The start of the New Year is traditionally the busiest time for divorce with couples deciding the New Year is a good time to split up and make a fresh start.
Couples usually want to make the whole process as smooth and pain free as possible when they have children involved but to also help their wallets with the high legal fees that can be involved with divorce proceedings.
The first way to make it as easy as possible is for both parties to disclose their financial situation in full, to avoid hiding any assets one may have. Ideally a split of 50/50 is best for both parties but it can become complicated when children are involved as cost for the care of them is taken into consideration.
Couples should also use a solicitor to negotiate a settlement for when things start to get complicated. Examples of this include when one party has unrealistic expectations or where there is difficulty in obtaining financial disclosure. In order to ensure that the costs do not get out of hand, both parties must be keen to reach a compromise and avoid the court process.
A relatively new method of divorce proceedings is family arbitration where each party uses a lawyer and they make their case to an independent arbitrator, like you would a judge in a court of law. Where this differs from an actual court case is a time is set to accommodate all parties and the hearing is held in private. Although the process can be expensive, as the couple pay for the arbitrator, this is nearly always outweighed by the speed of the process, and will generally prove less stressful.
For those contemplating divorce, it is important to seek advice early on the different approaches available so that you can make it as smooth as possible for your family. Contact us at Tozers Family Law Solicitors for all your divorce queries.
