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Divorce Financial Dispute Solicitors
When you’re faced with the emotional turmoil of a divorce or dissolution, separating your finances from those of your ex-partner can be incredibly challenging.
Reaching a financial settlement is extremely important, though that doesn’t mean that the task is easy, and consequently, disputes are commonplace. If you’re in this difficult situation, you can trust our divorce financial dispute solicitors to support you.
Where couples are unable to reach a voluntary financial settlement between themselves, they will usually need to apply to the Court for assistance in dividing their finances by means of a Financial Order. As part of your case you will need to attend a financial dispute resolution hearing, also referred to as an FDR hearing.
Our experienced legal team at Watkins have supported clients in resolving financial disputes in a wide range of circumstances, including those with extremely complex financial situations. You can always trust our highly accredited team to ensure that your sensitive legal matters are handled pragmatically and respectfully.
Our experts can provide a full range of support with financial disputes following divorce, for instance:
For specialist support with financial disputes, please contact our expert divorce financial dispute solicitors today.
We support clients from our offices in Bristol (Southville and Fishponds), Bath, Hereford and Evesham, as well as serving clients across the rest of the UK and internationally. To discuss your requirements, please call us on 0117 939 0350 or email info@watkinssolicitors.co.uk.
Our solicitors will communicate in a way that suits your needs and preferences, whether that is in person, by phone, video conferencing or email.
Our team appreciate that family legal issues can be sensitive and stressful, particularly where finances are involved. We understand that, when clients approach us for help, they are often worried or confused regarding their legal options and position.
At Watkins, we have ample experience across all family law issues. We always ensure that we obtain a detailed understanding of our client’s needs so that we can adapt our support to their specific situation.
In the family legal sector, we have an outstanding reputation, which we owe to the dedication of our legal team. Beverley Watkins, founder and managing partner, is a Family Law Advanced Member of the Law Society, a specialist accreditation which not many legal professionals hold.
Several of our family law solicitors dealing with divorce and separation are members of Resolution, with a number of the team also being on the Law Society’s Specialist Panel. Additionally, our family law solicitors Sheldon and Vicky are both on the Children Panel.
As well as our daily legal work, we keenly contribute to our local community in other ways too, volunteering at Advice Centres and involving ourselves in charity projects in Bristol, and other areas. If you would like to learn more about our legal team, please do not hesitate to contact us at Watkins.
Before attending a financial dispute resolution hearing, it is important to prepare thoroughly, including, receiving specialist legal support.
Our expert solicitors can advise you on what will happen during the hearing, helping you to consider your goals, as well as assisting you in preparing your case.
We appreciate that reaching a financial settlement after divorce, or dissolution can feel overwhelming. We always take a sensitive approach to dealing with these legal matters and will ensure that you enter into any legal process feeling fully prepared and supported.
The financial dispute resolution process is intended to support the disputing parties to come to an agreement, on how to divide their finances and assets.
Our expert divorce financial dispute solicitors can support you throughout the entire FDR process. An FDR hearing is attended by the disputing parties, along with their legal representatives. Both individuals negotiate with the support of the judge, in order to resolve the dispute and reach a financial settlement.
The outcome is then used to draft a legally binding Financial Consent Order, separating the party's income, assets, and other financial resources.
If it is not possible to reach a settlement during the financial dispute resolution hearing, the case will proceed to a final hearing.
During the final hearing, the judge will make a decision regarding how the couple’s finances will be divided, as part of their divorce or civil partnership dissolution.
The parties will present their cases before the judge, showing evidence of their financial situations. The judge will use the information provided, as well as an evaluation of the case so far, in order to make a decision.
Before the financial dispute resolution hearing begins, you will meet with both your barrister and solicitor. They will discuss with you your preferred outcome, and what might potentially be the outcome of your case.
During the hearing, the barristers have the chance to present their client’s financial positions before the judge, which will cover details of their assets, income, pensions, and debts.
The judge will support the parties to negotiate, in an attempt to reach a financial settlement. Based on the evidence given, the judge will need to decide what is a fair division of the assets. If the dispute cannot be resolved at this hearing, the case will proceed to a final hearing.
To prevent a financial claim from being made against you in the future, you are advised to obtain a Clean Break Order.
This is a type of financial order that may be applied for during divorce proceedings. The order functions to ensure that, once the parties are divorced, all financial ties that existed between them are severed, and that neither is able to make a financial claim against the other later down the line.
If you are unable to agree on a financial settlement, you will need to apply to the Court to obtain a Financial Order. As part of the process, you will need to attend a financial dispute resolution hearing.
If you and your ex-partner cannot reach a settlement through a financial dispute resolution hearing, you will then need to attend a final hearing. During the final hearing, the judge will review the evidence and make a decision on how the couple’s finances should be divided.
You can attempt to reach a settlement with your spouse through a voluntary settlement. This means that the spouses negotiate between themselves, through an alternative dispute resolution method such as mediation, or collaborative law.
Where a voluntary settlement cannot be reached, you can apply to the Court to obtain a Financial Order, meaning that, the judge will ultimately determine how your finances will be divided.
For specialist financial dispute resolution support please get in touch with our divorce financial dispute solicitors.
We support clients from our offices in Bristol (Southville and Fishponds), Bath Hereford and Evesham, as well as serving clients across the rest of the UK and internationally. Give us a call or email us at info@watkinssolicitors.co.uk.
Our solicitors will communicate in a way that suits your needs and preferences, whether that’s in person, by phone, video conferencing or email.