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Financial Settlement – Online Divorce

Divorce Financial Settlement Solicitors based in Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham delivering advice in London and Nationwide

If you’ve taken steps to complete your divorce application online, you will now need to formally deal with the financial affairs of your marriage. It is crucial to end your financial ties to your spouse after a divorce and a common misconception is that a divorce also resolves financial matters. In reality, an online divorce only deals with the divorce paperwork, and does not deal with the financial settlement.

To protect your financial future, you need to ensure that any financial agreement reached with your ex-spouse is legally enforceable, which will prevent any future financial claims from being made. To have a legally binding financial settlement, it should be expertly drafted by a solicitor or legal professional to ensure all financial ties shall be severed.

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What is an online divorce?

After the introduction of no-fault divorce on 6th April 2022, the government launched a new digital online service for those wanting to divorce. The entire online divorce process is the same as an ‘ordinary’ or ‘paper’ divorce and still requires you to provide original or certified documents and correct drafting of the paperwork in order to allow the divorce to proceed.

However, embarking upon the online process of divorce will only deal with the divorce paperwork and you will still need to deal with the financial aspects of your previous relationship.

What is a DIY divorce?

This is where you and your ex-partner (husband, wife or civil partner) go through the divorce or dissolution process with little or no help from a solicitor. This can be straightforward in some cases, particularly if the separation is amicable. However, there can be problems with dividing up the family’s finances without legal help.

Using an online DIY divorce service

Some companies offer divorce or dissolution services online. These packages vary in price and offer different levels of help. It’s always worth checking what’s included. Most will simply help you with the divorce or dissolution paperwork – but not with reaching a financial settlement.

Why must you deal with the finances after a divorce?

In most marriages, there will be assets accumulated over time that will need to be divided between the two parties when they divorce. These can include anything from the former matrimonial home to cash in the bank, insurance policies, pensions, and other valuable assets such as cars and jewelry.

If a formal arrangement is not made regarding the finances from the marriage, this could lead to complications. Particularly if your ex-spouse tries to make a financial claim against you in the future. It is especially important if:

You own a house.
You own a business.
One of you depends financially on the other.
One of you doesn’t agree to the divorce or dissolution.
You have children who still depend on you financially.
You’ve been married or in a civil partnership for more than five years.
One of you has a medical problem or disability that affects your ability to earn an income.
One of you has given up work to bring up your children, which affects your ability to earn an income.
One of you has more assets than the other – for example, the house is in one person’s name, or one of you has built up a much bigger pension than the other.

What our Financial Settlement Solicitors Can Help With

Negotiating a fair financial settlement can be difficult, stressful, and emotionally challenging. Trying to navigate these issues without professional assistance can leave you in a vulnerable position and you could end up not receiving what you are entitled to. We are here to help you handle the division of finances and assets including property and pensions as successfully as possible.

If you have already filed for your divorce (or are planning to), or you are already divorced, and want to formally deal with your financial settlement and end all financial ties, our specialist Family Law team can help you make formal arrangements to protect your financial interests.

Our family law team can help you protect:

Rights to property
Savings
Shares
Pensions
International assets
Liabilities for debts
Financial security for children – along with any maintenance payments, school fees etc.

There are a number of ways our family team can support you through a financial settlement agreement, including:

Negotiations
Support through Mediation
Advice in the background
Assistance with Court Proceedings
Collaborative law

Who Gets What in a Divorce Settlement?

One of the Court’s primary concerns when looking into who gets what in a divorce settlement will be to ensure the needs of each party are met. If you have children, their needs will be prioritised.

A number of factors will be considered when determining how the assets should be divided. This includes how long the parties have been married or in a civil partnership, whether they lived together before they married and how long for as well as, but not limited to, each party’s:

Assets
Age
Income
Earning Capacity
Reasonable Living Expenses
Disability (if applicable)
Liabilities
Children

Divorce Financial Settlements FAQs

How is Financial Settlement Calculated in a Divorce?

The court will look at how parties’ assets can be divided in the fairest way, taking into account each party’s needs and those of the children and considering the factors listed above.

How Long Does it Take for a Financial Settlement in Divorce?

Typically, a divorce settlement will take between 9 and 12 months. If a financial application is made to the court this could be longer, depending on when the application is made

How is Property Divided?

There is no straightforward answer to determining what happens to a shared property after divorce. The judge will consider a range of factors, and the most important one is usually each party’s housing need and their ability to meet it and where the children will reside. Every case will depend on its individual circumstances.

What Should I Ask for in a Financial Settlement?

It is essential to obtain specialist legal advice from a lawyer who has experience in dealing with financial settlements on divorce and who can guide you through the process, be it providing advice on making an agreement you may have reached directly with your spouse already legally binding, or advice regarding the financial settlement you should be looking to achieve.

Our Family Law Team

Our Family Law team represent clients in:

– Sheffield

– Barnsley

– Rotherham

– Other South Yorkshire areas

– London and surrounding areas

– Nationwide (throughout England)

The team also offer a free 30-minute consultation on your first visit, which can be made face-to-face, on the phone or virtually.

Our Family Law Fees

Our family law team offer transparent and affordable prices to suit all financial circumstances. You will always be kept up to date with costs and they offer fixed fees for most areas, so you are always in full control.

Find a full list of our fees here.

Free Consultation

The family law team offer a free 30-minute consultation on your first appointment, which can be made face-to-face, on the phone or by video call, as well as flexible appointments that can be arranged to fit around lunch breaks or work commitments. Contact us on 0114 2496666 to make an appointment.

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How can we help? Contact us today

Contact us on 0114 2496666 and one of our advisors will be in touch to discuss your situation. We will take some initial information and if we can help, we will book you in for a consultation with a legal professional.

Advice Guides

What is a Divorce Financial Settlement?

Do I Need a Solicitor For My Divorce?

Request a Call back

The Howells Solicitors law team are compassionate, down-to-earth and professional, offering you the best expert advice. Get in touch with solicitors in Sheffield, Rotherham, and Barnsley to see how we can help. Fill in the form or give us a call at:

0114 249 66 66 Sheffield
01709 364 000 Rotherham
01226 805 190 Barnsley

The Divorce and Separation team

The Howells Matrimonial team is one of the best in the country and one of the largest in South Yorkshire. They been consistently highly ranked for family law work in the north by the Legal 500. Howells have over 40 years’ experience supporting families and are ranked high on Review Solicitors where they have a rating of 4.9 out of 5 for their client care. The team are also accredited by Resolution and the Law Society.

Sensitive and compassionate in her client relationships, Alyson Siddal understands that she is not dealing with ‘cases’ but with people, not bound by legal process but in real lives. Furthermore, Alyson has been a key part of Howells Solicitors for over 30 years and offers a wealth of expertise and experience. Alyson and the Matrimonial team are highly ranked in the Legal 500 rankings, with specific feedback on Alyson which is “Alyson Siddall is a very experienced matrimonial lawyer who is personable and approachable in addition to being an excellent solicitor”.

Sharon Lockwood is a highly regarded Family Law and Divorce Solicitor in Rotherham, with a specialism at dealing with complex cases involving children and high value assets. Sharon is very active in the local community of South Yorkshire and receives a high amount of praise from her clients and colleagues and has established herself as one of the most distinguish divorce specialists in the region.

John Clegg is a family specialist and covers all aspects of Matrimonial law including divorce, civil partnership and cohabitation breakdown, financial matters arising on separation and divorce, pre and post-nuptial agreements and protection from domestic abuse.

Legal 500

The Legal 500 2022 edition ranks Family as a top tier firm in Yorkshire and Humber, saying “Family head Alyson Siddall, matrimonial specialist Sharon Lockwood and children team head Sarah Walker are the key names at Howells Solicitors. Based in Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley respectively, they oversea a team that is particularly well known for high net worth cases with assets ranging from three to six million pounds.

The firm recently expanded its department with the addition of a collaborative law facility. John Clegg is an additional name to note.”