When you are considering a divorce, there are many things that need sorting out.
Of course, you need to legally end the marriage, and there are usually arrangements about children which need finalising one way or the other. We frequently have enquiries from people who tell us that ‘there is nothing to sort out’ in relation to money, because they don’t have any! They don’t own a house, they don’t have any savings, there are no pensions etc and therefore what’s the point in getting any final order?
A case currently been heard in the Supreme Court is proof that it is always better to sort out finances by way of a final order. This is a landmark case in which the wife, Miss Wyatt and the husband Mr Vince married in 1981 when both were penniless travellers, living largely on state benefits. They divorced in 1992 and went their separate ways. Miss Wyatt was left to care for the young son and her daughter from a previous relationship who had been treated as Mr Vince’s daughter during their marriage.
Mr Vince founded Ecotricity in 1995 which has gone on to become one of the UK’s biggest green energy companies. He is now worth an estimated £107,000,000.
Miss Wyatt is making a claim for maintenance for each yearsince she divorced in 1992 at around £100,000 per year. Her claim was rejected by the Court of Appeal, but it is now up to the Supreme Court to decide.
Successive court have felt that the claim has been made too late. It maybe that the Supreme Court agrees. However the main point is, had the parties sorted out their finances when they divorced, (they should have been eligible for Legal Aid then) Miss Wyatt is highly unlikely to have any prospect of succeeding on her claim. A straight forward dismissal of claims is generally the best way to finalise all financial claims once a marriage has broken down. If both parties have had legal advice, both people make full financial disclosure, and there are no other factors which might lead a court to overturn an order in subsequent years, the parties can go on their separate ways without a look behind.
Therefore in cases such a Mr Vince’s, he would be able to defeat any claim, whenever made, by Miss Wyatt and it is likely that he is now regretting that he did not take this step in 1992.
The moral of the story: see a specialist solicitor ( nb see our blog What’s wrong with an Internet Divorce?) , get a final order, and sleep easy!