Financial and Legal Advice - Page 7

An increasing number of couples looking to avoid a lengthy, expensive and public divorce in court are turning to arbitration where an Arbitrator, also referred to as a private judge, decides the outcome of divorce settlements.

Jones Myers founder, Peter Jones, was one of the country’s first arbitrators when this option was introduced in 2012 to resolve differences on financial and property matters. In 2016 the scheme was extended to include disputes relating to children.

Based on our extensive experience, here are some key questions to help decide if arbitration is right for you.

What is arbitration?

Arbitration is in practical terms a private court designed to resolve the financial issues between the parties. You and your ex appoint an Arbitrator of your choice – based on their matrimonial knowledge and experience.

Arbitration preserves your privacy in contrast to going to court when your future is determined by a judge, who is unknown to you.

Another element in the court process which can cause considerable concern is the fact that it enables the media to attend and report on your case.

What does the Arbitrator do?

Arbitrators are independent and impartial third parties who have read all the information and fully understand the issues.

After listening to all the evidence and the representations made on your behalf, the Arbitrator will then make an award – which is similar to the court order but more comprehensive – and which is final.

The “hearing” will be at a venue agreed between you, often an office with sufficient conference facilities. At this session the Arbitrator listens to the relevant facts and evidence and, after considering your individual views, makes a binding ruling, known as an award.

Can I appeal against the award?

You can only appeal against the award in the most exceptional circumstances – i.e. if the Arbitrator misunderstood the law. No appeal is permitted on the basis that you did not like the result.

How long do arbitration cases take to resolve?

Going through arbitration is considerably faster than going to court and offers you and your ex a more flexible and convenient timetable. This speedier process also assists in reducing the level of stress and the financial costs.

What qualifications does an arbitrator have?

Family Law Arbitrators have been trained and qualified pursuant to the standards of the Institute of Family Law Arbitrators of which they are members.

They are invariably experienced family lawyers who are former judges or family law barristers or solicitors.

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About Peter Jones

Peter Jones, one of the country’s leading divorce and family lawyers, set up Jones Myers as the first niche family law firm in the north of England in 1992 and has acted for a string of high-profile clients.

He is qualified to arbitrate on cases including financial and property disputes, the break-up of civil partnerships or disputes between cohabitating couples whose relationships have ended.

Renowned for his sympathetic approach, Peter is a a former Deputy District Judge and former national chairman of Resolution who instigated the D5 Group of law firms that promotes excellence in family law. www.jonesmyers.co.uk

Could a single legal adviser be the pathway to a quicker, cheaper and less traumatic divorce?

We all know someone who has been through a toxic divorce, battling over children and finances in a legal system that seems designed to ratchet up confrontation and cost.

In my day to day practice, I rarely see divorcing couples walk away having spent less than six figures in costs.  The process is terribly slow and adversarial and the emotional cost is enormous.

Ours is the UK’s first service to offer impartial legal advice to both parties at the same time in a bid to reduce conflict and take pressure off the overwhelmed family court system.

What happens at present is that if you are thinking of getting divorced, both partners within a couple appoint their own solicitors from day one. The two parties often give very different ‘takes’ on the facts to their respective solicitors and it can take several months for all that information to be exchanged and for everyone to see the true picture.

We are turning the current model on its head. If we know what’s really happening and what the financial picture is on day one, we can tell you how the court will view it and get the couple talking before they become entrenched in battle or develop unrealistic expectations.

For a fixed fee (in the region of £4,750 plus VAT) each couple has two meetings at the Temple chambers with a family law barrister; a brief introductory session held separately and then a joint advice session together to outline a realistic outcome, which is followed up with a detailed written advice. Typically, the process takes 6-8 weeks.

In fact it’s not new – single source legal advice is the norm in much of Europe, but in the UK solicitors are subject to conflict rules which bar them from advising both parties.  Not so for barristers.

Evidently, it’s not for everyone. Couples need to be in agreement about their asset pool – the onus is on them to prepare their own financial disclosure after the first meeting. Any allegations of non-disclosure – or child safeguarding or abuse issues – and they are advised to instruct separate solicitors. Some 20 per cent fall away in the first (free) screening.

For the vast majority of clients, finances are the key concern, but child arrangements and parenting plans can also be considered at a separate session.  Most important is that it’s not exacerbating conflict.  The aim is to avoid going to court which is so difficult for families – couples fall out over money and they end up in a nuclear winter where every interaction from then onwards is subject to conflict.

So far, the meetings have proved surprisingly calm: The individual sessions are where people can vent if they need to. The joint sessions are quite civilised because the couples are there to get our legal expertise – it’s not an interactive process like mediation.

What also helps is when they hear the other party receive unwelcome advice. Divorce is always a compromise – it’s good to hear that they both have to give a bit. Ultimately, the sooner couples get to the answer, the sooner they can rebuild their lives on the other side of divorce.

About Samantha Woodham and Harry Gates 

Samantha Woodham and Harry Gates are both family law barristers at 4 Paper Buildings. They are each recognised as leading individuals in both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. Their private practices encompass both financial remedy and private law children work.

Alongside this they have set up The Divorce Surgery, a unique service which allows couples to obtain joint, impartial advice at any stage of the divorce process

The Divorce Surgery won the Best Client Service Innovation Award at the Lawyer Awards in June and the Best Client Management Innovation Award at the Legal Week Awards in May. It has been named by the Financial Times in the FT50 Most Innovative Law Firms in Europe.

www.thedivorcesurgery.co.uk

@DivorceSurgeon

With legal costs reportedly rocketing to £1.5million in Lisa Armstrong and Ant McPartlin’s bitter divorce, it appears the couple will finally meet with their respective lawyers to try to divide their assets.

This very public, acrimonious and high-profile case – which will undoubtedly have taken its toll on the couple and those closest to them – could have taken a more private and dignified route.

In our extensive experience, most couples terminating their marriage prefer to avoid a costly and stressful courtroom battle over dividing their assets.

They also want to ensure their children’s best interests by planning and sharing their future development and well-being.

Collaborative Family Law Week, which runs across September 30 – October 4, is a timely reminder of how the collaborative process puts you in control, enabling you and your ex to work together with your respective lawyers to achieve the right agreement for the whole family.

You and your former partner/spouse each instruct a collaboratively trained lawyer and agree in writing to work together to resolve issues surrounding your separation.

A series of four way meetings with you and your lawyers progress at the pace you jointly set, discussing the needs and interests of everyone directly involved for the best outcome.

To find out if collaboration is the best way forward for you, answer the questions below:

1. Do you want a divorce process which is fair for you, your ex and your children?
2. Is it important that this option enables you and your ex to remain on good terms and communicate regularly?
3. Do you want a process that factors in the ‘human element’ in face-to-face discussions that is often missed or misinterpreted in written communications?
4. Is it important that you can address issues with dignity and in a safe and secure environment?
5. Are you seeking a path that helps you all as a family to accept the past and be positive about the future?
6. Do you want to remain in control of your individual destinies, making choices you both want rather than having decisions imposed by third parties who do not know you?

If you embark on this process we recommend appointing a specialist collaboratively trained lawyer who are members of Resolution, a national organisation of family lawyers committed to non-confrontational divorce and separation.

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‎About Norman Taylor

Recognised for his work in promoting, developing and championing collaborative law, Norman has over four decades of experience relating to financial issues arising from family and relationship breakdown.

Respected as an enthusiastic advocate of non-confrontational, solution-based resolution of family issues, Norman has extensive experience in medium to high value cases.

In legal terms, divorce is, essentially, the ending of a contract and ideally the parties should work together to bring it to an amicable close, or at the very least, a civil one which both people accept as being reasonably fair.

In the real world, however, divorce can be an unpleasantly sticky mess which family courts have to clean up as best as they can.

The basic ground rules of divorce in the UK

The number one ground rule of divorce in the UK is that if a couple has minor children, their perceived welfare comes before every other consideration.

Family courts will not necessarily give the children exactly what they want (although judges will generally do everything they can to take this into consideration) but they will do everything in their power to provide them with what they need, even if it goes against the wishes of their parents.

After that, the aim of the process is basically to try to create a fair split (literally and metaphorically) so that both parties can move on with their lives.

The question of fairness

In England and Wales, traditionally, it has been considered fair to aim to split assets equally between both parties, regardless of which one was the breadwinner.

It has also been considered fair to order the breadwinner keep the other party indefinitely, so-called “lifelong maintenance”.

Up until relatively recently, this approach, was, arguably, if not necessarily fair, then very far from totally unreasonable. It recognized the fact that the party who “stayed at home with the children” (usually the woman) was making a contribution to the marriage and made it possible for the other half of the couple (usually the man) to go out to work.

It also recognized that younger children required care and that by the time they were old enough to fend for themselves, their carer (usually their mother) might struggle to find a decent job, especially if they had neither trade skills nor education.

That, however, was then, this is now. Women are not just able to work, they are the main breadwinners in about a third of households in the UK and marriages do not necessarily involve children.

In short, the world has moved on and the legal system needs to move on with it.

Laws and attitudes both need to change

In principle there should be absolutely no difference in what happens when a woman is the main breadwinner and what happens when a man is the main breadwinner.

The law itself makes no distinction between these two situations, the challenge is to change attitudes amongst those who apply it (who tend to be people who are middle-aged and older) so that they become less inclined to see women as being automatically in need of protection (meaning maintenance) and men as being necessarily always able to provide for themselves (and possibly others) on an indefinite basis.

The good news is that this change does appear to be trickling through, albeit possibly at a slower pace than some people would have liked.

The Maria Mills case, for example, has highlighted both the issues of the traditional open-ended maintenance system and the fact that judges are becoming more willing to push back on people, including women, who view it as a “meal ticket for life” and who therefore see themselves as entitled to depend on their former partner financially even though their children are adults and they, themselves, are quite capable of working.

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 About Kerry

Kerry Smith is the Head of Family Law at K J Smith Solicitors. K J Smith Solicitors are experienced family solicitors in the Thames Valley area specialising in family mediation, estate planning and divorce and separation.

In my experience as a divorce and family law solicitor I find that people often feel embarrassed asking basic legal questions as they feel that they will look stupid.

I am asked the same questions time and time again and clients should never feel silly asking as it is important that they understand the basics so that I can do the best job for them.

Here are the most common questions I am asked.

Can we even divorce here if we got married abroad?

Your place of marriage is not really relevant when it comes to a divorce. Your living arrangements and other factors such as where you were born are more important.  The court will need your marriage certificate and if you got married abroad than a translation will be required, but if you have a connection with England or Wales chances are you will be able to divorce here.

We have been living apart a while now, I don’t have to show my ex my bank statements or other private information, do I?

If a financial settlement is to be negotiated fairly, then it is important that both parties provide full and frank disclosure.  Unfortunately, this will include things like bank statements and wage slips.  The law states that until you have a legally binding agreement (known as a Consent Order) then everything remains up for grabs.  This includes the contents of your bank account and your spouse is entitled to see what you have been doing with your finances since the separation.

Can I get a quickie divorce like the celebs?

There is no such thing as a quickie divorce and there never has been.  The media does give a rather unrealistic view on the time frames involved with divorce in this country.  In England, the average time for a divorce is around 12 to 15 weeks.  Whilst I have obtained a Decree Absolute in around 9 weeks, this is quite rare. This is because the divorce happens in stages and is not simply a case of putting a piece of paper into court and waiting for it to be stamped.

Do we need to go to court to finalise the divorce?

The divorce and the finances are two separate issues under English law. If the divorce is dealt with on an agreed basis, then the case will be dealt with by post and no one need ever attend court. The parties will only ever need to go to court if the grounds for divorce or the finances are in dispute and we need the Judge to assist with a decision.

Can we both use the same solicitor?

Divorce solicitors and their firms are not permitted to act for both parties in a divorce.  This is known as a ‘conflict of interest’. Each party will need their own separate divorce lawyer to provide them with legal advice to be sure that the process is independent. This applies even if all matters are agreed.

If you have questions about divorce or separation, however silly you think they are, contact an experienced family law solicitor. Make sure you get the answers you need before you make any important decisions about your family or relationship.

Article first published on the Woolley & Co, Solicitors website here – Questions divorcing clients are embarrassed to ask

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About Davina Warrington

Woolley & Co  family solicitor Davina, specialises in divorce, financial settlements and family law.

Davina has always lived, studied and worked locally and deals mainly with clients in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and the wider East Midlands area.

The ‘round table’ way of working is an unusual method many law firms should be adopting, Georgie Hall, Prettys’ partner and head of private client speaks on how the work is necessary to stop stressful child dispute cases going to court and causing worry and anxiety for children and parents alike.

As well as bringing together both parents for a round table discussion sometimes it is necessary to bring in other experts, such as psychologists and counsellors.

This year has seen a seven per cent increase in child dispute applications being made to court, according to Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service.

With child dispute cases often ending up in court, we need to encourage families to sit down and talk through issues which ultimately can be much more productive.

Whilst the court process struggles to alter parental behaviour, the round table process looks to take a more practical and constructive approach.

Even if a court order is in place, it doesn’t mean the problems go away. It is up to the two people involved to do that, which is something we work on during round table discussions.

In some cases, the child may be including in the discussion with proper expert support. This depends on their understanding of the case and in our experience, this is generally considered to be after 11-12 years old.

What we look for is for parents to think in the same way in putting the child first, to find common ground and to agree on a process going forward.

One parent who referred herself and her teenage son for roundtable work, wanted to ensure her son’s voice could be heard. She said: “I felt in safe hands when I was at my most vulnerable and had previously found it hard to trust professionals.”

From issues surrounding where a child should live, to one-off cases involving holidays and schooling, child dispute cases can present themselves in a number of ways.

Communication is the key to resolving the problems and often, people falsely believe the legal process can deliver the undeliverable.

What can often be useful is to get the parents to open up a discussion to see which elements benefit from the legal framework and which most benefit from other non-lawyer children focussed experts.

Sometimes it’s just about making parents aware of the impact they are having on each other and their children. When this is brought to the surface it becomes more straightforward as people become more aware of their behaviour.

When a relationship breaks down it can cause deep divides and going to court won’t always solve this – it’s like putting a plaster on a festering wound. Round table way of working really helps break down barriers.

About Georgie

Georgie has headed the Family Law Department at Prettys from 2003 to 2019 and is now Head of Private Client which encompasses: Family; Estates, Wills and Trusts; Residential Conveyancing; and Personal Injury Team.

Georgie’s entire case load comes by way of recommendation, either from her own clients or other professionals.

Whilst Georgie covers all areas of relationship breakdown whether it be finances, children, pre or post-marriage clarification as to asset division, her hallmark is seen as the quality of client care provided.

Georgie specialises in dispute resolution alternate to court so works as a mediator and a collaborative solicitor; with the bulk of her case load dealt with resolution through negotiation and round table work.

Divorce is not easy for anyone involved. The husband and wife, kids, grandparents, friends. Everyone will be affected in different ways. The key thing is to navigate the process and negotiations in as calm a sea as possible.

In my experience, dads can often feel like they get the rawest deal when it comes to divorce or separation. However, by sticking to just three pieces of advice, you can get through it relatively unscathed and look to the future with optimism and hope.

Tongue biting – If you have kids and those kids are going to live with mum, which is still the most common outcome, try to understand that it is better to bite your tongue rather than argue over every little thing. That will not help anyone, particularly the children who will be confused and upset as it is.

It will be a very emotional time for everyone and it will be difficult. However, it is the right thing to do and can have far-reaching, positive repercussions. Divorce can be like a tug of war and if you pull hard, the other side will retaliate and dig their heels in. Bite your tongue and bide your time and things will calm down. Hopefully, your wife will do the same. If not, you will be doing what is right and it will bring benefits in the longer term.

There is a perception that if you do not retaliate to provocation, your ex will take advantage and push things further and further. In my experience, this is not the norm and family law solicitors should always seek to put in place arrangements that are not significantly skewed to one party or the other.

Be nice – Following on from the last point, you need to build an amicable working platform with your ex. You may stop being married but you do not stop being parents. You will need to talk, organise, and coordinate for a whole range of things. That works if, from the start, you are pragmatic about it. The knock-on effect will be that it makes so many other things easier to sort out, notably finances during the divorce, which is the second biggest issue to sort after the children.

If there is good will between the parties, there is more likely to be common sense across all things that need to be sorted. This is easier said than done. You are getting divorced so you probably don’t like each other much at that point but you have to find a way to have a workable relationship.

Don’t panic about money – In this day and age, it is more likely that there are two incomes into the household to consider, pensions, savings accounts etc. The idea that you are going to be “taken to the cleaners” is not something you should lose sleep about. It may be more common to relinquish some of the value in any property owned, but that could be offset by keeping a greater portion of any pension pot(s) and bank accounts. Put simply, there are four steps to sorting the finances:

• Establish what assets there are
• Quantify their value
• Negotiate on who gets what
• Get a court order to make the settlement legal.

That’s it. No matter how many or how few assets you have.

So, the recurring theme here is stay calm and reasonable. If you can manage to do that (and it will not be easy) you will be on track to the most satisfactory outcome all round – and it could save you a fortune by bringing an end to the marriage as quickly as possible.

Article first published on the Woolley & Co, Solicitors website here – Divorce Tips for Men and Dads

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About Richard England

Family law solicitor, Sutton Coldfield