It is difficult to come to terms with the end of a marriage or civil partnership. It can sometimes take people months or even years to take the next step. When that step is taken, practical arrangements are often the first consideration such as who will live where or who will be responsible for paying certain bills in the interim period.
When you and your ex-spouse or civil partner reach a practical arrangement on how to deal with your finances you may not think there is any need to take legal advice. For example, you may reach an agreement on who should retain the family home, how pensions should be dealt with or who should take on certain loans, for instance.
There are so many different approaches that people take following separation and each case is different as people have different priorities. All too often, agreements are made between spouses or civil partners and implemented without legal advice being taken. The agreement may seem perfectly fair to you and your ex-spouse or partner on the face of it. You may even have evidence of what was agreed in emails or text messages. However, the agreement reached will not be legally binding or terminate your financial claims against your spouse or civil partner if that is the intention.
Your spouse or civil partner may never wish to reconsider the way finances were dealt with following your divorce or civil partnership. However, it is not uncommon for several months or years to go by before one spouse or civil partner decides that the agreement reached was unfair or did not deal with all aspects of the financial position and they may have taken legal advice and realise that they could have been entitled to more.
Morally, it might seem inconceivable that your spouse or ex-partner would go back on an agreement that you have reached between you during sensible discussions. However, if your agreement is not drawn up in a financial consent order and approved by the court then the arrangement is not legally binding.
When dealing with finances following the end of a marriage or civil partnership, we would recommend that you take legal advice. If you wish to speak to a member of our Family team about finances following separation or any other family law issue, please dial 0151 600 3000 and ask to speak to one of our specialist Family lawyers.
