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When formulating a financial settlement on divorce, the court will consider many factors. Among these, the court has to consider the length of their relationship.

Divorce After a Long Marriage

Parties divorcing after a long marriage face particular issues. They may be nearing retirement age and so there is likely to be a focus upon their pension provision and capital security as they will have fewer 'working years' in which to build up savings. The court may feel a wife or husband in his or her fifties or sixties, who has been a homemaker since marriage, is unlikely to find work to support him- or herself after the split. At the same time, a party nearing retirement is unlikely to be in a position to pay maintenance for more than a few years so the division of savings and investments would be of prime importance.

After a long marriage, the court's starting point in dividing the assets, including pension provision, will be to look at equality. However, there could be reasons why this would not produce a fair outcome, particularly if either party's needs for a home and sufficient income to meet their living expenses cannot be met from an immediate 50/50 division of the assets.

People often ask what the courts mean by a 'long' marriage. There is no guidance on this in the legislation and in fact the courts are not seeking to categorise marriages as long, short or anything else. Each case is highly individual. Nevertheless, the court would be more likely to question whether a 50/50 division is appropriate in a marriage lasting two years than it would if the parties had been together for 20 years. That does not mean that a 50/50 division would be inappropriate in all two-year marriages; it just means that the court would be more concerned to look at where the money had come from in the case of a marriage of this length than it would after a 20-year partnership.

A 'short' Marriage

Where a marriage has been short and there are no children, a financial clean break order may be required by the court. In the case, for example, of a two-year marriage with no children, the court is more likely to conclude that the parties should be financially self-supporting either immediately or within a defined period of time than if the parties had been together for several decades.

If the parties have been together for many years, the court is going to be very reluctant to look in detail at the source of the parties' assets following the pooling of financial resources over a lengthy relationship. If the relationship is of short duration, the only 'fair' way to proceed may be to look at what the parties brought to the marriage in terms of financial contributions and reflect this in the financial settlement. This consideration will almost always be secondary to a consideration of the parties' needs, particularly if there are young children involved.

If you would like any further information regarding the above or would like to book an appointment, please do not hesitate to contact the Family Law Department on 01384371622 or email post@wjclaw.co.uk and we will be more than happy to assist you.