The importance of seeking professional legal advice for divorce settlements has again been highlighted by a recent study.
The Fair Shares report, which was led by the University of Bristol and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, found that women in England and Wales are losing out financially by failing to seek professional legal advice to assist with a divorce.
Research shows that most couples who divorce have so few assets that they try to save money by sorting out key arrangements themselves, including agreeing housing, pensions and ongoing maintenance.
The research found that the average divorce pot in England and Wales, including home, pensions and considering any debts, is worth around £135,000.
Almost a fifth of divorcing couples have no assets to divide at all, with a quarter of divorcees ending up with nothing or just debts.
However, cutting out solicitors means that women are losing out on fair divorce settlements.
“In the wake of cuts to legal aid and hampered by a lack of financial and legal knowledge, couples are trying to divorce on the cheap,” said the report’s author, Emma Hitchings, a professor of family law at the University of Bristol.
“But this means they are bypassing a legal system designed to achieve fairness. That is leaving women worse off and putting their future financial security at risk.”
Around 100,000 couples divorce each year in England and Wales. However, the study found that only a third of them use the legal system to sort out their finances, with the rest negotiating their own arrangements or reaching no settlement at all.
More than one in 10 couples in England and Wales sought no advice or information to help them with their divorce. Only two in five divorcees used lawyers as a source of information, advice or support, according to the report.
Many of these couples cited fear of cost as a deterrent to using legal advice. However, when legal advice was used, nearly a quarter of divorcees said it cost less than £1,000.
At Onions & Davies, we pride ourselves on having very competitive prices for divorce. We can advise you comprehensively on costs at our initial no-obligation fixed-fee appointment.
Please get in touch with our Resolution trained Family Solicitor and Family Mediator Louise Martin, for more details.
Seeking the advice of a specialist divorce solicitor will ensure that couples reach a fair financial settlement upon divorce. Without this specialist input, ex-spouses can miss out on certain assets.
The study found that there was a particular imbalance when it came to pensions. According to the Fair Shares report, only one in 10 divorcees with a pension yet to be drawn had made an agreement for pension sharing.
This could have significant repercussions for women.
“Although legal processes are largely fair, they are not being used,” said Professor Hitchings. “The equal division of pension pots is not the norm: only three in 10 of those who had any assets to divide in the first place reported receiving around half of the net asset pool.”
“More than a third of divorcees did not know the value of their own pension pot, let alone their spouse’s,” she added.
“Without all assets, particularly pensions, being considered on divorce, the future financial security of many women, who generally have smaller pension pots than men, is being put at risk.”
The authors of the Fair Shares report hope that it will provide essential data on divorce in England and Wales that will inform current debates on how the law should be reformed.
Currently, proposals for reform are being considered by the Law Commission and the Divorce (Financial Provision) Bill in the House of Lords has been presented to Parliament, which would make equal sharing of assets the default.
“This research lands at a critical moment, when the laws implemented half a century ago around divorce finances are under review,” said Ash Patel, the programme head for justice at the Nuffield Foundation.
“It highlights the persistence and prevalence of myths around divorce, and clearly demonstrates the often-unequal financial footing of parties going into, and coming out of a divorce,” he added.
“Here, women appear more financially vulnerable, tending to be financially worse off than men in the years after the divorce.”
Alarmingly, only 40% of the survey group had sought legal advice, with concerns over costs being cited. More than 10% had not sought any advice or information during their divorce.
Every year, around 100,000 couples get divorced in England and Wales. It is clear from this research that there needs to be improved awareness and understanding of the legal process and that legal firms, and the legal sector as a whole, need to do much more to address misconceptions about the cost of legal advice.
Divorce Solicitors Near Me
At Onions & Davies, we understand that separating is hard, and it is not always easy to know the first steps to take when it comes to agreeing arrangements, determining children’s issues, or sorting out the finances when you are getting divorced or dissolving a civil partnership.
Resolving financial issues is crucial, and it is recommended that separating spouses should always take independent legal advice to resolve the financial matters on divorce.
We can help you to understand your options.
Even the most well-managed family cases can still be fraught with emotion and difficulty, but our aim is to provide support through that process so that proper decisions can be made for you and your children’s lives going forward.
Onions & Davies Solicitors provide legal services in Market Drayton and surrounding areas, Whitchurch, Telford, Shrewsbury, Loggerheads, Nantwich, Crewe, Eccleshall and Newcastle.
To speak to one of our family law solicitors, please call us on 01630 652405 or use our online contact form.
For more information about our Divorce Law service, please click here.