Divorce - Timing

A financial settlement can be worked out at whatever time one is needed. This may be:

• when a couple decides to separate and find a solution by voluntary agreement (see separation agreements above); or
• when divorce proceedings are issued or any time afterwards as long as the person applying has not remarried.

Orders requiring husbands and wives to transfer property or pay lump sums to each other can only be made after a decree nisi of divorce: in practice it may be necessary to deal with the transfers beforehand, by agreement. The court can order regular monthly or weekly maintenance payments to a husband and wife while the marriage still exists and after it has ended; both husband and wife have a right to maintenance from the other for life until the recipient remarries. The law does however encourage the termination of maintenance obligations as between husband and wife as soon as is reasonable depending on the circumstances of the parties and the family as a whole. The "clean break" is referred to later in this section, as is the law relating to child maintenance.

It is possible to ask the court to review the amount of maintenance payable between spouses at any time if circumstances change.

Even if everything has been agreed before the divorce, a court order should be made in the terms agreed. If no order is made, claims may be made many years after the end of the marriage and this may be contrary to what the parties intended. It is better for there to be certainty for all concerned.

If financial negotiations are taking place after divorce, then it is essential that you advise your solicitor if you are planning to remarry. By law, if no application for a financial order has been made, then that person may lose all rights to claim any financial provision upon remarrying.