Helping You Find Your Way

Life is complicated, but your divorce doesn’t have to be.

Divorce

Divorce can be a difficult time. If you and your spouse have decided to part ways, you’ll need someone in your corner. Our leading team of family lawyers will make sure your assets are divided fairly. We’ve been trusted by high net worth individuals across the UK to achieve settlements that reflect the valuable contribution they’ve made to their marriages.

Large asset cases often come with added financial complications which can make the process needlessly drawn out and upsetting. We’re here to guide you, and answer any questions or worries you might have. From beginning to end, through the difficult moments to the conclusion you deserve; at Aequitas, we care about your life after divorce, not just your marital finances.

For immediate assistance, please complete a Free Online Enquiry or call us on:

0330 789 0965

High Net Worth Divorce Lawyers

When your ties have been broken, we’ll help you work through all the knots. Divorce for high net worth individuals can be a long, drawn out process due to the complex nature of the assets involved, and the high financial stakes.

Aequitus work with trusted partners from PI’s to Forensic Accountants to Financial Advisors to define the full extent of matrimonial assets involved in the event of non-disclosure. And, if your partner attempts to protect or move their wealth into inaccessible trust, pension, investment, or corporate structures, we can demand an emergency injunction and freeze their assets, ensuring nothing is left out.

Once all assets have been accounted for, including business shares, property, and trusts, we will carefully unpick the financial knots, and ensure you get the right settlement for you and help limit the tax implications. We will also work closely with your publicity team to minimise the effect of the separation on you or your family, providing the utmost discretion. The personal should stay that way.

To apply for a divorce in England and Wales you need to meet certain criteria. You must have been married for at least a year, and you or your spouse must meet certain residential requirements or be domiciled here. The process is generally administrative unless the divorce is defended by your spouse or there are complex financial arrangements. Proceedings begin by filing a petition at court evidencing why your marriage has broken down.

The document starting proceedings is called a petition. The law in this country requires one spouse to petition against the other, even if both agree to the divorce. The person who begins the divorce is known as the petitioner, and the other spouse is the respondent. Your lawyer will need an official copy of your marriage certificate and a court fee of £550 is also required.

The petition is a form which provides information to the court about you and your spouse and states that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. You must set out evidence for why this has occurred using one of the five approved grounds for divorce.

Generally, your lawyer will send a draft copy of the petition to the other spouse before it is filed at court so they have time to get legal advice themselves and raise any objections. It is always better if both parties agree to the petition as any disputes can make the process longer.

If your spouse has committed adultery, you can name the person they did so with as a co-respondent in the divorce. This is not usually advisable, however, unless you think your spouse is likely to defend the proceedings, as it tends to make a difficult process even more emotionally taxing.

Recognised grounds for divorce must prove that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. These might include:

Adultery

  • Unreasonable Behaviour
  • Desertion for 2 years
  • Separation for 2 years and consent of the spouse
  • Separation for 5 years

Your family lawyer will be able to give you an indication of how long the process will take. The current timescales of the court, how prompt each step is fulfilled, and the complexity of the financial arrangements can all affect the length of proceedings. 

When the respondent receives the petition they will have to fill in a form for the court called the acknowledgement of service stating whether or not they intend to defend the divorce.  

The most common divorce in the UK is an uncontested one. With an experienced divorce solicitor handling all the paperwork, cases of this nature can be amicably and quickly resolved in 4 to 6 months. After the decree nisi has been issued, there needs to be a gap of 43 days before the decree absolute can be applied for. This document legally ends your marriage. However, if there are complicated asset structures and financial intricacies, divorce proceedings can often take a lot longer, and require specialist knowledge and experience. 

The petitioner must then complete a form in support of their petition, verifying that the contents of the petition are true and providing other legal details like whether you have lived in the same household since a certain relevant date. Your family lawyer will then file this for you at court with your application for a decree nisi.  

The decree nisi is the second to last stage in the divorce process. It confirms that the court has agreed your entitlement to a divorce, but it is not final yet. Decree nisi is pronounced in open court, meaning the judge reads out a list of names of people whose divorces have reached this stage in a week. 

The decree nisi marks the point after which the court can make a binding financial order which sets out your arrangements for finances and property following divorce, either by your consent or as a result of separate court proceedings. The court will not do this unless you ask it to or your other financial proceedings have concluded. 

6 weeks and 1 day after the decree nisi is granted, the petitioner can apply for the decree absolute. The decree absolute marks the formal legal end of the marriage. It is not always advisable to apply for the decree absolute as soon as it is possible. If, for example, financial arrangements are yet to be settled, it is better to wait until they have concluded. After the decree absolute is granted, certain financial claims can no longer be made.  

The respondent at this stage can ask the court for permission to apply for the decree absolute instead after about four and a half months. This will usually be granted, unless there is a specific reason why they should not. 

Divorces are typically contested when the two parties cannot agree on the financial settlement or child custody. With high net worth individuals, this is common due to the complex nature of their financial picture. In these cases, there is likely to be land and property in multiple countries, physical wealth like jewellery, intricate corporate structures, and pensions to divide. If you’re going through a high net worth divorce, it’s important to secure expert representation to ensure your partner’s assets get fully valued and you protect the wealth that is rightfully yours. 

Special contribution is an argument used in divorce proceedings to ring fence and protect wealth. This argument might be used in high net worth divorce cases where one of the parties feels they have made more of the contribution to the matrimonial finances, for example they are a business owner or entrepreneur.  

Inevitably, the financial arrangements during divorce will mean that certain provisions in your will no longer work. You will therefore need to quickly formulate a new will after the decree absolute to ensure your wishes are carried out in the event of your death with your updated finances in mind. 

Make A Free Enquiry

For immediate assistance, please complete a Free Online Enquiry or call us on:

0330 789 0965

International Divorce

Our distinguished team of divorce solicitors are highly experienced handling complex cases worldwide where parties have connections to foreign jurisdictions. The choice of which jurisdiction to handle the divorce in can have serious implications, with England and Wales often providing the fairest financial settlement for both parties.

If you or your partner has a connection to another country, we’ll work quickly to determine and secure the most appropriate jurisdiction for you. We’ll also liase with our investigative partners to trace and work out the true value of your partner’s assets if they are held in multiple locations overseas.

Fixed Fee Divorce

For less complex divorce cases, a fixed fee package can make the ideal solution. We’ll provide you with clear guidance on the costs for this kind of package at the outset, delivering good value without compromising on the level of client support. With Aequitas handling all the paperwork and details, your divorce can be simple.

Divorce Solicitors London, Yorkshire, the Northwest, and Further Afield

Get in touch with Aequitas for a free initial consultation with one of our solicitors. In this 30 minute chat*, we’ll talk through your situation and outline what we can do to help. Then, if you’re happy, we can begin the process, acting quickly and decisively to secure the best result for you.

*After a free initial 30 minute assessment, you will be charged at our hourly rate. 

Reach Out

Talk to us about what’s going on and we’ll figure out the next steps to take. Whether it’s a complex case with intricate details, or fixed-fee divorce you want settled quickly, our team are here to support you through thick and thin.

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How We Can Help You

0330 789 0965

enquiries@aequitasfamilylaw.co.uk