Does the reason for the divorce affect the financial settlement?

At present, the only immediate facts upon which you can base a divorce in England, are adultery or unreasonable behaviour. Whilst these are commonly used to avoid waiting for 2 years to pass before divorcing, there is a common misconception that agreeing to a divorce on this basis could mean you lose out monetarily in the financial settlement. 

In reality, it is extremely rare for the court to take into account the allegations stated in a Petition when determining a financial settlement. The reason for this is that in longer marriages, assets are usually divided relatively equally and in shorter marriages they are divided according to each party’s reasonable needs. 

It is generally only in cases where one parties conduct has reduced the amount of money their spouse would have got, and where there is enough money to compensate that party, that misconduct might be considered.

The misconduct complained of has to be so serious that it requires punishment and those cases are very rare.    Some examples of this are excessive gambling, unjustified and lavish spending or a failure to honestly disclose financial information during the divorce process.

Contact the Harrowells Family Law team if you are looking for practical, no-nonsense advice about your divorce or separation.