1. Are you emotionally ready?
Divorce or separation is a big decision that can have lasting consequences for you, your spouse and children. It is crucial to carefully consider the relationship as a whole and not to make any rash decisions. You may wish to consider marriage counselling or therapy to work through your emotions, before making the decision to start divorce proceedings.
2. What happens to your children?
It is likely that a divorce or separation will have an impact on your children. The children may be vulnerable during this time and need support. There needs to be careful consideration about when and how they are told about the divorce and whether the school should be informed to ensure they keep an extra eye on them over the coming months. You will need to consider ways to keep the disruption to their lives to a minimum and put their needs first, when considering where they will live and how to divide their time between both parents.
3. What information and documents do I need?
Find out as much as you can about your personal financial situation and note down the value of any investments and savings, pension pots, any debts and liabilities, approximate value of the family home if you own it and the outstanding mortgage. However, be careful not to breach your partner or spouses’ confidentiality and if you are in any doubt about what you can or cannot do – please do take legal advice, this is a complex area, you can easily fall foul of. If you can, start preparing a budget of everything you need on a monthly basis, including unforeseen and one-off expenses like holidays, medical supplies, house repairs, furniture, including expenses for any children. This will give you a better picture of what you will need in terms of a monthly income.
4. What are you entitled to?
It will be worth taking advice from a solicitor about what the principles are that would apply to your situation, to give you an idea of what a fair division of your combined assets would look like in your case. This will enable you to understand what your financial position is likely to look like upon divorce or indeed if you are unmarried. Take along any pre-nuptial or cohabitation agreements that you may have signed. Financial proceedings can be complex and taking advice early can ensure the decision you make is the correct one for you and your family.
5. Where will you live?
If one of you decides to move out, think about where you can go and how it will be financed. Can one of you stay with friends or family until an overall agreement is reached? Do you have money to rent somewhere temporarily until things settle down? If the household atmosphere can be kept amicable and perhaps there can be some separation within the same household, you could consider remaining living together, until there is an overall financial agreement in place. If there is any domestic abuse, then there are court orders that can be applied for to exclude the other person from the family home for a specific timeframe under certain circumstances. Do take advice before you make a decision to leave the family home, as it can have long-term serious repercussions on your position.
If you are considering ending a relationship or want to discuss your options, then please do not hesitate to contact the CooperBurnett Family & Matrimonial team - Melissa Gire on email: meg@cooperburnett.com or Gemma Gillespie on email: gjg@cooperburnett.com or tel: 01892 515022
This blog is not intended as legal advice that can be relied upon and CooperBurnett LLP does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy of its contents.
This blog was originally published in Index Digital: https://www.indexdigital.co.uk
