Before beginning to assess your respective claims and how these might be resolved, there needs to be full and frank financial disclosure of each of your financial positions. Both parties have a duty to provide full and frank disclosure and failure to do so can result in any agreement that is made being set aside later and can have very expensive consequences.
Sometimes ‘voluntary disclosure’ can be very straightforward as you both may have a clear picture of your assets and any liabilities, and you both may be in agreement as to the settlement you want to achieve. If necessary, if one person is reluctant to produce disclosure but the other party requires this, court proceedings can be issued to resolve financial matters and, as part of the process, financial disclosure must be produced.
Once we have an understanding of your and your spouse’s financial positions, we will be able to advise you about the appropriate financial outcome for you. The more information we have about your financial positions, the more specific and accurate our advice will be.