If you are going through a divorce or you have divorced in the past, you may be wondering, How long after a divorce can you claim assets? We look at the financial situation, how assets are split on divorce and when you or your former spouse might be able to make a claim.
Can You Make a Financial Claim After Divorce?
If no financial order was made when you divorced, then provided you have not remarried or entered into a civil partnership and the court has not dismissed your applications for support, you may be able to make a financial claim. This is because there is no specific time limit on financial claims after divorce.
When Can a Former Spouse Claim After Divorce?
If you have not already dealt with finances at the time of your divorce, it is usually recommended that a claim is made as soon as possible. If you speak to one of our expert divorce solicitors, we will be able to discuss the best course of action for securing a financial settlement.
When a claim is made at the time of a divorce or shortly afterwards, the court will be able to assess the level of support you need. If there is a delay in making a financial claim after a divorce, the court may decide that you are able to provide for yourself and your settlement may be smaller.
Can I Stop My Spouse From Making a Financial Claim After Divorce?
If no financial order has been made during a divorce, it is not possible to prevent a spouse from making a claim. This is because marriage is considered to be a financial obligation for life and this obligation can only be ended by a financial order, not by divorce alone.
Without a financial order, there will always be a risk that your former spouse will start a claim for support at some point in the future. To prevent this from hanging over you indefinitely, it is advisable to deal with financial matters now.
Once a financial order is made, your spouse will not usually be able to make any further financial claims.
What Financial Orders Can Be Made on Divorce?
The court has wide discretion to make a variety of orders. These include:
- A lump sum order usually gives the parties a clean break. One party will receive a lump sum payment;
- A property adjustment order, setting out what will happen to the matrimonial home and any other properties. This could specify the transfer of the property to one party, the sale of the property and division of the proceeds, or a deferred sale until after children reach maturity;
- A maintenance order or periodical payments order, requires one party to pay maintenance to the other. Spousal maintenance is different to child maintenance and is not frequently ordered. It may be given for a period of time to allow the recipient to find a job or retrain. In some cases, it could be long-term, although the courts prefer that the parties work towards financial independence;
- A pension sharing order. This allows a portion of one party’s pension to be given to the other party. The recipient will be able to draw on the pension once they reach retirement age, as and when they want. This is a more popular alternative to a pension earmarking or attachment order, which requires the pension holder to pay the other party once they decide to start taking their pension. This is a less flexible option and can leave the recipient in difficulties if the pension holder delays drawing their pension or dies;
- A consent order is often used in divorce. When a couple can agree on how their finances will be dealt with, solicitors will draft a financial order and the court will approve it. This is a quicker and often less acrimonious way of resolving financial matters on divorce.
Do I Need a Financial Order on Divorce?
When dealing with a divorce, it is always advisable to put a financial order in place. Even if you do not currently have much in the way of assets, your situation could change in the future, and at that point, you could face a claim from your former spouse if you do not have an order in place.
Once the court has made an order, it is only possible to ask for the terms to be changed in exceptional circumstances, for example, if you were to discover that your former spouse had not fully disclosed all of their assets at the time that the order was made.
What Financial Claims Can I Make on Divorce?
Financial support for divorce will depend on your needs and, where applicable, those of your children. Your solicitor will negotiate on your behalf to try to secure the outcome you want. For example, if you have your children for most of the week, you are likely to want to retain the family home so that they have both stability and the space they need. Alternatively, it may be important for you to keep your pension where possible.
If you ask us to represent you in dealing with financial matters on divorce, we will work with you to establish your priorities and negotiate to try and achieve these. If negotiations are not successful, we can advise you on alternative methods of dispute resolution such as mediation, arbitration and collaborative law.
Where it is necessary to ask the court to decide on the terms of a financial order, it will take the following points, listed in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, into consideration:
- The income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources available to each of you, including in the foreseeable future
- The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities of each of you, including in the foreseeable future
- The standard of living enjoyed during the marriage
- Your ages and the duration of the marriage
- Any physical or mental disabilities either of you may have
- The contributions each of you made or is likely to make in the foreseeable future to the welfare of the family, including looking after the home and children
- Conduct, if it would be inequitable not to consider this
- The value of any benefit that either of you may lose because of the divorce, such as pension provision or life assurance
The court will prioritise the needs of any children when making its decision.
How Long After Divorce Can My Former Spouse Make a Financial Claim?
There is no time limit for making a financial claim after a divorce. In the case of Wyatt v Vince [2015], the Supreme Court allowed an ex-wife to make a claim some 18 years after the divorce.
At the time of the divorce, the couple were virtually penniless, having lived as New Age Travellers, and they did not consider there to be any need for a financial order. Following the divorce, Mr Vince built up an eco-energy business worth tens of millions of pounds.
Ms Vince, who had raised their children without financial support, asked the court for permission to make a financial claim. The Supreme Court referred to previous cases where a financial claim had been allowed after a long period of time and granted her permission to bring her case.
Ms Vince, who was in poor health and living in a property that was in some disrepair, ultimately received a relatively modest sum of £300,000 plus a contribution towards her legal costs. However, the court’s decision means that anyone without a financial order on divorce is at risk of facing a future claim.
Can My Ex Claim Half of My New House and Other Assets Acquired After Divorce?
Where no financial order has been made on divorce, your ex may be able to make a claim against assets acquired in the period since. Whether the court will agree to this will depend on a range of factors. As seen in Wyatt v Vince, the court did not award half of the assets but calculated what it felt was reasonable, taking into account the facts listed in the Matrimonial Causes Act.
While the starting point for the court is a 50:50 split, it will adjust this as it feels is equitable, taking into account issues such as your former partner’s needs, their resources and the requirements of any children.
How Can Financial Disputes on Divorce be Resolved?
The first step in resolving financial issues on divorce is to fully disclose all assets via your solicitor and for the solicitor to enter into negotiation on your behalf. It is often possible to reach an agreement in this way.
If not, then mediation or another method of alternative dispute resolution can be used. Examples are mediation, where a mediator helps you explore potential financial arrangements and arbitration, where an arbitrator makes a binding decision. Asking the court to decide matters is generally a last resort.
Contact Our Family Solicitors
If you would like to discuss how to make a financial claim after divorce, please call us today. Our expert family lawyers have many years of experience and an excellent track record of success in obtaining substantial divorce settlements for our clients.
To speak to one of our expert divorce solicitors, ring us on 0330 173 3980, email us at info@witansolicitors.co.uk or fill in our contact form, and we will talk through your situation with you and discuss how we can assist.
FAQ
How long after divorce can you claim money?
There is no set time limit for claiming a divorce settlement; however, it is advisable to deal with matters sooner rather than later, particularly if you are raising children.
How do I claim assets after divorce?
You should instruct an experienced divorce solicitor to represent you in making a financial claim. This is a specialist area of law, and an expert will be able to put together a robust claim on your behalf, setting out your case in detail and explaining clearly why you are claiming the assets you need.
Can my former spouse have a right to an inheritance received after our divorce?
If you have a final order in place following divorce, the courts will not usually accept any further application for support. However, without a financial order, it may be possible for a spouse to make a claim.
In deciding whether to grant this, the court will look at your former spouse’s needs. While this may seem unfair, the reasoning behind it is that marriage is a financial obligation for life. If your spouse has serious financial needs, where necessary, the court may decide to grant them a share of an inheritance.
Does my former spouse have a right to my pension after divorce?
Pensions are taken into consideration by the court when splitting assets on divorce. If you do not want to split your pension, then it may be possible for your former spouse to have a larger share of other assets instead, for example, savings, investment or property.
If I buy a house after divorce, can my former spouse claim it?
If you do not have a financial order in place, your former spouse can make a claim, and it will be up to the court to decide what they will receive. It will try to be fair to both parties. However, if your spouse has serious needs, then there is a risk that the court could require you to liquidate assets to provide them with the support necessary.
How do I plan financially after a divorce?
You will need to calculate exactly how much you have coming in as well as all of your outgoings. If a financial order is made on divorce, you should have plenty of details of what assets and liabilities you have. The courts will always aim to ensure that the division of assets is as fair as possible and that each of you has the provision you need.
You may need to consider finding a job, training for a different position or moving to a smaller property if money is tight. While this can be very difficult in the short term, going through a divorce and the turmoil afterwards will pass, and the future will generally be a lot brighter.
A financial adviser can help you maximise the assets you have and put a strategy in place for the long term.
