Money: Following divorce

This will depend upon what assets are available. The approach would generally be to try to ensure that the basic needs of both parties and any children were met: a home and enough income on which to live. Particular difficulties can arise either in cases where there is not really enough to go round to provide for the needs of two households or where there is too much. A solicitor will not be able to give precise advice without knowing what assets are available so the more documentary evidence there is available, at an early stage, the better.

In the absence of a prenuptial agreement or a post nuptial agreement no assets can be 'ring-fenced' simply kept out of the equation. Where assets came from originally can nevertheless be important but it will depend upon the significance of other relevant factors.

Generally speaking a Court will not examine the precise domestic arrangements that existed during the marriage. It will not look at a marriage as a business partnership with credits and debits being made to the parties' capital and current accounts. The presumption will be that the different contributions made by the parties in either working, looking after the children, caring for the home, organising the couple's social life etc are to be treated as equal.

The simple answer to this is no. In deciding how to divide assets on a divorce a Court will not usually examine the rights and wrongs of the relationship. This is the case, even if one party has committed adultery. It is not always easy to get to the bottom of why a relationship has failed and is therefore not an exercise which the Court will carry out in distributing assets. Behaviours which will affect the distributions of assets have to be quite extreme. Substantial financial misconduct may be relevant but this does need to be fairly feckless or deliberate. Divorce and financial remedies on divorce cannot be a means of just protecting one party from the uncertainty of the property market or the stock market.