Family Law Collaborative Divorce Blog : Bath Divorce Solicitors : Sharp Family Law : UK Collaborative Law & Family Mediation : Bristol, Swindon & Southern England

An inheritance had enabled Karen and Mike to buy a second home – a weekend apartment in Bath. It proved to be a perfect bolt hole for Mike to spend some time after Karen announced she wanted to end their 20 year marriage. But when divorce proceedings were begun a year or more later, both were shocked to discover that special rules could result in a capital gains tax payment arising on the transfer of the apartment.

Karen and Mike are among a growing number of divorcing couples who have been in long term marriages (increasingly know as Grey Divorces), that I have seen in the course of my practice as a family and divorce solicitor in Bath and Bristol. They have either brought more than one property into their marriage, or simply bought additional properties during the course of their marriage. Consequently, the number of properties the divorcing couple own can consist of more than just the matrimonial home.

Dividing these properties up as part of financial settlement may involve the divorcing couple transferring their interest in a property to one another or, alternatively, selling it. The disposal can result in Capital Gains Tax arising.

On their Website and in a Helpsheet, HM Customs and Revenue offer a useful introduction to the situation where there is a need to transfer assets between a separated couple. They explain that it depends on when the transfer takes place and requires the compilation of information about each property to include (but not limited to) the original purchase price and date, any subsequent expenditure, and whether any of the parties lived or elected that property to be their principal primary residence.

Paul Benney, Tax Partner at Haines Watts Forensics Team has helpfully put a Sheet together to assist in compiling the necessary information that you may need to acquire. He and his team are also happy to undertake CGT calculations or to check calculations you have put together. In some situations they are also willing to offer initial advice free of charge.

In their divorce proceedings, Karen and Mike adopted the dispute resolution process known as Collaborative Law Practice. By doing so they were able at a face to face meeting between them, myself and another collaborative family solicitor, to discuss how best to secure the necessary tax advice from someone like Paul Benney and then to use it to limit the negative impact that the tax might otherwise have had on their settlement.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks

Pop singer, Cheryl Cole’s divorce from her England football husband Ashley was finalised last week. Earlier this summer, National Newspapers reported that it would be “clean, swift, amicable and smooth”. And yet the divorce papers filed on her behalf were said to cite the reason for the breakup of the marriage as being Ashley Cole's "unreasonable behaviour".

If Cheryl truly wanted an amicable and smooth divorce, Ashley may have wondered why irreconcilable differences or the like wasn’t cited as the reason for the divorce. Few like to be accused of behaving so badly that their partner cannot ‘reasonably’ be expected to live with them.

Divorce in England & Wales is based on a marriage having "broken down irretrievably”

Every so often, at my family law practice in Bath & Bristol, I am approached by clients who say they want a divorce based on "irreconcilable differences". They are in an unhappy marriage and just want to bring it to an end. I explain that it is not possible to obtain a divorce based on "irreconcilable differences" in the divorce courts of England and Wales.

Divorce in England & Wales is based on a marriage having "broken down irretrievably ". But there is a complication. This breakdown must be proved by evidencing only one of five "facts" laid down by the law. They are Adultery, Unreasonable Behaviour, Desertion, Two years’ separation with consent and Five years’ separation without consent.

Three of these methods of proof - Desertion, Two (with consent) and Five years’ separation - involve a considerable period of delay (at least two years) before a divorce is possible at all. Similarly, adultery can only be relied upon if it too has taken place. As the latest published figures (2008) from the Office of National Statistics on divorce rates in England & Wales show, this means unreasonable behaviour is the method of choice for most couples in cases where no adultery can be proved and a divorce is wanted sooner rather than later. Not a new revelation but one that has again encouraged family law practitioners to call for reform to the current divorce law

I recently worked with a husband from Bath who was separating from his wife. They had decided their marriage had irretrievably broken down. To help them work through the legal, financial and practical issues arising from their decision, they adopted the dispute resolution process known as Collaborative Law Practice. At a face to face meeting between them, her collaborative family solicitor and I, we discussed how to prove that the marriage had irretrievably broken down for the purposes of a divorce. The lawyers helped the husband and the wife together draft allegations of the unreasonable behaviour that were not unnecessarily confrontational and yet fulfilled the requirements of a District Judge sitting in the Bath Divorce Court. A task not so easily done at a distance

Despite the apparent fault based divorce process, the approach of collaborative law enabled this divorcing couple to meet their goal and achieve an amicable divorce.

My practice, at Sharp Family Law in Bath and Bristol, is devoted to helping separating and divorcing couples to find creative solutions to their issues, which with the help and support of the required professional at an affordable cost, are crafted by them - and not the divorce courts. For a free copy of “A Client’s Guide to Collaborative Divorce” contact me, Richard Sharp on +44 (0)1225 870336 or email me at richard@sharpfamilylaw.com

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (3)
• Trackbacks

Pop singer, Cheryl Cole’s divorce from her England football husband Ashley would be “clean, swift, amicable and smooth” reported The Sun Newspaper at the end of May. And yet the divorce papers filed on her behalf were said to cite the reason for the breakup of the marriage as being Ashley Cole's "unreasonable behaviour".

if Cheryl truly wanted an amicable and smooth divorce, Ashley may have wondered why irreconcilable differences or the like wasn’t cited as the reason for the divorce. Few like to be accused of behaving so badly that their partner cannot ‘reasonably’ be expected to live with them. 

Every so often, at my family law practice in Bath & Bristol, I am approached by clients who say they want a divorce based on "irreconcilable differences". They are in an unhappy marriage and just want to bring it to an end. I explain that it is not possible to obtain a divorce based on "irreconcilable differences" in the divorce courts of England and Wales.

Divorce in England & Wales is based on a marriage having "broken down irretrievably ". But there is a complication. This breakdown must be proved by evidencing only one of five "facts" laid down by the law - Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. They are Adultery, Unreasonable Behaviour, Desertion, Two years’ separation with consent and Five years’ separation without consent.

Three of these methods of proof - Desertion, Two (with consent) and Five years’ separation - involve a considerable period of delay (at least two years) before a divorce is possible at all. Similarly, adultery can only be relied upon if it to has taken place. This means unreasonable behaviour is the method of choice for most couples in cases where no adultery can be proved and a divorce is wanted sooner rather than later.

I recently worked with a husband from Bath who was separating from his wife. They had decided their marriage had irretrievably broken down. To help them work through the legal, financial and  practical issues arising from their decision, they adopted the dispute resolution process known as Collaborative Law Practice. At a face to face meeting between them, her collaborative family solicitor and I, we discussed how to prove that the marriage had irretrievably broken down for the purposes of a divorce 

The lawyers helped the husband and the wife together draft allegations of the unreasonable behaviour that were not unnecessarily confrontational and yet fulfilled the requirements of a District Judge sitting in the Bath Divorce Court. A task not so easily done at a distance

Despite the apparent fault based process, the collaborative law process enabled this divorcing couple to meet their goal and achieve an amicable divorce. I am interested in hearing how others have dealt with meeting the criteria for "Unreasonable Behaviour" AND achieve an amicable divorce

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks