Ancillary relief

Overview

In divorce proceedings, either spouse is able to make a claim against the other for various kinds of financial orders. These financial orders are collectively referred to as ancillary relief. The court has the power to make four main types of order.

Periodical Payments

The court has the power to order one spouse to pay regular weekly or monthly amounts of money to the other spouse. These payments are often referred to as maintenance or alimony.

Lump Sum Order

The court has the power to order a one-off capital payment from one spouse to the other.

Property Adjustment Order

The court has the power to order that property (such as a family home) can be either transferred or sold.

Pension Sharing Order

The court has the power to use a percentage from one spouse’s pension entitlement to create a separate pension fund for the other spouse.

Court Discretion

The courts have wide discretion when dealing with ancillary relief applications, which means that outcomes can vary significantly from case to case, depending on the particular circumstances involved.

No Time Limit

There is no time limit for making a claim for ancillary relief, even many years after the final divorce decree absolute has been granted - unless you remarry before making a claim for ancillary relief in relation to your previous marriage.

Things Change

Private settlements between spouses do not bind the court. You may feel confident right now that your spouse would never make a claim against you for ancillary relief, but circumstances do change. For example, one of you might, though ill health, become unable to support oneself, or one of you might receive a surprise inheritance. Attitudes can also change as and when new partners come onto the scene. All of these factors might result in your spouse making an unforeseen claim against you, or even you deciding to make a claim against your spouse.

Financial Clean Break Order

You can achieve certainty through our financial clean break order service. We will prepare a draft Consent Order for you to agree with your spouse and send to the court, with all necessary supporting documentation. Once the order is granted, the potential claims for ancillary relief for both yourself and your spouse will be dismissed forever - with no future comeback.

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Inheritance Act

If you die, your former spouse may have a potential claim against your estate even after the final divorce decree absolute. Our service includes the mutual dismissal of these potential claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975, thereby achieving a full clean break.

Children of the Family

Either spouse is also entitled to make a claim for ancillary relief against the other spouse on behalf of any child of the family, although the court can only make an order for child periodical payments with the consent of both parties. It is not possible to dismiss potential claims on behalf of a child as part of a financial clean break order.

Potential Issues

This service is not suitable for everyone. We will give you further detailed information as you complete our questionnaire, to help you to decide whether to proceed. As with all our services, you must ensure that your spouse will provide his/her full cooperation. Also, this service is only appropriate if the terms of any private agreement have already been carried out in full. If any necessary financial transactions remain outstanding, such as the sale of the family home or payment of a lump sum, then we will be unable to help you to obtain a financial clean break order. In this situation, please contact a family law firm such as josiah-lake gardiner LLP.

Court Powers

The court has the power to assert its own discretion regarding applications for ancillary relief, which makes it impossible to guarantee that a financial clean break order will be granted, even when it has been agreed by both parties. However, we will maximise your chances of obtaining such an order, by using our many years of experience to prepare the necessary application and all supporting documentation on your behalf. A financial clean break order is very likely to be granted if it seems fair to the court.

Fair and Reasonable

It is very important for you to understand that we cannot advise you as to whether or not your decision to apply for a financial clean break order is fair and reasonable. Our service simply relates to assisting you in making the application to the court. Unless your situation is very simple, we recommend that you obtain independent legal advice from a family law firm such as josiah-lake gardiner LLP. A financial clean break order has a significant effect upon your potential legal rights.

Legal Advice

We cannot provide tailor made online legal advice about the merits of potential applications for ancillary relief, because the issues involved are too complex to deal with in this way. josiah-lake gardiner LLP would be happy to give you such advice, and offer an initial fixed fee interview, which we believe you would find very helpful.

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