Property & Finance

Whether you are married or not you are likely to have a home and other assets which need to be divided between you. In the case of a married couple the Court has a wide discretion to redistribute property upon divorce. The factors taken into account are income, earning capacity and other financial resources, financial needs, obligations and responsibilities, the standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage, the age of each party and the duration of the marriage, any physical or mental disability of either of the parties, the contributions which each of the parties have made or are likely in the foreseeable future to make to the welfare of the family (including any contribution by looking after the home or caring for the family), conduct (if that conduct is such that it would be unfair to disregard it) and finally the value to each of the parties of any benefit which by reason of the divorce that party will lose the chance of acquiring.

First consideration must always be given to the welfare of any child of the family who is under the age of 18 years.

Particular regard must be given to pensions, particularly where the marriage is a long one and one party has substantially larger pension rights than the other. Offsetting the value of the pension against other assets, pension earmarking and sharing must all be considered.

Before any decision can be taken upon the division of assets it is essential that each party provides full and frank disclosure of their financial circumstances to the other. Quite often difficulties arise in this area and in some cases an application to the Court is required.

Whether financial issues are contested or not it is always desirable for the settlement terms to be incorporated into a Court Order as part of the divorce process to make them binding and final.

In the case of an unmarried couple the Court has a very restricted role and existing property rights are the most important factor.