This is a process whereby both parties privately hire a judge – referred to as an evaluator – for a day to listen to and evaluate their case and give them a reliable indicator of the likely outcome if they were to go to court. The parties will hear the evaluator’s recommendations on the day, but no orders will be made.
Only when all of the assets have been valued can negotiations start. However, while the starting point for the division of assets upon divorce in the UK is still 50/50, there are a few exceptions to what is eligible for equitable distribution.
Matrimonial vs non-matrimonial assets
Marital acquest is the term used to describe assets acquired during the course of the marriage or civil partnership, although this will generally include anything from the date of cohabitation if that came earlier.
Non-matrimonial assets, as the name suggests, refers to assets that are acquired by a party before the parties met or after a marriage or civil partnership.
As well as high-value possessions, assets can include property, pension plans, businesses, savings, investments and inheritance.
While matrimonial assets are divided equally, the law regards non-matrimonial assets as being separate and ringfenced from the shared pot in the event of divorce.
Where a collection has been accrued before and during a marriage or civil partnership, clients are advised to keep an inventory detailing when each of the items was acquired and by whom or, if one is not already available, create one retrospectively.
The distinction between matrimonial and non-matrimonial assets is subject to some exceptions of its own, of course, the biggest in most cases being the family home, which is considered differently regardless of who legally owns the property.
Any assets transferred into joint ownership during the union, even if acquired by one party beforehand, will form part of the shared pot.
Assets that started out as non-matrimonial may also become less so over time if they are ‘intermingled’ with matrimonial assets; for example, if property acquired by one spouse before a marriage or civil partnership has been used as the main home or sold and the proceeds used to jointly buy another property.
Another scenario is where non-matrimonial assets are drawn into the shared pot to be divided if, by excluding them, the party who does not own them is left without adequate provision for their financial needs.
In this context, financial need is calculated by looking at the length of the marriage or civil partnership, the standard of living they have enjoyed during it, and their income of both parties amongst other statutory factors.
