ADVICE
Divorce
Just because one
party does not actively
earn the wealth, this
shouldn’t penalise their
contribution towards
the marriage
NUCLEAR
family
DISASTER
Justin Creed, a family and divorce solicitor with Wright Hassall, looks at how
you can protect your business when the worst happens and divorce strikes
T
he financial fall-out
from divorce can be
devastating for many
people, but what if
you own your own
business and the assets are
counted as part of the final
divorce settlement? If the
business is the primary source
of the family’s income, the
main consideration for most
business owners will be how
to protect it.
DIVISION OF ASSETS
As it currently stands, the law
gives no clear guidance on what
is considered to be an equitable
financial outcome, making it
difficult for solicitors to predict
how a judge might determine
a fair or reasonable division
of assets. In all divorces, the
starting point is equal division
of those assets in which a
husband and wife have a joint
interest - which currently
includes those business assets
built up over the course of a
marriage. This approach was
underlined by a number of
headline grabbing ‘big money’
cases played out during the last
decade. White vs White (2000)
is seen by many as the turning
point for divorce settlements,
when Mrs White received a
settlement of £1.5m from a
farming business worth £4.6m.
The principle of fairness was
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