Category Archive Finance

Financial Considerations in Divorce Law

Financial considerations are a critical aspect of divorce law, as divorce cases often involve the division of assets, the calculation of child maintenance, spousal support, and other financial matters. Here are some of the most important financial considerations:

Division of assets: One of the most significant financial considerations in family law is the division of assets, including property, investments, and retirement accounts. In many cases, these assets must be divided between the parties based on the principles of equitable distribution or community property.

Child support: Child support is an essential financial consideration in family law cases involving children. Child support is typically calculated based on the income of both parents and the needs of the children.

Spousal support: Spousal support, also known as alimony or maintenance, may be awarded in some cases to provide financial support to a spouse who is not financially self-sufficient. Spousal support is usually based on factors such as the length of the marriage, the income and earning capacity of each spouse, and the standard of living during the marriage.

Taxes: Family law cases can have significant tax implications. For example, the transfer of assets between spouses as part of a divorce settlement can trigger tax liabilities. It is essential to consider the tax implications of any financial decisions made in a family law case.

Debt: Debt is often a significant financial consideration in family law cases. In many cases, debts accumulated during the marriage must be divided between the parties. It is crucial to consider the impact of debt on both parties’ finances and credit scores.

Overall, financial considerations are a crucial aspect of family law, and it is essential to work with an experienced lawyer to ensure that your financial interests are protected in any family law matter.

If you do not properly close your divorce proceedings and settle all financial matters, it is possible for a divorced party to make a claim on future financial assets of the other party, even if years have passed since the separation. This is why it’s so important to take financial considerations so seriously in divorce law.

Family Court Free or For Close To Free

Family court free or as close to free as possible is something that more and more separated parents need. The cost of living is rising and extra expenses are not affordable for many people. In addition to self representation as a Litigant in Person, you may also be able to access the family court free if you are on a low income.

Self Representing and McKenzie Friends vs Solicitor Fees

If you contact any solicitor specialising in family law, you’re likely to find that you’ll be hit quickly with mounting fees. During some research, in 2022, we found that an initial consultation with a solicitor would cost around £150 for 30 minutes, with each further 30 minutes being charged at around £100. The ballpark figure that we were given by most firms seemed to be from around £1000 for the simplest of child arrangement applications.

We know that for many people, this is simply out of their price range. But why should you have to pay out all this money just to be able to have a relationship with your children? It doesn’t sound fair to us, so we want to help you to get these costs down as much as possible.

We have tried to provide as many resources as possible for free on our website. Having said that, we have our own expenses and want to keep this website up and running. Therefore, if you would like us to assist you with your case, we are happy to do so, but we charge a small fee for our services. We believe that this is reasonable and will be far cheaper than using a solicitor.

Court Costs

We have a breakdown of all costs that you can’t avoid with the family court process to get a child arrangements order.

MIAM

In our section about the MIAM, you will find out what that is and what role it plays in the family court. Most people have to attend one of these. We found that the cost varies from firm to firm, but you have to get an official mediator, approved by the court, to carry out your MIAM, as well as signing the relevant page in your C100 Form. The cost will very, but expect to pay up to £200 for this.

Can you avoid the MIAM Fee?

In short, no. Unless you are entitled to Legal Aid, you will not be able to have this fee waived. The mediator who carries out your MIAM will be able to tell you if you qualify for legal aid.

You could avoid the MIAM altogether in exceptional circumstances, if the court agrees that a MIAM is not appropriate or necessary for your case.

Court Fees

In order to have your case heard by the court, you will need to complete the C100 form. In 2021, the cost of submitting the C100 rose to £232. If you don’t qualify for any financial assistance for filing forms with the court, this is all you will need to pay. Whether your case is over in one hearing, or if you have to attend court several times, all you will pay to the court is the cost of filing this form.

Can You Avoid The C100 Fee?

You can have court fees waived if you are on a low income. There is a threshold for single adult and couple households, and the earnings threshold changes depending on the number of financially dependant children that you have.

You can visit the official government page for this information and the form that you need to complete in order to have your court fees waived.

We hope that this has helped you. Many families are struggling financially at the moment and so we hope that finding out how to get family court free or as close to free as possible will help you to maintain a relationship with your children without falling into financial hardship as a result.

Recovering Costs in Family Court

Is it common for one party to ask for costs to be recovered in family court?

No. Family courts do not commonly issue orders for one party to pay any costs in private proceedings about children, whether it’s a child arrangements order, a prohibited steps order or a specific issues order. There are a number of reasons for this:

The threat of having to pay any costs could cause a person to choose not to apply to court since their financial situation may not allow for further costs.
Souring the relationship between parties in family court is not in the best interest of the children.
It is not in the child’s best interests to take money from the family which are there to meet the needs of the child.

Why may a court make a costs order?

These are some examples of occasions where a costs order has been made:

A parent refused to attend mediation, using their better financial position to attempt to sway the other parent to sign a shared residence order before agreeing to the mediation. The court agreed that the parent was using their financial position to their advantage to manipulate the other parent, and in the process was also ignoring CAFCASS recommendations too.

A parent had been put in a difficult position and struggled with issues with contact due to an unfounded allegation from the other parent about sexual abuse that had been found to be false.

A parent applied for a resident order although they were not in a position to safely accommodate their child’s needs and then refused to participate in an ordered drug and alcohol test or to see a clinical psychologist.

A court ordered that a party must pay for two thirds of the other parent’s costs when a fact finding hearing found that the majority of allegations made against him could be proven.

What Legal Aid Is Available For Family Issues?

This article looks at the various options that may be available to you if you need help to pay legal costs in the family court. We take a look at legal aid, eligibility and what is covered as well as the evidence that you will need to support your application for legal aid.

What Is Legal Aid

For those who are eligible, legal aid is help with legal costs associated with family matters. This is funded by the public and covers legal advice, family mediation and representation in court or at a tribunal. In England and Wales, financial support for court cases is provided by The Legal Aid Agency.

Three key points are considered when assessing applications for legal aid:

Scope – To ensure that the application to the court or the matter that financial assistance is being sought for is covered.
Means test – Your income is assessed to ensure that you can’t afford to pay for your own legal costs.
Merits test – How successful are you likely to be? Are the costs reasonable? Would someone pay money for the case if they could afford to do so?

Different Types of Legal Aid

Legal help – your award will cover the cost of a solicitor advising you about your case and even negotiating with the other party in the case, but they will not represent you at court.
Family Mediation – A solicitor will help you to negotiate with the other party outside of the courtroom in a Family Mediation capacity.
Legal Representation – A solicitor can represent you in court or they may even arrange for a barrister. The solicitor will prepare your case for you so that you have full legal assistance throughout the case.

What Kinds of Issues Qualify For Legal Aid?

You may be able to get financial assistance if your family issues include any of the following:

Family Mediation – This can be part of an application to court or it could be a measure to help you and your ex to come to an amicable arrangement outside of the court room. Issues dealt with in mediation include financial and child arrangements matters at the heart of a breakup.
An application for a restraining order
An application for an occupancy or non molestation order
Applications for a Child Arrangements Order, Prohibited Steps Order or Specific Issue Order if you or your child are at risk of suffering harm or have suffered violence or abuse from the other party.
Representation for children who become party to a family court proceeding
An application for a forced marriage protection order
Proceedings initiated by the local authority to apply for a supervision or care order
Family issues where your child is going to be taken out of the UK without your consent.
Some exceptional cases, for example where it would be an infringement of your Human Rights under EU law to refuse you access to legal representation.
Applications from 10th December 2015 for post-adoption contact where there is proof of domestic violence or abuse against a child or if the child has been made party to proceedings.

If you think that your case would qualify for legal aid, then you would not need any evidence to speak to a legal aid solicitor, but in order to verify your eligibility, you will need to produce sufficient evidence.

The Legal Aid Finder is a tool that you can use to find a registered solicitor to help you with your case.

Means Tested

You will find that most applications for Legal Aid for family isues are means tested. This means that you will need to be on a low income to qualify. You will be asked for details of your income including benefits, savings and invstments and you will need to produce this information for your partner too if you live with one.

Some family issues don’t require you to provide your financial means, for example if your child is in care or if they are subject of supervision proceedings.

How Do You Go About Applying For Legal Aid?

If you believe that you fulfill the criteria above and you think that you could be eligible for legal aid, you should contact Civil Legal Advice or you could make a direct appointment with a legal aid solicitor. If you apply directly to a solicitor, they will need to apply to the Legal Aid Agency for the funding for your family issues. You are usually given time scales in which to provide documents for the Legal Aid Agency so it is important to ensure that you get copies of any paperwork that you may need to prevent your application being delayed or closed.

If your application is successful, then you will be issued with a Certificate from the Legal Aid Agency and this will give a figure for the amount of funds that you have been awarded to spend on your case along with the type of family issues that you will be allowed to use the funds for.

If you have any changes in circumstances, it is your duty to report these changes as soon as possible.

Making Decisions Together

Even if you have split up with the child’s other parent, you will always be your child’s parent, just as much as the other parent is. This means that you both have a responsibility towards your child. This involves bringing up the child to be a happy and well rounded member of society and making big decisions that will have a large impact on their life and development.

Despite the fact that by law, you both have equal parental rights in this regard, it can be hard to make these major decisions because you may both have dfferent viewpoints. You should ensure that you try to be as amicable as possible, make compromises where necessary and to accept and respect that the other parent has their own ideas and feelings. Remember that you are the adults so you need to act as maturely as you can. You should also remember that no matter what the other parent tries to tell you, you have an equal right to make these major decisions as they do.

Why Make Decisions Together?

Whenever you acquire Parental Responsibility, from then on, you will have the responsibility to make decisions for your child’s wellbeing and other important decisions affecting their life including things like their education. The other parent does too. In order to make these decisions in the best interests of your child, you should both work together so that you can agree on the best course of action for your child. Not only will this prevent any competition between you and keep things out of court, but your child will see you acting together as parents and this will help your child to feel safe and less like being caught in the middle of adult relationship issues.

Teamwork

Working as a team doesn’t mean agreeing on everything, but instead you need to develop the tools that are necessary for effective communication. Stay calm, listen and think about the other person’s point of view instead of focussing on your own. Remember that it is your child who matters most and not getting your own way or ‘winning’. Shouting, arguing and making threat are all examples of negative actions that will be sure to cause conflict between you and your ex, as well as failing to reach a joint decision.

The Law and Your Rights

The father and the mother of the child both have an equal right to make these major decisions in their child’s life. This does not include day to day decisions for a child however. Whether you are the resident parent or if you have contact, the other parent is not entitled to tell you what to do whilst the child is in your care. In addition, you musn’t try to dictate to your ex what they should or should not be doing whilst they spend time with the child on a day to day basis.

Remember that for all major decisions including medical, education or financial, you have the right to be kept informed and to be consulted about these major decisions. If you feel that you arebeing left out of this decision making process, then you will need to apply to court to have the issue resolved.

Mediation

Often, parents find that they struggle to communicate effectively with one another. If you find yourself in this situation, then you should consider mediation. The mediator will facilitate communication between you as well as giving you the tools to communicate more effectively in the future. Sometimes however, mediation is not enough and you may need to take the matter to court.

Ultimately, you must remember that nobody will be able to agree with another person about everything. Instead, you have to accept that some compromises will need to be made. Think about buildig a safe and happy future for your child involving the other parent instead of making the decision making process a competitive one.

Child Maintenance

What is Child Maintenance?

Child maintenance payments are frequent payments to the resident parent by the non resident parent to assist with the maintenance of the child. The resident parent is the parent with whom the child lives with for the majority of the time whilst the non resident parent may have overnight contact with the child but for fewer nights than the child is at the other parent’s home.

In order to ensure that these payments are made reguarly and on time, the parents must come to an agreemant. This is called a maintenance agreement. Your payments may be managed by the Child support agency for claims that were initiated before 2012, but after this time, it will be the chils maintenance scheme. CMS require a fee of £20 for anyone applying to initiate child support payments.

Maintenance Agreements

You could come up with a maintenance agreement with your ex partner. This is an agreement that is made out of court and you can put it into writing once you have decided on the amount that will be paid. This is great in principle as it will encourage you and your ex to communicate constructively as well as keepig the matter out of the court room, but there are times where it won’t work. If circumstances between the two of you change, for example if you begin to earn more or less or if the non resident parent has more overnight contacts than when the agreement was made then this can lead to disagreements. Non payment of maintenance can also become a costly problem as these agreements must be resolved in a civil court. As well as being expensive to resolve these disputes, it can also take a long time.

How Much Child Maintenance Should I Pay?

Income

Your income is taken into account before tax and national insurance contributions have been deducted. This is known as your gross income. If you ar slef employed, the amount you will need to pay is calculated using your taxable profits.

If you apply to the CMS to calculate the payments made then they will calculate the amount that will need to be paid. If you would prefer, you can also come up with an agreement of your own with the other parent. If you are unable to agree then you should use the CMS guidelines.

It should be noted that there are some circumstances where the normal rules for calculating the amount of maintenance to be paid will not apply.

Exemptions or Deductions

If you fall into one or more of the following categories, you may not have to pay any or to pay a reduced rate of child maintenance:

If your gross weekly income is below £7
If you are in prison
If you are less than 16 years old
If you are enrolled in certain government approved training and are aged between 16 and 19 years old
If you are in full time further education and aged between 16 and 19 years old
if you receive income support or certain other means tested benefits and ages between 16 and 17 years old
If you are part of someone elses claim for one of the aforementioned benefits and ages between 16 and 17 years old
If you receive help with fees for a care home or hospital where you currently reside

Shared Parenting

Some people are entitled to a reduction in their payments if they have their children overnight. This must be at least 1 night per week on average and often, the CMS will ask for a copy of a court order to prove this.

Some parents have a 50/50 care arrangement. If you share care of your children equally with the other parent then neither parent will pay maintenance to the other.

The reduction in payments is usually worked out by reducing the payment by one seventh per night.

Children From A New Relationship

If you have children in a new relationship, you should let the CMS know immediately. If the children are financially dependant on you then it is possible that your existing maintenance payments may be affected.

Final Payments

You should expect to pay child maintenance until the child is 16 years old. If the child continues their eduction full time, then you will need to continue child maintenance payments until they complete their studies or when the child reaches 20 years of age.

Disputing Parentage

If a parent disputes parentage then the CMS will put the application on hold until the parents have reached an agreement about parentage. There are some cases where it is not possible to dispute parentage with the CMS however:

If the father was married to the mother between the conception and birth of the child.
If the father is registered on the birth certificate either by registering the birth with the mother or with a court order
If a DNA test is refused by the alleged father or if a DNA test proves paternity
If the parents have signed a declaration of parentage

it is important that you clearly dispute parentage as soon as you receive communication from CMS otherwise you will be liable to pay child support.

Non Payment of Child Maintenance

There are a number of ways in which the CSA or CMS are able to ensure that earnings are enforced. These include:

Direct deductions from earnings
A prision sentence of up to 6 weeks
Supension of a driving license

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