Getting a financial settlement on divorce does not always involve just you and your ex. It can impact on other family members, business partners or trustees.
The starting point for any discussion about splitting assets on divorce is to work out what's in the pot to be divided. That exercise can be relatively straightforward or may be more complex, but in most cases it's something that involves only you and your ex. But what if a third party claims that they have an interest in an asset? Perhaps you or you ex's parents provided funds for your family home and are now saying that this entitles them to a share in its value. If that's right then their interest will reduce the overall value of the assets that are available for sharing between you both. If there's a dispute about the position (and more often than not one of the couple is siding with the third party and the other is resisting the claim), the extent of their interest will have to be dealt with before the court can make a final financial order. This usually involves the third party being added (or "joined") formally to the financial proceedings as what is called an "intervenor".
Whether it is you getting the divorce and facing a claim against the assets or you are the third party looking to intervene to protect your interest, you need prompt, expert advice.
Our experience
Cases involving third parties are not straightforward. They are complicated and require skillful handling to ensure a fair outcome. We have a longstanding reputation for dealing with complex intervenor cases. Our wide range of work includes:
- successfully defending our clients' interest in their son and daughter-in-law's property, where they had provided a substantial loan to when it was bought
- advising in one of the largest cases ever brought in the High Court which involved a complex structure of trusts and companies. Representing the beneficiaries we successfully defended the attack that was being made on the trusts, enabling them to continue to provide financial support for future generations as had always been intended
- representing the interests of the trustees of a substantial land holding and farming business in a divorce, helping to structure a financial settlement that achieved our clients’ aim of avoiding the trust from being broken up