Divorce/separation
Pension sharing: two bites of the cherry
A pension sharing order (PSO) cannot be varied at a future date. In addition, if you are awarded a PSO from your partner’s pension you cannot apply for a second PSO for the same marriage on the same pension. It’s therefore important to ensure you take good legal and financial advice during your divorce negotiations. …
Read MoreWhat’s a financial clean break order?
A clean break is a court order settlement whereby a lump sum payment and/or property transfer is made with no on-going maintenance. A clean break ends the financial relationship between the two parties. Once the break occurs neither party can make a further claim against the other. Without a clean break order in place either…
Read MoreWhat happens to my inheritance following my divorce?
Generally when discussing the divorce settlement all assets of the marriage are pooled and treated as joint assets. A situation may arise where one partner has received an inheritance which they have used for family purposes (eg to provide a deposit for the house purchase) and the other partner hasn’t yet received an inheritance but…
Read MoreHelping children feel nurtured, supported and heard through divorce, separation and break up.
Divorce is stressful for parents and children alike and although reactions will depend on a child’s age, temperament, and the circumstances surrounding the split, many children feel sad, frustrated, angry, and anxious — and it’s not uncommon for them to become naughty at home or at school because of those feelings. Fortunately, you can help…
Read MoreTen inspirational quotes about divorce
The aim of the quotes below is to provide some inspiration at the low times of divorce. They are a mixture of funny, sad, and uplifting. Do let me know what your favourite quotes are, in the comments section below “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together” – Marilyn Monroe “You…
Read MoreHow much is state pension?
The current basic state pension is £113.10 per week which is the equivalent of £5,881.20 per annum. This basic amount is increased if you also have an Additional State Pension or a Graduated Pension. The basic amount increases each year by the “triple lock“, which is the greater of price inflation (measured by Consumer Price…
Read MoreDo you know when you will receive your state pension?
Up until 2010 women had a state pension age of 60, and men had a state pension age of 65. However, with increasing life expectancy it became very obvious the Treasury needed to make changes. It wasn’t uncommon for some individuals to be claiming state pension for a longer period of time than they had…
Read MoreHow is the value of your pension share calculated?
During your divorce negotiations both you and your spouse will have obtained a valuation for each of your pensions. The date of this valuation must be within 12 months of the hearing date. Clients will often rely on this figure as the value of the pension that is to be shared. They apply the sharing…
Read MoreWould you be happy to throw away your money?
Now of course we all know that if I asked this question directly the answer from everyone would be “NO”. And probably you would think that I was even mad to ask the question. And yet, I often see this being done by my clients. I am dealing with a client now who received a…
Read MoreShould I downsize when I divorce or keep the house?
If you and your spouse have decided to split the joint assets it’s very easy to think that how you achieve that split will not affect the outcome. Will it make a difference if you remain in the house and don’t take any other assets compared to if you downsize now and take a share…
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