Q. How much maintenance will I get?

A. Whether you get maintenance and how much you get depends on various factors, including the length of your marriage, whether or not you are working at the moment, and your age. It is possible in some cases to capitalise a maintenance claim so that it is paid as a lump sum instead of in monthly instalments. For more details of your likely entitlement, please contact one of our lawyers to arrange a free initial 30 minute consultation on 0845 321 382.

Q. Who will decide who gets what if we split?

A. If you can agree between you who gets what, so much the better as you will avoid costly and stressful court proceedings and solicitors’ letters. The family lawyer’s job is then confined to drafting up the agreement that you have reached, obtaining the court’s approval, and implementing it. You should be aware that the courts do not just “rubber stamp” these agreements, and can sometimes raise questions if the arrangement is particularly complex or seems heavily biased in favour of one party.

The courts expect you to take a “cards on the table” approach and exchange all your up to date financial information with each other. You should bear in mind that if your solicitor hasn’t seen full disclosure from both of you, they won’t be able to advise you as fully on the merits of your agreement. In these circumstances, your solicitor would normally ask you to sign an indemnity to show that you understand this.

If you can’t agree with each other who gets what, there are other options, such as mediation, and collaborative law open to you to help you negotiate a settlement.

If all else fails, and your spouse continues to be difficult, the court can decide what happens. All you need to do is issue an application called “ancillary relief”, and the court’s timetable begins to run. For more details, read the Finances section of this site

Q. Will I have to sell the house if we get divorced?

A.

Whether or not you will have to sell the house depends on a range of factors, such as:

• Your income;
• Your earning capacity; 
• Any other property and financial resources which either you or your spouse own or are likely to have in the foreseeable future; 
• Any financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which either of you have, or are likely to have in the foreseeable future;
• The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage;
• Any physical or mental disability of either of you, or your children; 
• The contributions which you have both made to the marriage, both in financial terms and also in looking after the home and caring for the family; 
• The conduct of both you, if the court thinks it would be unfair to ignore it

These factors as known by lawyers as “section 25 factors”, and your lawyer at Woolley & Co will be able to guide you through them, and suggest a solution that is appropriate for your family, bearing in mind that everyone’s circumstances are different.

The needs of any child to the marriage are given “first consideration” by the courts who will balance the housing needs of your children (for example that teenage children of the opposite sex will need separate bedrooms), with the financial resources available to you both.

There are usually three options regarding what happens to the former matrimonial home when the finances are divided on divorce. Either:

(a) You sell the house and split the proceeds according to pre-agreed shares. A 50/50 split may or may not be appropriate, depending on various factors, such as the length of the marriage, and the contributions made to the property. If you can’t agree on your shares, it is possible for the money to be held in a secure solicitors’ bank account until you can agree. In the meantime, the solicitor will have to account to both of you for any interest earned; or

(b) One of you keeps the house, and “buys the other out”. This means that you pay the other party a lump sum in return for the property being transferred into your sole name. This is effectively to compensate them for their share in the property, and allows them to put a deposit down on their own property if they want to. If you are considering this option, the party who keeps the house will need to see a mortgage broker to check that they can afford to take on the existing mortgage or that they have enough borrowing power in their own name to remortgage; or

(c) The sale of the house is postponed, and one of you remains in the property in the meantime. The person who leaves the house takes a charge over the property, which is usually expressed as a percentage of the total value of the property. The sale of the house will be “triggered” on the first to occur of certain events, usually:

(i) The death of either party;
(ii) The youngest child reaching the age of 17 or finishing full time secondary education, whichever is the earlier; or
(iii) The remarriage of the person retaining the property. As with option (b), the person remaining in the property should make sure that they can take on the existing level of borrowing, as often the person who leaves will need to get a new mortgage for their new property.

So, whether you will have to sell the house or not depends on a number of factors that will need to be balanced against each other. All of our lawyers at Woolley & Co will be able to guide you through the process and help you reach the right solution for your family. For an initial consultation, please fill out the book appointment request and one of our lawyers will get back to you within 24 hours.

Q. As soon as I mentioned divorce my husband said he'd stop paying to support our children. Help.

A. As the courts no longer have the power to award maintenance for children it might be better to consider a separation agreement before obtaining a divorce. Such an agreement can include provision for child maintenance, and is enforceable through the courts. Once you have such an agreement you can obtain a divorce afterwards.

Q. What if my partner won’t leave our shared property?

A. If you have not entered into a living together agreement then much will depend on how the property is owned, or rented. If it is in joint names, the chances are that you won’t be able to force them to go easily in the short term. If things have deteriorated badly, and there is any aggression from your estranged partner, this makes the situation very different. You should contact an experienced family lawyer immediately to discuss possible emergency remedies.

How do I know I’m getting good value for money – there seem to be a lot of variations in lawyer’s fees?

A lot will depend on the number of years that the lawyer has been dealing with family and divorce cases. You may find a firm offering what looks like a low quote but what they may not tell you is that your case would be handled by a junior lawyer, or even a trainee. At Woolley & Co we only have very experienced and highly trained lawyers and, once you have instructed the lawyer of your choice, no one else will handle your file. A fixed fee option helps you to understand what the divorce will cost in total. To review our fixed fee advice options visit How we work.

Q. What if my partner leaves, but stops paying the bills?

A. If your partner has left and taken their name off the utility bills, you will only be able to pursue them for maintenance to help pay these if you were married to each other. The only other maintenance which will be available regardless of whether or not you were married will be for children. However, this is worked out according to a national calculation, which has no relevance to how much the bills are.