The Family Justice Council has just published a new free online resource called ‘Guidance on “Financial Needs” on Divorce’. Although it’s intended primarily for family court judges, it sets out a lot of helpful information about how finances are dealt with by the Court.
The guidance is mainly concerned with what are known as ‘needs–based’ cases. These are cases where the available assets don’t exceed the parties’ financial needs when they get divorced, or where a civil partnership is dissolved.
The Family Justice Council recently published a free online guide about how the Family Court approaches financial needs on divorce. It’s particularly aimed at people who don’t have solicitors, and are representing themselves, but is also helpful for anyone undertaking mediation. The guide’s received good reviews, although an article in Family Law Week makes one or two technical comments about the content, so is also worth reading.
More people than ever are representing themselves at Court, including in applications for financial orders when they divorce, or end a civil partnership. These proceedings are held in private, meaning that how decisions are made is little understood by anyone who hasn’t had personal experience of the process, or a relevant professional background. In a BBC radio documentary, Splitting the Assets, judges, lawyers and former litigants discuss this complex area of family law. First broadcast on the 3rd February, you can hear a repeat at 10.15 p.m. this Saturday, 6th February 2016, BBC Radio 4 FM.
If you’re going through divorce proceedings, it’s important to know that the divorce petition process alone doesn’t deal with your property and finance issues. You’ll need to apply separately for a financial order, even if there isn’t a property or much money involved. The Government has recently published some guidance about how to go about this.
If you’ve reached a settlement through mediation, you’ll still need a consent financial order to make your proposals legally binding.
A rehearing has just been ordered in divorce financial remedy proceedings. This is what’s known as a “small money” case; the matrimonial assets are just under £300,000, even though the parties’ collective costs are already £127,538. Ordering the rehearing on capital and periodical payments, the judge also said, “…this is a case that cries out for mediation. I would strongly recommend to both parties that they either arbitrate on their differences, or mediate”.
Quest Mediation 