When you divorce or end a civil partnership you and your ex-partner need to agree how to separate your finances.
This includes deciding how you’re going to divide:
- pensions
- property
- savings
- investments
You might get things like:
- a share of your partner’s pension – includingState Pension or private pension plans
- regular maintenance payments to help with children or living expenses
You can usually avoid going to court hearings if you agree how to split your money and property.
If you and your ex-partner agree on how to divide money and property, you need to apply for a consent order to make it legally binding.
If you and your ex-partner cannot agree how to divide your finances you can ask a court to make a financial order (also known as the ‘contested’ route or an ‘ancillary relief order’).This means the court will decide how assets will be split. You must attend a meeting about mediation before you can apply to the court to decide – except in certain cases (if there’s been domestic abuse, for example).
A financial order will describe how you’re going to divide up assets like:
- pensions
- property
- savings
- investments
It can also include arrangements for maintenance payments, including child maintenance.
You’ll usually need to wait until you have your conditional order or decree nisi before asking the court to make a financial order.
It is usually more straightforward to divide money and property before you apply for the final legal document to end the relationship.
The final legal document is the:
- final order or decree absoluteif you’re getting a divorce
- final orderif you’re ending a civil partnership