Divorce myths to be dispelled
17 Apr 2014 11:41 AM
Separating couples will be given clear new
guidelines setting out what they should expect when property and income is
distributed by the courts, Simon Hughes has
announced.
n
March 2014 the Law Commission ‘Matrimonial Property, Needs and
Agreements’ report found there was confusion about how one person should
be required to meet the other’s financial needs after their relationship
has ended. When separating couples go through the courts, the court has a wide
discretion to decide how their property and income should be distributed. One
of the main factors considered is the ‘needs’ of each party.
However, under the current law the exact meaning of needs is unclear and there
is confusion about the extent to which one spouse should be required to meet
the other’s needs and for how long.
The
Ministry of Justice has therefore asked the Family Justice Council to take
forward the Law Commission’s recommendation to clarify the law of
“financial needs” on divorce or dissolution of a civil
partnership.
Justice Minister Simon Hughes said:
We
want separating couples to have the best information available to help when
they approach the difficult and emotional separation process. This new guidance
will lead to a better understanding and more realistic expectations of what
they will expect to receive as financial settlements and enable swifter and
better resolution of disputes.
We
are committed to making sure that when couples do make the decision to separate
they make use of mediation rather than go through the confrontational and
stressful experience of going to court. This new guidance will help mediators
give advice to separating couples so that they can settle disputes out of
court. In those cases that do go to court it will also help the judiciary and
prevent regional variations in the interpretation of ‘financial
needs’.
The
new guidance will be published later in the year and will
help:
-
Divorcing couples - by dispelling myths about need and
help couples to approach the separation process with realistic
expectations.
-
The
Judiciary - by removing the regional variations in the interpretation of
‘financial needs’ as identified by the Law
Commission.
-
Mediators – so they will be able to give financial
advice to help separating couples settle disputes out of
court.
The
Law Commission’s report put forward three main
recommendations
- written guidance to define and explain financial
need;
- an
assessment of the feasibility of producing numerical guidance to calculate the
likely financial outcome of divorce or dissolution; and
- making qualifying nuptial agreements statutorily binding
through amendments to the Matrimonial Causes Act 1975.
The
Ministry of Justice is taking forward the first of these recommendations and is
currently considering the law Commission’s report more fully, including
considering the next steps on pre-nuptial agreements and the feasibility of
producing numerical guidance. An interim response to the report will be
published in August 2014.