Finances

There’s no fixed share. The court looks at both your needs, resources and contributions, and the length of the marriage, and assets built up during the marriage are often shared equally as a starting point.

Form A is the application to court for a financial order on divorce. It starts formal financial proceedings, and you’ll usually need to attend a mediation information meeting before filing it.

A judge reviews both sides’ positions and offers, and gives a view on the likely outcome to help you settle. The view isn’t binding, but many cases settle at or shortly after the hearing.

Debts are considered alongside assets when the court looks at the overall picture. Joint debts remain the responsibility of both of you to the lender, but the settlement can take into account who will pay them.

A judge hears evidence from both sides, which may include questioning each of you in the witness box, and then decides how the finances will be divided. The decision is binding.

Possibly. Transfers between spouses are usually free of capital gains tax for a period after separation, but the rules are detailed and timing matters, so we’ll flag where specialist tax advice is needed.

Each person’s income, earning capacity, assets and needs, the standard of living during the marriage, the length of the marriage, each person’s age and health, and the contributions each of you has made. The children’s welfare comes first.

Not without taking advice first. Moving out doesn’t mean giving up your share of the home, but it can affect arrangements for your children and your practical position. If you feel unsafe, your safety comes first, and there are orders that can help.

Not without a court order. Both spouses usually have the right to stay in the family home until the finances are resolved, whoever owns it, and only the court can require one of you to leave, through an occupation order.

You both remain responsible to the lender until the mortgage is changed or paid off. The usual options are selling the home, one of you buying the other out, or the home being transferred to one of you, if the lender agrees.

A Mesher order delays the sale of the family home, usually until the youngest child reaches a certain age or finishes education. The proceeds are then divided in shares set out in the order.

Not automatically. They’re often treated differently from assets built up during the marriage, but they can be drawn on if needed to meet either person’s needs, or if they’ve become mixed with family finances over time.

Both of you have a legal duty to give full financial disclosure, and the court can order further disclosure and draw conclusions against a spouse who doesn’t comply. If assets are being moved to defeat your claim, an urgent freezing injunction may be possible.

Yes, if they’re selling to put assets out of your reach. The court can make an order preventing the sale, and in some cases can reverse a transaction that has already happened.

Yes. Without a court order, your agreement isn’t legally binding, and financial claims between you remain open, even after the divorce is finalised.

An order that stops a party who is in breach of a court order from being heard in the case until they comply. It’s rare and used only where the breach is impeding the proceedings.

There’s no automatic rule, and whoever is named on a bill or the mortgage remains liable to the provider or lender. Most couples agree a temporary arrangement, and if that isn’t possible, the court can order interim maintenance.

Once the divorce is final, your former spouse is treated as having died for the purposes of your will, so anything left to them, and their appointment as executor, will fall away. Until then, your will stands as written, so it’s worth reviewing it as soon as you separate.

Rarely. The court only takes conduct into account in exceptional cases, such as where one spouse has deliberately wasted or hidden assets.

The first court hearing in a financial case. The judge reviews the disclosure, decides what further information and expert evidence is needed, and sets the timetable for the rest of the case.

It depends on your assets. A home can often be valued by agreement, but businesses, complex pensions and some investments usually need an expert, normally one instructed jointly by both of you.

Usually, each of you pays your own. The court can order one party to pay the other’s costs where they have behaved unreasonably, for example by refusing to negotiate or failing to disclose their finances.

If assets are being spent or moved to reduce your claim, the court can step in. It can make a freezing injunction, or treat money that has been wasted as if it were still available when dividing the finances.

The order becomes legally binding, and the steps it sets out, such as property transfers, pension sharing and payments, are then carried out. If your spouse doesn’t comply, the order can be enforced.