Welcome to the Your Family area

RELATIONSHIPS

Maintenance Spousal support, payable by one party to the other, is only payable if the parties are or have been married. The level of manintenance will depend on the incomes and needs of the respective parties. Wherever possible this should be dealt with by agreement but the Courts will get involved if agreement cannot be reached. Levels of maintenance can be altered if there is a change in financial circumstances of either party. The Court is under an obligation to try to reach a "clean break" between the parties so there are no continuing payments made between the parties. This is not always possible where children are involved.

Unmarried Couples - Separation - Maintenance There is no automatic entitlement to maintenance between unmarried partners if they separate. Equally, assets tend to be divided on the basis of direct financial contribution rather than any acknowledgement of wifely duties being taken into account.

Contested Divorce If contested, a judge ultimtely decides whether or not to grant a decree of divorce. Defended divorce proceedings are extremely costly and so are rarely heard. Invariably some agreement can be reached between the parties as to who shall divorce and on what grounds.

Uncontested Divorce The overriding requirement for a divorce to be granted by the court is for the party bringing the proceedings (known as the Petitioner) to show that the marriage has irretrievably broken down for one of 5 reasons: (a) Adultery; (b) Unreasonable behaviour; (c) Desertion for a period of 2 years; (d) Separation for 2 years with both parties consenting; (e) Separation for 5 years with no consent required. An uncontested divorce usually takes around 4 months to be fully completed. Once grounds have been set out in the Petition, the documents are approved by a judge and a decree nisi is granted. There is then a 6 week period before the decree nisi can be made absolute. This period is designed to allow for any last minute change of heart.

Living Together / Cohabitation Agreements If you live together with somebody but are not married to them then you are known as cohabitees. There is no law protecting heterosexual cohabitees in England and Wales and there is no such thing as a common law wife or husband. If two people decide to live together, they should consider their financial arrangements and these can potentially be encompassed into a document called a Cohabitation Agreement. This document forms a contract between the two parties and it can deal with what should happen to the finances if the relationship breaks down for example how any joint property, joint investments or joint accounts should be divided. This document seeks to regulate the financial affairs of the two parties.

Prenuptial Agreements It is too often said that Prenuptial Agreements are not enforceable under English law. However, if properly drafted, Prenuptial Agreements can be upheld by the Court. It is important that when drafting a Prenuptial Agreement, both parties provide full and frank financial disclosure in respect of their income, capital and pension provision and it is also fundamentally important that both parties obtain independent legal advice. A Prenuptial Agreement dictates how finances should be dealt with if a marriage breaks down. This document can potentially save considerable time and money in the long run and can be an important aspect of wealth protection.

Family Finances on Marriage Breakdown The law relating to finances on marriage breakdown is governed by the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and case law. There is no scientific formula followed in dealing with such cases and matters are largely decided by judges using their discretion. However, patterns have emerged and being followed in subsequent cases. When reaching their decision, judges will consider, amongst other things, the following aspects of your case:- a) The income, earning capacity, property and any other financial resources that you or your spouse currently have or are likely to have in the foreseeable future. b) The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which you and your spouse currently have or are likely to have in the foreseeable future. c) The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage. d) The age of yourself and your spouse and the length of the marriage. e) Any physical or mental disability that either yourself or your spouse has. f) Contributions which yourself and your spouse have made or are likely to make in the foreseeable future for the welfare of the family including any contributions by looking after the home or caring for the family. g) The conduct of yourself and your spouse and in particular if that conduct is so gross, that it would be inequitable for the Court to disregard it. Some of the Orders that the Court can consider making within your case are as follows:- a) Lump Sum Order – as set out above, the Court looks at the needs of the parties and the available financial resources and can decide whether a lump sum of money should be paid by you, from your own finances, or to you, to boost your own financial position. b) Property Adjustment Order – the Court can look at all the available property and decide whether it needs to be sold and how the proceeds of sale should be divided between the two of you, or the Court can look to transfer the property into your name or, out of your name to your spouse. The Court will look at the current available housing needs of both parties and will of course consider where any children are currently living. c) Maintenance – the Court will consider whether you need to receive monthly or annual maintenance from your spouse or indeed whether you need to pay it to your spouse. The amount of maintenance that you should receive or, indeed pay, would be dependent on your income needs and your earning capacity. d) Pension Sharing Orders – the Court can look at your own pension provision and decide whether part of this needs to be split/shared with your spouse or, indeed whether you should have the benefit of a Pension Sharing Order in respect of a pension held by your spouse. The Court will consider the ages of yourself and your spouse and your financial resources generally before considering making a Pension Sharing Order. The only way that you can achieve a full and final financial settlement on marriage breakdown is to obtain a financial order of the Court through divorce proceedings.

Finances on Relationship Breakdown If you jointly own property with an unmarried partner and your relationship breaks down then you and your partner can potentially make an application under the Trusts of Law and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996. Within this area of law, the Court can decide whether or not a property should be sold and how the proceeds of sale should be divided between two unmarried people.

Civil Partnerships The law has recently been reformed and now allows same sex couples to enter into what is known as a civil partnership. At law a civil partnership will allow same sex couples to have exactly the same rights as a married couple in life and in death. Same sex couples can also enter into a Pre-civil Partnership Agreement in the same way that heterosexual couples can have a Prenuptial Agreement.

Children

Family finances