JMW Secures Client’s Financial Future in International Divorce Case
JMW’s family law solicitors represented a woman in a protracted divorce case that had depleted marital assets. We secured a strong financial settlement despite the couple’s limited assets in a complicated case that involved international considerations.
The Case
Our client needed assistance in securing a financial settlement following her divorce. She had been involved in protracted proceedings with her former husband regarding their children, which had resulted in the assets of the parties diminishing quite substantially. This was a modest asset case with one property in the UK, two properties in India and limited income for both parties.
A key issue was how to divide the assets in such a way that both parties were able to rehouse and move forward with their lives. Our client had also accrued high levels of debt during the marriage and had little income to repay this, having struggled to secure work following the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant that our client needed a way to address her debts with the financial settlement she received, as well as meet her day-to-day expenses.
How We Helped
The client chose JMW as she recognised that, even though the assets in this case were modest, it was still a difficult case. She was looking for a divorce lawyer who could provide tailored advice to help protect her position and who could also deal confidently with assets located overseas.
We took a thorough and practical approach to preparing the client’s case, and took care in drafting statements, preparing for hearings and providing ongoing support and advice. We emphasised to the court that the husband had paid his living expenses from resources built up during the marriage when he was out of work, and argued that it was only right that our client was entitled to have her debts paid from the matrimonial assets.
We also considered practical options to maximise the overall award, recognising from the outset that the assets were scarce and every penny counted.
The Outcome
The court ordered that the two properties in India were to be transferred to our client and that the husband should pay her a lump sum of £48,000. In addition, the court ordered that our client should receive 25% of her husband’s pension entitlement. This was a fantastic outcome for our client, as the bulk of the pension provision was non-matrimonial. This meant that the client initially stood to receive only around 9% of the pension.
We successfully argued that decisions taken during the marriage meant that our client had forgone the opportunity to accumulate her own pension provision, and therefore a higher sharing award was justified. This outcome helped our client address her debts and plan for longer-term stability.
