insideKENT Magazine Issue 95 - February 2020 | Page 154

LAW Preparing for Divorce CONT. Marriage Preparation Marriage Foundation, founded by Sir Paul Coleridge (formerly a high court judge), is partnered with organisations, some faith, others not, who can deliver marriage preparation guidance. Some of the benefits that are offered promise to help a couple: • Build strong foundations by taking time to examine the expectations of the couple. This can include identifying how responsibilities will be handled and setting a family budget that can adapt to change. • Highlight the art of communication where listening is twice as important as speaking. It is said we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Communicating with each other with respect and kindness can get lost when times are challenging. Most of these components are relevant on divorce so by planning ahead you potentially avoid some of the pitfalls when a relationship is broken and goodwill can be in shorter supply. Although a Prenuptial Agreement is not legally binding, a Court is likely to uphold an Agreement if it has been entered into with sufficient financial information being shared, legal advice and appropriate consideration. Where children are involved it may not be so easy to apply a Prenuptial Agreement but that does not negate the benefits an agreement can provide. Anyone entering a marriage with resources that they wish to preserve for themselves as a pre-marital resource would do well to take advice. Equally those entering into marriage for a second time may benefit from a Prenuptial Agreement to preserve some resources for children of their earlier marriage. • Create strategies to repair damage done when communication can turn sour. Knowing how you are going to resolve any problems that cause conflict and learn how to apologise and forgive when things go wrong. A Prenuptial Agreement cannot exclude the power of the Court to make a determination favourable to an economically vulnerable party at the end of the marriage if appropriate to meet that party’s needs, but the Courts are increasingly willing to allow a couple autonomy to make decisions intended to bind them. • Remember to love and support each other through the ups and downs of life whatever happens, even divorce. Do You Want A “Good” Divorce? Prenuptial Agreements Over the past decade, it has become increasingly recognised that entering into a Prenuptial Agreement can be sensible preparation for a marriage. The intention is to formulate a binding outcome in the event of separation and divorce to avoid a “bad” or stressful divorce. Key to a Prenuptial Agreement are: • Sharing financial information • Obtaining legal advice • Making a will • Allow enough time to avoid any impact on the wedding day preparations. If so, try to agree what will suit you and your separating spouse best. If you think you can reach shared decisions, explore mediation or instruct a collaborative family law specialist. These processes have been developed to improve divorce outcomes. For some, Court might seem the only option. Courts exist to help people where sharing decisions is not possible and/or one party needs an imbalance redressed. The Court will impose an outcome having heard competing arguments. This might seem good for one and less so for the other, but it could go either way. The aim of the court is to balance the resources of a marriage to meet the needs of each party applying the relevant headings below having regard to what is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances: • The welfare of a child of the family • The income, earning capacity, property, and resources of each party 154 • Each party’s needs so as to meet obligations and responsibilities • The standard of living that existed prior to the breakdown of the marriage • Duration of the marriage and the parties ages • Any disabilities • Contributions that each person has made to the welfare of the family • Conduct, if too serious to ignore • Serious disadvantage created for a party on the ending of the marriage A Court can order that property owned by one person be transferred to another or from joint names to one. It can order a party with more pension provision than the other to share some of their pension with the other. The Court can also order lump sum payments to be made between spouses and payments of maintenance for either the children and/or a spouse. Whilst primary jurisdiction for child maintenance is with the Child Maintenance Service, not the Court, there are occasions it will order child maintenance including by agreement. Dawn Harrison is a Director and Family Law Specialist at Whitehead Monckton. For more information on preparing for divorce contact Dawn via email [email protected] or call 01622 698051. www.whitehead-monckton.co.uk WMonckton WhiteheadMoncktonLimited