Divorce: Facts or Fiction?

With all the press and publicity surrounding high profile divorce cases together with television programmes broadcasting highly contested fictional family breakdowns to millions of viewers, it is only natural that people will assume that this is how day to day family cases play out. The reality is often quite different. 

From ‘quickie divorces’ to the expectation of adultery impacting on financial settlements, presumptions abound and it is important to ensure that a client always has a clear understanding of the realities of their situation and the way their matter is likely to proceed. Usually an initial consultation is the perfect opportunity to talk through what a client should expect and what their options are. This helps to manage expectations and debunk those well known myths surrounding divorce proceedings and associated matters.

It is always important to ensure that clients are clear from the outset about how their case will proceed and no question should ever be considered too trivial to ask. 

High-profile divorce cases have dominated the front pages of British newspapers over the past few months as a stream of marriages have come to an end that have raised questions over the perceived 'unfairness” of courtroom settlements.

But while there are some obvious bones of contention for divorcing couples, such as how to split the assets and who gets custody of the children, here FT Money presents 10 other lesser-known quirks that potential divorcees should be aware of.

1 Adultery doesn’t mean you will get a bigger settlement People often assume there will be a financial impact if one partner has had an affair, or left the marriage...