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Category Archives: Family/Matrimonial

Solicitors may see more late divorces fuelled by money worries

By Family Department | Published: Jun 4,2013

Research reported by the BBC suggests that older couples who struggle with their finances are more than twice as likely to suffer relationship breakdown than those whose financial outlook is sound.

As divorce solicitors in London and throughout the UK see more elderly clients becoming embroiled in late divorce, it may become more and more apparent that money matters are significant in the reasons for relationship difficulties for older spouses.

The biannual report from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing collects data from UK adults aged over 50 and has revealed that unsecured debts, such as credit cards, mail order purchases, money borrowed from lenders, and hire purchase agreements can be a major problem in later life.

Report authors said that where debts had become a problem “a statistically significant decrease in quality of life” was experienced by the respondents. The risk of relationship breakdown, and subsequent divorce, more than doubled for these people when compared with the risk for couples who had maintained manageable finances.

The pattern of relationship breakdown and divorce was not seen in couples whose unsecured credit arrangements were not causing money worries and so, the report states, “this suggests that problem debts could have contributed to the breakdown”.

To find out more about how Healys divorce solicitors in London and Brighton could help you through a late divorce, please click here.

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Domestic violence restraining orders to be enforceable Europe wide

By Family Department | Published: Jun 1,2013

Members of the European Parliament have voted to provide protection for victims of violence all over the EU by allowing restraining orders granted in one European member state to be enforceable in another.

So, a victim of domestic violence who has had a court order granted in London, under UK family law, will, from now on, be able to travel to the continent or Ireland safe in the knowledge that should their abuser try to attack them in an EU country, local authorities will have the power to enforce a UK restraining order.

The new regulation will, in the majority of cases, benefit women, who are the major section of the population who suffer harassment, stalking and gender-based violence.

Euro MP Arlene McCarthy quoted statistics which reveal the extent of the problem. She told Rochdale Online that, in the UK, one in four women will be a victim of domestic violence during their lifetime and that, on average, two women are killed each week by a male who is or has been their partner.

She added, “With over 1 million British citizens living in other European countries it is vital that we are able to respond to the threat of domestic abuse across European borders.”

Family lawyers in London and across the UK can advise victims of violence how the new regulation will affect them and can offer legal help and advice for anyone who feels they, or their children, are at risk of harm from a partner or former partner.

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Pension sharing divorce settlement nightmare ends in victory for divorcee

By Family Department | Published: May 22,2013

A divorcee who was told she must repay almost £100,000 of her divorce settlement has won her claim to keep the pension assets.

At the time of her divorce in 2010 Natalie McNicholas was awarded 50% of her former husband’s pension pot after it had been valued at £622,946 by the company running it, Scottish Widows.

She wisely reinvested the sum of £311,473 into a separate pension fund of her own. However, in 2011 Ms McNicholas received a letter from Scottish Widows informing her that the pension valuation had been miscalculated and that she had been overpaid to the sum of £97,626.

When Ms McNicholas refused to make the repayment Scottish Widows threatened to take the mother of three to court, where they would pursue her for the repayment plus court costs and fees.

After taking advice from the Pensions Advisory Service and obtaining representation from solicitors, the mother, whose youngest child is severely disabled and for whom she is the primary carer, took her case to the Pensions Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman ruled that, as the pension fund payment had formed an intrinsic part of the couple’s divorce settlement and all parties involved had taken the calculation to be accurate, the overpayment should be non-repayable.

The ruling stated, “In reliance on a mistake as to the true value of the pension she has entered into commitments she could not otherwise afford, and is unable to go back and renegotiate the financial settlement or seek to vary the court settlement.”

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Putting the prenup out of the picture, Aniston will wed Theroux without protection

By Family Department | Published: May 16,2013

It’s really not to be advised, but actress Jennifer Aniston is reported to have eschewed her fiancé’s offer of a prenuptial agreement and will enter her second marriage without the financial protection of a prenup.

A source close to Ms Aniston told OK! magazine that she has declared “I’m choosing love, not money. And people are just going to have to deal with it.”

It has been reported that friends of Ms Aniston, who helped the actress through a painful divorce from Brad Pitt in 2005, are worried about this decision, and it’s possible that this will have made Ms Aniston’s family lawyers a touch nervous too. But she is, apparently, determined to go ahead with the marriage sans pre nup.

In the past Ms Aniston has cited her negative attitude towards marriage, which was possibly cultivated as a result of her parents’ stormy life and eventual divorce, as one possible reason for previous relationship difficulties.

However, in her latest relationship with actor / director Justin Theroux, it appears that Ms Aniston wishes to put negativity completely out of the picture, and that obviously means…no pre-nuptial agreement.

Let’s hope that Ms Aniston has made the right decision, but we believe her lawyers will be frantically asking her to change her mind.

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Ecotricity owner will not pay maintenance

By Family Department | Published: May 15,2013

Dale Vince, owner of Ecotricity – a green energy company – has this week won his appeal against his ex-wife Kathleen Wyatt’s claim for maintenance.

The couple, who married in 1981, had split up by 1984, and when the divorce was finalised in 1992, Mr Vince was not ordered to pay maintenance since he was broke.

Throughout their relationship they had mainly lived on benefits, choosing to live a ‘New Age’ lifestyle.

By 1997 however, he had started to successfully launch himself into the world of business. That year Ms Wyatt applied to the Child Support Agency, but her maintenance claim concluded in nil assessment.

She reportedly tried again in 2001, but withdrew the application, and then again in 2010 with the aid of a new family law solicitor.

Despite the fact that Dale Vince’s company now provides energy to more than 70,000 customers and in 2010-11 had a turnover of more than £44m, Lord Justice Jackson ruled that Kathleen Wyatt should not receive maintenance from her ex-husband three decades after the divorce.

He stated, “Her husband was the most improbable candidate for affluence.

“The wife no doubt can appeal to his sense of charity but in my judgment he is not to be compelled to boost the wife’s income by the exercise of the jurisdiction under the Matrimonial Clauses Act 1973.”

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Learning lessons to avoid the need for divorce solicitors second time around

By Family Department | Published: Apr 30,2013

Figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown that second marriages have a better chance of going the distance as around 45% of first marriages end in divorce compared with 31% of second marriages and a report from the Marriage Foundation reveals some possible reasons why second-time-around spouses are less likely to need a return visit to a divorce solicitor.

The author of the report, Harry Benson, acknowledged that those entering into a second marriage are “invariably older” than the first-timers and this may mean that higher incomes will play a part in the stability of the relationship to act as “a buffer against some of the everyday difficulties faced by most couples”.

Benson suggests that second-timers should not be put off by “doom-laden” divorce statistics and says “second marriages generally do well”.

Yet, even the quickest look at the stats show that almost a third of second marriages end in breakdown and divorce solicitors certainly don’t need to be worried about a lack of clients just yet.

Relationship experts suggest that second marriages do have their own inherent problems, such as children from previous relationships and financial settlements on divorce causing their own money worries.

However, as Relate counsellor Paula Hall points out, those entering a second marriage have a greater awareness of the pitfalls of long term relationships. She says, “Having gone through divorce and separation, there can be more motivation to work through problems and save the marriage.”

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Another sensational ‘quickie divorce’ headline turns out not to be so astonishing

By Family Department | Published: Apr 25,2013

Any good divorce solicitor will tell you there is no such thing as a ‘quickie divorce’, even if you are a celebrity.

However, the tabloids have done it again and used the erroneous term in the case of Myleene Klass and her impending divorce from husband Graham Quinn.

Under English and Welsh family law there are five types of qualification to divorce and whether you are a full-blown A-list celebrity or an ordinary Joe in the street, unless you fulfil one of these criteria a court will not dissolve your marriage.

In the case of Ms Klass, yes, her marriage was short, the couple married in October 2011 and then separated just over six months later in April 2012, but the pair had been married for more than 12 months before an application was made to the family court for a divorce.

And if the decree nisi is granted by the High Court in London, Ms Klass will still have to wait the same length of time as the applicants and respondents in the other 27 listed divorce petitions being heard on the same day.

So, despite the Sun’s classy headline, Myleene Klass is getting a ‘quickie’, the singer / TV presenter / businesswoman will have waited the same length of time as any other person for her divorce petition to be heard and ratified.

To find out more about the Five Facts in divorce, please click here.

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More advice needed once divorce solicitors have done their work

By Family Department | Published: Apr 16,2013

Research carried out by the Phoenix Group has shown that once women get divorced many are left worse off than before and that their long-term financial security is put in jeopardy because there is a lack of advice given on future planning.

The report found that around 42 percent of divorced women were worse off after the split and that half of all married women had made no contributions to an individual pension during the life of their relationship. More startling still, was the finding that only one in six claimed rights to their former husband’s pension on divorce.

While divorce solicitors can ensure their clients achieve the most suitable financial settlement, once the claim is settled many women do not know how best to invest for the future and many overlook the pension pot as a major asset in divorce.

Healys divorce solicitors in Brighton and London always advise women who are unsure what their pension is worth to seek a professional valuation before agreeing to a divorce settlement as, after the matrimonial home, in many cases the pension pot accrued during a marriage is the second largest asset and should be shared accordingly.

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Divorce tweets are now the norm

By Family Department | Published: Apr 11,2013

Comments made on Twitter have made headlines recently for all the wrong reasons, yet prominent people still seem to use the social microblogging service to announce all sorts of personal information.

And now, it seems, it’s the place to let the world know that your decree absolute has come through and that you are officially divorced.

On Wednesday 10 April, Michelle Mone OBE announced to her 169,000 plus followers that her divorce had been finalised. And it appears she was pleased with her newly-single status as she said, “WOW my design meeting was interrupted by my lawyer… I am now officially divorced. Drinks on me.”

The 41-year-old Scottish businesswoman and founder of the Ultimo lingerie range had been married to her 46-year-old business partner, Michael Mone, for 20 years, but separated from him in 2011 after, she alleges, he had an affair with a work colleague. The couple have three children together.

In a culture where the stigma of divorce is lessening with every generation, the news of relationship breakdown is no longer something to be kept hush hush. We wonder if Ms Mone will be so forthcoming with news of her financial settlement.

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The end of legal aid in divorce is no joke

By Family Department | Published: Apr 5,2013

April 1st saw the end of legal aid being available to divorcing couples who require legal assistance to help them sort out the arrangements for children after relationship breakdown (except in cases involving domestic violence or child abduction).

Some solicitors suggest that the civil legal aid cuts will encourage some parties to take “the law into their own hands” if they are unable to afford the services of a qualified family law solicitor and this could see some of the most vulnerable people suffering injustice.

Richard Miller, head of legal aid at the organisation, said: “We have warned government consistently that, as well as all the knock-on costs, the social consequences will be damaging to the whole of society, not just the vulnerable who will take the worst hit of all.”

One senior judge has said that the cuts could begin to “undermine the rule of law” in England and Wales because the public will not believe the government want them to have “access to justice in all sorts of cases”.

However, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson defended the cuts by saying that legal aid was still available to those who “really need” access to lawyers and that tax payers money should not be spent on resolving issues in court which could be resolved using other “quicker, cheaper and less stressful options”.

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