Financial Orders on Divorce and Civil Partnership Dissolution
In financial proceedings on divorce and civil partnership dissolution the court can make any of the following orders after taking into account all the circumstances of the case:
Maintenance
Maintenance payments for the other former spouse or civil partner (see also Child Maintenance). These will largely depend on the need of one and the means of the other in the light of the standard of living of the couple. In some circumstances maintenance can be secured on an asset. In wealthy families maintenance can also be used to share future income irrespective of needs. 
Lump Sum Orders
Lump sum orders: These can either be to adjust the assets or as capitalised maintenance or both. As English courts need to consider whether a clean break is possible, often if appropriate they will make a lump sum order rather than order maintenance. The lump sum will usually be less than simply the sum of the monthly maintenance instalments and there are sophisticated calculations used to come to particular sums.
Property Transfers
The court can for example order for a house to be transferred to one party, maybe combined with a lump sum going the other way, effectively a buy-out. It can also transfer things like a car or shares.
Sale of Property
The court can order a house, a flat or other assets to be sold and the proceeds to be divided in a certain way.
Delaying a Sale
The court can order that a property will not be sold for a particular period, for example for a house not to be sold until the children are grown up.
Pension Sharing
The court can split occupational and private pensions in any shares, it does not have to be equal. It could also order maintenance to be paid directly from pension payments or a lump sum to be paid directly from the death-in-service benefit or the commutable lump sum in private pensions. Pensions are complicated and specialist advice is essential. In a lot of cases the court may simply let spouses keep their pensions and give the other spouse something else instead. The court will need the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value of a pension in order to value it as well as projections. Pension providers have up to three months to provide this information and therefore it should be requested as early as possible.
Of course, if parties come to an agreement, they can agree other financial adjustments that the court could not order. However, the court may not necessarily be able to enforce those parts of the agreement and therefore any consent order must be worded very carefully and it is essential that a specialist solicitor deals with the matter.
For advice on your specific circumstances contact Andrea Woelke at Alternative Family Law: ring or email us.
April 2009
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Disclaimer
This is an outline of the law, practice and procedure in England and Wales. It should not be taken as specific advice. All families and couples are different. The law may have changed since this was written and we therefore accept no liability for inaccuracies. Where examples are given, your personal circumstances may vary slightly, but the difference may be significant for the outcome of the legal process. Contact us for specific advice on your own circumstances.
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