Divorce & Separation · Financial Planning
Before you sign
anything, know the
financial consequences
of divorce
Protect your wealth. Protect your children. Protect your future. The decisions you make today could affect your financial security for decades. Before agreements are reached or assets are divided, make sure you understand the full picture.
Fixed-fee
Drafting, not hourly billing
Free
30-minute confidential consultation
England & Wales
Law-specific guidance throughout
UK & International
Cross-border assets covered
Planning Scenarios
Find your situation
Every case is different. Here's where to start, based on what matters most to you right now.
Understanding what a settlement really costs
You've had an offer, or you're about to make one, and want to know what it actually means long-term.
Protecting the family home
Working out who owns what, and how to keep the property's value where you intend it.
Understanding pension implications
A pension sharing order is on the table, and you want to know what it means for retirement.
Protecting a business you own
You or your spouse run a business, and a settlement shouldn't put its survival at risk.
Updating your will and LPAs
Your existing documents may still name your ex-partner in ways you no longer intend.
Reaching an agreement without court
You and your ex-partner can still communicate, and want a lower-conflict route through this.
Managing overseas or cross-border assets
Property, pensions, or citizenship outside the UK add a layer most settlements don't account for.
We help you understand:
Before you agree to anything, a clear, independent picture of what a proposed settlement actually means for your long-term financial position — not just the headline numbers.
Asset division scenarios, pension valuation and sharing implications, tax consequences of proposed transfers, and projected financial position at 5, 10, and 20 years post-settlement.
Turns a settlement offer from a set of numbers on a page into a real understanding of what your financial future actually looks like — before you sign, not after.
Before any agreement is finalised, ideally before you even respond to a first offer.
Understanding how assets — property, savings, investments, business interests — are typically categorised and valued before any division is agreed.
Distinguishing matrimonial from non-matrimonial assets, valuation approaches for property and business interests, and how the family home specifically is treated in most settlements.
A settlement negotiated without understanding what's actually on the table rarely reflects what either party intended.
We help you understand the picture and structure what follows from it — the financial settlement itself is negotiated through the divorce process, typically alongside a family law solicitor.
Pensions are frequently the largest asset in a marriage after the family home, and the most commonly under-valued in a settlement.
Pension valuation, sharing order implications, and how a reduced pension pot affects your actual retirement position — not just its paper value today.
Understand what a pension sharing order really means for the age you can retire and the income you'll have, before agreeing to a percentage split.
Your pension's expression of wish (nomination) form separately — it pays out independently of both your will and any sharing order.
If you or your spouse own a business, separation can affect shareholdings, partnership agreements, and succession plans just as much as personal assets.
Reviewing shareholder agreements, business valuations for settlement purposes, and succession plans that may unintentionally hand control or inheritance rights to someone no longer part of the business.
Keeps a settlement from accidentally destabilising a business that provides income for both of you, and any employees who depend on it.
Separation doesn't automatically update a will — your spouse can remain executor and principal beneficiary until decree absolute, and even then, gifts to their family stay untouched.
Full will review, guardianship clauses, Property Protection Trusts, and updating Lasting Powers of Attorney — since an LPA doesn't cancel itself either.
Closes the gap between your financial settlement and the legal documents that actually control what happens to your estate.
Related
A settlement is a single moment; your financial position afterward is decades long. We help you understand how today's decisions play out over time, and how overseas assets or citizenship interact with a UK settlement.
Post-settlement financial planning, overseas property title review, and whether a UK settlement is recognised in another jurisdiction.
Prevents an overseas asset being left out of the settlement, or a UK plan quietly failing to work once you factor in a second country's law.
See our Cross-Border Families page for the full picture.
Not every separation needs to become a legal battle. Mediation helps couples reach informed, constructive agreements together.
Joint sessions covering finances, property, and arrangements for children, guided by a trained, neutral mediator.
Greater clarity, less stress, and often significantly lower costs than a fully contested process.
Where there's a history of abuse or coercive control, mediation isn't appropriate — court protection routes exist instead.
If you're representing yourself in family court — a litigant in person — a McKenzie Friend sits beside you to help you stay organised, informed, and supported through the hearing itself.
Quiet advice during proceedings, note-taking, help organising documents and evidence, and moral support through what's often an intimidating process.
A meaningfully lower-cost alternative to full representation for people who can't afford, or don't need, a solicitor to attend every hearing.
A McKenzie Friend cannot address the court, examine witnesses, or act as your advocate — the role is support, not representation. Some courts require permission for a McKenzie Friend to attend; we help you understand when that applies.
Search our directory of mediators and McKenzie Friends
Accredited family mediators and experienced McKenzie Friends our clients can search directly — local to where you need them, and vetted before they're listed.
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What changes automatically — and what doesn't
A snapshot of what separation and divorce actually trigger under English law.
Related Products
What to bring to your consultation
— not costly mistakes.
