Dealing with the financial aspects of a relationship breakdown can be complex and can be expensive to resolve. There are no rules covering unmarried couples, but a court can look at the financial positions of a married couple and make a wide variety of orders in the absence of an agreement. You will need to be aware of what the assets of the marriage are, that is the assets of both spouses as well as joint assets. Some assets are not included in the “matrimonial pot” but it doesn’t matter whose name the family home is owned in as the value does go into the pot. Assets owned prior to the marriage or acquired after it breaks down don’t automatically go into the pot but they are taken into account when looking at a settlement as the spouse who, for example, owns property from before the marriage has the benefit of that property and may not need as large a share of the matrimonial pot as the other. The court looks at a number of considerations when deciding how to divide the matrimonial pot including:
- The length of the marriage,
- Any health issues between the parties,
- The parties’ age,
- Any income/likely income,
- The parties’ individual needs and ability to meet those needs,
- Any contributions they’ve made,
- Age of the children,
- A difference in income and pensions
I can assist you in reaching a financial agreement and can point you in the direction of mediation services who can also assist. If you are unable to reach an agreement, I can represent you in court proceedings. The family court has a wide variety of powers to make financial orders including sale of property and orders that one spouse’s pension company pays a lump sum from the pension into a pension for the other spouse.
If you are able to reach a financial agreement, I can assist in drawing up that agreement into a formal court order to be made by the court.