Delaying a divorce because of financial prejudice: the new no-fault law and practice

There can be real loss and prejudice in some divorce cases if the final divorce order, previously the decree absolute, is granted before the final financial settlement and its implementation in circumstances when the paying party then dies.  Automatic entitlement to pensions, the primary circumstance, but also insurance policies, beneficial interest in trusts and similar are then not available as the applicant is now divorced, financial remedy claims are no longer available after death and there might have to be a difficult and separate civil claim.  The usual answer from the law, and perhaps just as crucially by the practice of lawyers, is to delay the final divorce order until the financial settlement has come through.  But the new no-fault divorce has ended some opportunities to defend a divorce pending the financial settlement or to go deliberately slowly.  The new provisions in the legislation arguably do not go far enough to give adequate protections, if based on previous case law.  In any event, what is the procedure being adopted at the digital divorce centres?  This article looks at the background to the relevant legislation, how it might be applied and operating

This article was originally published in the Financial Remedies Journal