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Financial Settlements Solicitors

Sorting out the finances is often the most time-consuming aspect of divorce, civil partnership dissolution, or separation. While your future financial stability is of vital importance, the courts will expect you and your former partner to find a solution that is fair. Our specialist separation and divorce solicitors have extensive experience helping people find this delicate balance with minimal stress.

At Whiskers Solicitors, we provide clear, practical advice about financial arrangements upon relationship breakdown to individuals across Harlow and Epping in Essex and Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire.

We believe that (other than a few exceptions) the best way for separating couples to make a divorce financial settlement is through cooperation, compromise and open negotiation. Our team includes Resolution-accredited family lawyers with a strong track record of helping clients find constructive and amicable resolutions to family law matters.

For further information or to set up an initial appointment with one of our separation and divorce solicitors, please get in touch with:

How our divorce solicitors can help you

Our aim is to help you come to a fair financial arrangement efficiently and cost-effectively.

When going through a stressful legal process such as divorce, it is important to have a solicitor you can trust to focus on your best interests. Where money and property is concerned, we know it can be hard to get perspective and make the best decisions.

However, you need to find a solution which allows you to move onto a financially secure future. We will use the breadth of our legal expertise to help you achieve the best result possible in the circumstances. 

Your divorce financial settlement discussions or proceedings will typically happen in parallel to the formal divorce proceedings and we can also handle these aspects of the process on your behalf. For more information about our divorce services, please feel free to visit our Separation and Divorce Solicitors page.

What is a divorce financial settlement?

When you get a divorce, as well as the formal legal process to end the marriage, you and your ex-partner must make important decisions about things like where you will live and how your children will split their time between you.

You must also come to a decision about how to arrange and divide your money and property. The resulting agreement is often referred to as a divorce financial settlement.

You can either agree this settlement between yourselves, using methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) such as mediation where appropriate, or you can apply to court for an independent judgment.

Many couples worry about the involvement of a judge in their private matters. However, with our expert legal advice, the majority our clients are able to sort out their finances between themselves, usually saving the time, expense and stress of traditional court proceedings.

What should you include in a divorce financial settlement?

A strong financial settlement will include things like:

  • How your rent/mortgage, bills and debts will be paid going forwards
  • How your assets will be divided, including:
    • The family home
    • Any other properties either of you own
    • Savings and investments
    • Pension entitlements
    • Family businesses
  • Details of any Spousal Maintenance Agreement
  • Details of any Child Maintenance Agreement

How do you decide what is fair?

 You need to ensure your financial settlement is fair to all involved parties, otherwise a judge may not agree to make it legally binding.

The first step towards making a fair agreement is to be completely open and honest about your finances. All financial resources owned by either spouse can be considered during divorce financial proceedings. Although we understand the urge to hide assets from your former partner, particularly to protect assets acquired before you got married, the courts will not take kindly to this.

If you have particular assets you want to preserve, we can help you negotiate with your former partner to try and allow you to keep them, for example, by allowing your partner to retain a greater share of other assets to offset their value.

When deciding what a fair division of assets is, you will need to take into various factors such as:

  • The needs of your children
  • How long you have been married and your ages
  • Your income and earning capacity
  • Your financial resources
  • Your standard of living
  • Your contributions to the marriage (both monetary and non-monetary)
  • Any mental or physical disabilities
  • Any benefits you will lose as a result of the divorce (such as pension entitlements)

As specialist family solicitors, we can help you weigh up these factors and negotiate with your former partner and/or their solicitors on your behalf.

Why choose our separation and divorce solicitors?

We are a firm of highly experienced legal professionals with a dedicated family law team to assist with your separation or divorce and all associated financial and children-related matters.

With offices in Harlow, Epping and Bishop’s Stortford, our clients come to us from across Essex and Hertfordshire and we do our level best to provide a friendly and welcoming environment for all. Here are just a few of the reasons our clients choose us:

  • Professional expertise – our firm is officially accredited by the Law Society for the high quality of our skills and customer service in the areas of Family Law and Children Law. Amongst our talented team, Reza Sabzevari and Shalini Subherwal are accredited family law specialists and Reza is an accredited children’s representative.
  • Dedication to smooth, uncomplicated family law solutions – Shalini and Reza are also members of Resolution, an organisation which promotes a non-combative approach to family law matters. With our assistance, you have the best possible chance of resolving divorce financial matters swiftly and cost-effectively, preferably avoiding the stress of court altogether.
  • By your side every step of the way – we pride ourselves on our friendly, personal service designed to be adapted to each of our clients’ individual needs. You will be assigned a personal lawyer who will ensure your case progresses as smoothly as possible and to act as your first point of contact if you have any questions.
  • Inclusive, supportive environment – we take all possible steps to help every individual access our services. So, if you have any disabilities or individual needs, please do not hesitate to get in touch for a confidential conversation about how we can make your experience with us as comfortable as possible

Get in touch with our divorce solicitors in Harlow, Epping and Bishop’s Stortford

For further information or to set up an initial appointment with one of our separation and divorce solicitors, please get in touch with:

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