Financial Settlements on Divorce Financial Settlements on Divorce

Our team of specialist Family Law Solicitors will help you focus on the issues that matter most, including:

• What assets and liabilities exist
• Whether both parties have provided full and frank disclosure
• How the family home should be dealt with
• The treatment of pensions, savings and investments
• Whether business or partnership interests need to be valued
• Whether maintenance should be paid, and for how long
• How inherited wealth, trusts or family assets may be treated
• Whether expert evidence is needed
• Whether the case should be resolved by negotiation, mediation, arbitration or court proceedings

Our aim is to give you advice that is realistic, direct and commercially sensible, while also recognising the personal pressure that financial separation can create.

High Net Worth and Complex Financial Cases

Preston Redman advises clients in high net worth divorce cases where the financial picture may involve multiple asset classes, valuable properties, business interests, investment portfolios, pensions, trusts, inherited wealth or assets held overseas.

These cases often require careful planning from the beginning. Early advice can help protect your position, preserve evidence, identify urgent risks and ensure that financial disclosure is properly scrutinised. Where appropriate, we work alongside accountants, tax advisers, pension experts, property valuers, business valuers and other specialist professionals.

We regularly advise on issues involving:

• Business assets on divorce, including private companies, director-shareholder interests and family businesses
• Divorce for business owners, including liquidity, income, retained profits and future business stability
• Company valuations, including disputes over methodology, maintainable earnings and minority shareholdings
• Partnership interests, including professional partnerships, LLPs and farming partnerships
• Shareholdings and investment portfolios, including listed shares, private equity, funds and tax-sensitive investments
• Property portfolios and buy-to-let investments, including rental income, mortgage exposure and capital gains tax issues
• Agricultural and farming divorces, where land, family succession, trading structures and liquidity can be highly sensitive
• Landowners and estates, including inherited land, estate structures and intergenerational wealth
• Trusts and inherited wealth, including whether assets are matrimonial, non-matrimonial or available as a financial resource

Pensions, Maintenance and Capital Claims

Pensions are often one of the most valuable assets in a divorce, sometimes worth as much as, or more than, the family home. Preston Redman advises on pension sharing, pension offsetting and pension attachment, and can help you decide whether a pension expert should be instructed.

We also advise on spousal maintenance, including whether maintenance is appropriate, how much should be paid, whether it should be time limited and whether a clean break can be achieved. A clean break means that, where appropriate, financial claims between spouses are brought to an end so that both parties can move forward independently.

Capital claims may involve lump sums, property adjustment orders, sale or transfer of the family home, investment assets, debts and tax consequences. We will help you understand the practical effect of any proposed settlement, not just the headline figures.

International, Crypto and Hidden Assets

Some financial cases require deeper investigation. Assets may be held abroad, through companies, in trusts, in cryptocurrency, or across complex banking and investment arrangements. In other cases, one party may be concerned that assets have been hidden, undervalued or transferred away.

Preston Redman can advise on international assets, crypto assets, hidden assets and non-disclosure. Financial disclosure is central to a fair outcome. In contested financial remedy proceedings, parties are commonly required to complete Form E, which sets out details of income, property, debts, pensions and other financial resources.

Where necessary, we can work with forensic accountants and other experts to trace assets, analyse business accounts, review bank statements, value companies or assess whether the disclosure provided is reliable. Expert evidence can be especially important where the outcome depends on valuation, tax, liquidity, pension sharing or asset tracing.

Consent Orders and Financial Remedy Proceedings

If you reach an agreement, it is usually important to record that agreement in a consent order approved by the court. Without a properly drafted and approved order, financial claims may remain open even after the divorce has been finalised. The court may consider financial orders relating to property, pensions, savings, investments and maintenance.

Where agreement cannot be reached, it may be necessary to issue financial remedy proceedings. This is the formal court process used to resolve financial claims on divorce. The process can involve Form A, Form E financial disclosure, questionnaires, directions hearings, negotiation, a Financial Dispute Resolution hearing and, if required, a final hearing.

Preston Redman will guide you through each stage, making sure that you understand what is happening, what is expected of you and how best to present your case.

Mediation, Arbitration and Negotiated Settlements

Court is not the only way to resolve financial arrangements. Many cases can be resolved through solicitor-led negotiation, mediation, private Financial Dispute Resolution appointments or arbitration. Mediation allows couples to work with a neutral mediator to explore settlement options. Arbitration allows a private family arbitrator to make a binding decision, often more quickly and privately than the court process.

We will advise you on the most appropriate route for your circumstances. In some cases, mediation may be the best way to preserve communication and reduce cost. In others, court proceedings or arbitration may be needed because of urgency, complexity, non-disclosure or a major difference in financial positions.