necessary?

Well in the majority of cases yes it is because most people want their agreement to be “absolutely binding” and the only way to achieve that is by way of a court order.

The court order (whether by consent or not) will limit the circumstances in which future claims can be made and in the majority of cases will dismiss the possibility of future claims altogether. This is known as a clean break.

Without a clean break it is always open to chance that another claim will be made, either during the lives of the husband and wife – or even after one of them has died.

In a very small number of cases – where the marriage has been very short, there are no children and there is no property, it may not strictly be necessary to have a court order, but it is always advisable to have one, to be on the safe side and to fully protect your future assets.

The negotiation process.

Negotiating an agreed financial settlement requires the co-operation of both husband and wife and also their advisers.

Both husband and wife will need to lay their cards on the table. They will need to compile a schedule of assets, income and liabilities.

In order to do this they will need to show their most recent banks statements, their payslips and latest P60, a pension valuation, life insurance values and so on.

All this information is cross checked by the advisers for both husband and wife and once the overall value of the assets is agreed the negotiation about who is to have what can begin.

I prefer to set a limit on how much is spent trying to achieve a settlement through voluntary disclosure. If little or no progress is made then I will usually advise you to apply to the court to manage the process before your budget is exhausted. If however, we are making clear progress then I will advise you to persevere with voluntary negotiations.

The court process

A court application for ancillary relief has three stages and each stage includes a court hearing.

This is not the same as requesting the court to approve an agreement in relation to your finances, after voluntary negotiation and disclosure as set out above.

The court process is invoked when negotiation by the voluntary process is not progressing.

The first stage is information gathering and exchange. This is very similar to the voluntary process but with certain strict time limits and clear rules about what information has to be given by each side.

The first hearing takes place 12 to 16 weeks after the application is made and the purpose is to check that information has been exchanged in accordance with the rules. It lasts approximately 20 minutes.

The second stage of the court application is the negotiation stage.

The preparation of documents and the hearing itself are all geared towards setting out your case and the issues that are dividing you, and thereafter negotiating a settlement. The role of the Judge at the hearing is to assist you and your spouse to reach an agreement.

Most disputed cases settle at or around this stage.
 
Remember, it is always possible to compromise at any stage in the court application, if co-operation is suddenly forthcoming. Sometimes issuing a court application can have the effect of turning an uncooperative spouse into a cooperative one virtually overnight.

If agreement cannot be reached despite our best efforts stage three is the final hearing for which you will need a barrister.

A barrister is a specialist advocate and I will advise you if I believe you will benefit from using one at any stage of your case.

Costs other than my fees

No one likes hidden surprises. Sometimes you will need to pay other people for work to be done in order to reach an agreement with your spouse. These expenses are sometimes referred to as disbursements.

For example you may need to have your house professionally valued; you may need to employ a bailiff to serve paperwork on your husband or wife if they are not co-operative; you may want a second opinion from a barrister or to be represented by a barrister at a hearing.

In each case, you will pay these fees directly and I will obtain an estimate to agree with you beforehand.

Conclusion

Overall you can see that dividing your assets on divorce can take many months if you have to go to a final contested court hearing, possibly more.

Happily the majority of people do not have to go to these lengths to reach a settlement with their spouse.

Whilst there is no such thing as an average cost because no two situations are exactly the same, you can expect to spend somewhere between £1000 and £5000 overall getting divorced and sorting out your assets. Most people agree their settlements within this limit. Please look at my list of capped fees for further details of my charges.

If I advise you to issue court proceedings, it is because I do not believe we will make progress via the voluntary negotiation process. I always aim to help my clients to a negotiated settlement as economically as possible.

Online Divorce

What is an online divorce

Mediation

What is family mediation?

Mediation FAQ

Ancillary Relief

What is ancillary relief?
Ancillary relief FAQ
Role of the court
Flowchart

Separation

Separation FAQ

Nicola Williams & Co is a specialist divorce and family law firm based in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester. We are registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority under firm number 363881 as solicitors practising the divorce law of England and Wales. We are insured for £2,000,000 per case by Travelers professional risks. We are members of Resolution First For Family Law and are qualified mediators.