When considering a divorce it is not always the case that a relationship ends in a contentious manner. What are the considerations when agreeing to deal with your finances by agreement during the divorce process?
No fault/Joint Divorces
Everything changed in April 2022 with the new divorce legislation that was introduced.
Post April 2022, divorces are now obtained on a “no fault” basis making it a more conciliatory process. Gone is the need to complain about your spouse’s adultery, behaviour or separation in order to dissolve your marriage.
As well as the “no fault” process, it is also now possible to issue divorce proceedings on a joint basis. In practice, this means that you both apply to dissolve your marriage as opposed to one party divorcing the other. Again, this was introduced in order to keep matters as amicable as possible when parties are going through such an important phase of their lives.
Happy to manage your finances by agreement?
Where you and your spouse have an agreement on how your finances should be allocated during the divorce process, it may be possible for one solicitor to deal with finalising matters for you both.
Historically each party has had to have their own solicitors. Recent changes however have meant that this need not be the case.
In situations where:
- You both agree and want formalities sorting amicably
- No one is being put under pressure to agree anything
- There is full financial transparency
One solicitor may suit your requirements. There are obvious advantages to dealing with the process in this way, not only for you as a divorcing party, but for wider family members, for example, children. It is also relevant from a cost-effective point of view. Using one solicitor with one set of fees to share is more cost effective than two.
In order to discuss and explore whether this is the right approach for you and your spouse please speak to Helen Davies by calling on 01244 568635 or email helen.davies@dtmlegal.com. Visit our Finances and Divorce page to discover more useful information.