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Dividing assets in a short marriage Hot

Avatar Added by 7lb8ae     November 26, 2008     Hits: 11298     Favorites 4 Add to favorites
 
Dividing assets in a short marriage
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What can i expect to leave with after a short marriage.

If a divorce petition is filed in a short, childless marriage (normally less than 5 years duration) it is unlikely that a 50/50 division of assets will be ordered particularly if one spouse brought substantially more assets to the marriage. Normally assets acquired prior to the marriage will be retained, or returned to the spouse who originally had them, and assets accumulated during the marriage will be divided on a 50/50 basis when the parties divorce.

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Short Marriages

I would just add that the duration of the marriage is only one factor and all the s25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 factors are the consideration.
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Avatar Reviewed by Fiona
July 22, 2009
 
 

Short marriages

I'm a divorce lawyer.

I agree with the above. But I would add a few things:

1) There are few absolute rules in matrimonial finance. Instead, there are general rules of thumb. Family judges have a very broad discretion so it's very difficult if not impossible to predict how a judge will decide a case. Unfortunately this gives a lot of scope for arguments either way.

2) There is no absolute rule as to what constitutes a short marriage, but as a rule of thumb, the shorter you get under 10 years, the stronger the argument that you get to retain more if not all of your pre-marital assets as well as gifts and inheritance you received during the marriage (collectively known as "non matrimonial assets"). In a marriage of a few years, you may have a very strong case for retaining ALL non matromonial assets.

3) In calcuating how long a marriage is for the purpose of matrimonial finances, you add on any period of seamless pre-marital cohabitation.

4) As a general rule of thumb, assets that accrue during a short marriage tend to be split 50:50 although you might argue that you should also retain most if not all of: i) passive economic growth during a marriage on pre-marital assets, ii) if the parties are dual earners and kept separate finances (e.g. separate bank accounts) then most if not all their respective savings from earnings during the marriage and iii) most if not all post separation assets if they accrue as result of the sole endeavours of that party and perhaps derive from non-matrimonial assets only.

5) However, VERY IMPORTANTLY, once you have shared the assets in a short marriage according to the above principles, the next step is to ask yourself, "does each party's share meet his or her needs?". If "yes", well and good - this is known as a 'sharing case'. But if "no", then the party whose needs aren't met may have an argument to get even more. This is known as a 'needs case.' Needs cases usually arise when you have a wife who has little or no salary and little or no earning capacity; she has custody of the children; and her share of the pot is insufficient to meet her and the childrens' housing needs, whereas the husband has a decent salary and therefore, coupled with his share of the pot, enough to house himself. In these cases, the wife (or husband as the case may be) has a strong argument to ask for more than the sharing principles in 2) above allow.
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Avatar Reviewed by samdathi
May 17, 2009
 
Last updated: May 17, 2009
 
 
 

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