posted 7th August 2023
Divorce Settlement Negotiations: A Complete Guide
A financial settlement is a negotiation, and like any negotiation it goes better with preparation. This is what makes the difference.
Before you start
Know what exists
Gather everything: bank and savings statements, mortgage balance and redemption figure, pension statements, details of any debts, recent payslips. Request pension valuations early, because they take the longest.
You cannot negotiate over a picture you cannot see, and it is common for one party to have had far more visibility of the finances than the other.
Work out what you actually need
Not what you feel owed. What you need going forward: somewhere to live, enough to live on, security in retirement.
Those three things are what a settlement is built around, and they are what a Judge would look at if it came to that.
Separate what matters from what stings
Most people arrive with a list of grievances and a list of needs, mixed together. Working out which is which before you start saves a great deal of time and money.
During the negotiation
Disclose everything
Full disclosure is not optional. Assets that surface later can undo an order that has already been approved, and a party found to have concealed something is in a considerably worse position than one who disclosed it.
That includes cryptocurrency, which is property under English law and must be disclosed even though Form E has no box for it.
Keep it on the issues
The grounds for the divorce are not relevant to the finances. However strongly one party feels about how they were treated, it will not change the settlement.
Expect to compromise
Nobody gets everything. The couples who settle quickly are the ones who identify the two or three points that genuinely matter and let the rest go.
Think about how it looks in ten years
An equal split today can produce a very unequal position later. Keeping the house and giving up the pension is a common example that often works out badly.
Where specialist input helps
Most settlements do not need it. Where there is a defined benefit pension, a business, a significant age gap between the parties or complicated tax, a specialist report may be worth the cost.
We say when we think that applies rather than routinely.
Afterwards
An agreement is not binding until it is made into a consent order approved by the court. Without that, either party can bring a claim years later.
That is the step people skip, and it is the one that matters most.
Getting help with the negotiation itself
Both parties talking directly works until it does not. When it stops working, a neutral third party keeps the discussion moving.
We work for both parties rather than for one side, with fixed fees quoted before you start, and we draw up the consent order ourselves.
Get in touch for a free initial consultation.
