The Dangers of DIY Divorce
For decades couples wishing to divorce have had to find reasons to blame one another before they could end their marriage. All of that changed on 6th April 2022 when “no fault” divorce was introduced. Along with this new, and frankly, more enlightened, approach to relationship breakdown came a new online portal and a simplified divorce process. As a result of this more people are issuing their own divorces, confident that they are able to deal with this process without legal advice.
But is it safe?
First, Let’s talk about what a divorce does. Divorce simply ends a marriage. That’s all. Period. Divorce does not sort out your money. Divorce does not sell your house. Divorce doesn’t divide your pensions. Divorce does not achieve your future financial security.
So, lets unpick that: Just because you have been divorced doesn’t mean that claims for money, property and pensions have come to an end. Claims can be made at any time in the future. Lots of claims have “sell by” dates in law. These are called limitation dates- if you don’t start your claim in court within that time you lose the right to do so. Guess what? That DOESN’T apply to financial claims on divorce. That can’t be right surely? Take a look at the case of Wyatt v Vince https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/495.html. if you enjoy reading such things. That’s a claim 25 years and more after divorce, and this is not a black swan. These cases happen semi regularly and most often (but not exclusively) they involve pensions.
“But,” I hear you cry, “we’ve sorted it all out. We are agreed about everything!” Great.. Really, that is excellent news, but I am afraid that unless that agreement is properly recorded your deal is not worth the back of the handkerchief it is written on. Your spouse/ex spouse can still claim against you at any time in the future. And don’t go thinking you can get away from it by dying either. Your ex spouse may STILL be able to claim against your estate under a little bit of legislation called the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
The good news is that if you have agreed things then you have done all the heavy lifting and that makes it easier to have a proper, legally binding document prepared and endorsed by the court recording those terms and imposing a “Clean Break”. That lets you move on safe in the knowledge that you are free from financial claims in the future. If you and your spouse are agreed on everything then, for a decent family solicitor, that’s comparatively straight forward stuff but its not baked into your divorce and while you COULD try to DIY a court consent order it would be rather like saying you COULD DIY your wisdom tooth extraction. It’s very technical and will leave you with a lifetime of pain if you get it wrong, so leave it to the professionals.
If you and your ex have agreed everything, are happy with the deal and get along well enough then do it now while that’s the case. People fall out. People get buyer’s remorse. People get new partners. People realise they don’t have enough pension. Strike while the iron is hot and, if you have agreed a settlement and get it recorded properly. If you buy a house, a car or even a new phone you have a contract. Why would you hand over tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds in a divorce and gamble on your future without the same protection?
It’s a bit of a no brainer, isn’t it?
Oh, and don’t think the divorce is plain sailing either. Fail to tick the right boxes and you can miss out of the right to claim. Get remarried at the wrong time and you can lose the right to claim. Apply for the final divorce order at the wrong time and you can lose out on pension benefits or the right to occupy your home.
“Ah,” you cry, “you would say all this, wouldn’t you”. Well, yes, we would, because it’s true. But its not just us. Take a look at Which’s report on top 6 DIY divorce mistakes (https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/divorce-financial-mistakes-to-avoid-ag1eW8A5P0QW) Do they sound familiar?
So, come and see us. Norton Peskett offer a fixed cost 30 minute appointment where we can talk about your options. If you are happy to take the risk of not having an order then you can but we will have talked through the risks with you and you will have a better understanding of what they are. If you want to have a proper settlement we can give you an idea of fees- it depends on what you are planning to do. We can also tell you if there are any problems with you plan and, if there are, how to fix them. Also, and this is important, competent, modern family lawyers (like us!) aren’t going to start causing friction where we don’t have to. If that worries you make sure you lawyer is a member of Resolution (like us!) and has signed up to its code of practice (like us!) which includes the commitment to reduce and manage conflict (https://resolution.org.uk/membership/our-code-of-practice/).
So, by all means DIY your divorce but make sure you do not compromise your future financial security.