When you divorce there are a host of complex financial processes and arrangements involved, and often the divorce process can throw your finances into disarray.
Reaching a final agreement when it comes to your divorce settlement can be difficult and a complex process. You’ll need to gather up all the relevant details regarding your marital assets before a judge even signs off on anything and making any mistakes or oversights can leave you significantly worse off – especially in the long run. Because of this, getting the right financial advice is critical.
In this article we’ll examine the options you have for financial advice in divorce cases.
Financial Adviser
An independent financial advisor provides impartial advice to their client regarding a wide range of financial issues that are impacted by divorce. This includes,
- Tax
- Pension
- Investment options
- Mortgages
Financial advisers are professionals who are regulated and accredited by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Their job is essentially to improve the financial situation of their client by making sure they make optimal financial decisions, considering the full extent and unique requirements of the individuals situation.
Specialist advice can be a major help in the more complex divorce and dissolution cases. They can help you ensure your financial picture looks as best as possible for once you have your divorce settlement.
The work of a financial advisor
A financial advisor provides a wide variety of services. For example, they can help you in completing Form E.
It is necessary for both ex-spouses to disclose their finances, and one of the most crucial elements of disclosure is completing Form E. This is not necessarily easy to do on your own, and making errors can delay the process significantly, so having a financial advisor to help can be great.
Pensions are another key element. Accurately valuing the pensions is important for achieving a fair outcome, but actually estimating the pension isn’t always easy and many people are unaware of the full value of their pension. A financial advisor can help provide this invaluable insight.
A financial advisor is also able to help assess the finances of both sides in a divorce case. In particularly difficult divorces, in which relations between both parties have totally broken down, then an independent financial advisor may be able to analyse the finances of the other party to ensure they are not hiding any assets.
Actuary
An actuary is a specialist who can provide an accurate evaluation of either a final salary or other salary related pensions. This is a complex job, and few family law solicitors would be trained or experienced in.
Understanding the full benefits of a pension scheme can be complex and in such cases the services of an actuary can be invaluable. The actuary will ensure that both parties in a divorce case are aware of their pension income and what they can expect when they retire.
Accountants
An accountant is an invaluable asset when it comes to separation. Divorce accountants are also known as forensic accountants, and they closely examine the finances of both parties. Accountants are involved in many different kinds of divorce process, whether it is meditated, collaborative, or involved in a formal court proceeding.
An accountant will help you to establish the monetary value of your matrimonial assets as well as your partners assets and also establish the value of income streams in the relationship. These assets include,
- Pensions
- Property
- Businesses
Their work is essential to properly understand the financial landscape you’ll find yourself in, and to enable the clean division of assets at a final settlement.
In divorce, some assets will be easy to value than others. For example, money in the bank, shares, and properties tend to be relatively easy to evaluate and may not require an accountant. However, evaluating the value of a business or a co-owned business can be rather complex and outside of the ability of a solicitor – even a Marriage separation lawyer with experience in finances.
An accountant can also be helpful if you believe your ex-partner is attempting to hide assets (to avoid having to pay what is owed to you).
Other benefits of financial advice
All three of these advisors offer serious benefits that can often prove vital to ensuring a positive outcome at the end of divorce proceedings. Not only can they significantly speed up the court process (which is often bogged down in financial disputes), but they can also help in other situations, such as mediation, where they can help to ensure the parties involved feel a fair outcome has been reached.
Professional advice can also help with matters like tax and mortgages. A collaborative or mediated divorce may be interested in knowing how best to achieve tax efficiency or how a mortgage will be handled with the separation.