Can my former spouse make financial claims against me?

Question

My wife and I separated in 2006 after being married for 17 years. We did not have children together and we decided that we would sell our home and divide the proceeds of sale equally between us.

We agreed that we would both keep our pensions and we divided the contents of our home by agreement. At the time, we were both working full-time and earned similar salaries. My wife prepared the divorce documentation and neither of us felt the need to seek the advice of a solicitor.

My wife has now been made redundant. She has received a modest redundancy payment which she will be able use to meet her day-to-day living expenses for a short time. She has told me that if she is unable to find a new job I will need to pay spousal maintenance to her.

I believed the agreement reached at the time of our separation would be binding. Can my former wife make financial claims against me so many years after our divorce?

Answer

For a financial agreement to be binding on divorce, the terms of the agreement must be recorded in a consent order which must then be submitted to the court for approval. If an approved consent order is not in place, all financial claims from the marriage will remain live and former spouses can seek to make financial claims against each other, even many years after the divorce.

Personal and financial circumstances may well have changed in the intervening years and the court could make an order that further cash lump sums are paid, that pension sharing orders are made, or that spousal maintenance is paid.

In these circumstances it would be possible for a former spouse to seek spousal maintenance, particularly if they were not able to meet their needs from their own resources and their former spouse has the means to pay spousal maintenance.

It is only possible to protect against this situation by entering into a consent order at the time of your divorce.

For more information, or to discuss any aspect of family law, contact Janine Hutson on 01772 258321 or at janine.hutson@harrison-drury.com