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Divorce and Family Law

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Marriage Breakdown

There is one firm principle when a marriage breaks down to always bear in mind.. Try to agree everything with your spouse beforehand. If you need help doing this consider
mediation. The alternatives to not agreeing everything can be expense, delay and bad feeling.

There will usually be 3 things to deal with and agree. Having the marriage dissolved, money and property and children.

Dissolving the marriage is relatively easy. One party will present a divorce petition to the court and usually a decree absolute will be pronounced within 3 months without any need for court appearances. This is fully dealt with in our divorce section.

Financial matters are often referred to as ancillary claims as they are ancillary to the divorce proceedings. The starting point will be a 50/50 split but there are many factors which can vary this and which are dealt with in our financial claims section.

Finally the children. Divorce does not affect parental rights and obligations and it is only when parents cannot agree the arrangements that the court will make an order. Again our children pages have comprehensive further information.

In straightforward cases it is quite possible for most people to act for themselves but before making any decisions they should be aware of the legal position and their legal entitlements.

In certain circumstances full legal advice should always be obtained such as:-

1. Where the matrimonial assets are substantial, and include pension rights, a business etc
2. Where it is suspected that your spouse is hiding and not disclosing assets.
3. Where domestic violence makes direct discussion impossible.
4. Where there is domestic violence and an application to the Court may be necessary for your protection.

In exceptional cases a decree of nullity could be available to dissolve the marriage. It is also possible to obtain a decree of Judicial Separation where the parties wish to go their separate ways without having their marriage formally dissolved.Or to agree everything in a and then live apart.

If a marriage is in trouble and it seems that there could be a possibility of divorce there are several things that need immediate consideration:
• Severing any joint tenancies
• Freezing any matrimonial assets that could be at risk;
• Registering a matrimonial homes act charge over property
• Applying for a maintenance order

Cohabitees

In the case of couples who have not married, breaking up is purely a practical matter, and there is no need to petition the Court for any sort of decree, or indeed involve the law in any way. However there may well be the same ‘ancillary’ matters such as children and property to resolve, which will not be dissimilar to those of a married couple. With no divorce action before the Court, the procedure, if it is necessary to apply to the Court to resolve these issues, will be different. It is dealt with in our sections on cohabitees. The law relating to The law relating to children is in our children sections.

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Relevant Q&A

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