HOW THE FAMILY LAW CONSIDERS REMEDIES
OTHER ASSETS
‘Non-matrimonial assets.’
The law can allow a distinction to be made for those assets acquired by either of you whether before or during your marriage or after you have separated. These may be called ‘non-matrimonial assets’.
This will most often relate to a business, inheritance or other property that has not been ‘merged and mingled’ with the ‘matrimonial asset’ pot, because it has been retained in the sole name of one spouse and not in joint names.
The law looks at all of the assets in the marriage (not necessarily just ‘of’ the marriage) with the need to then determine which, if any, fall outside the category of being a ‘matrimonial asset’?
‘Dissipation of assets’ by one spouse
This relates to those assets within the marriage that have been ‘lost’ as a result of one or the other frittering away the value, perhaps by gambling, or selling at an undervalue. The value of the lost asset might be ‘added back’ to when the final calculation for fair sharing is carried out, in the interests of rectifying what could otherwise be deemed unfair to the affected spouse. However, such financial ‘conduct’ can be very difficult to prove as being sufficiently bad to be taken into account. Often the focus remains on what is left, rather than what is lost.
These are just a taste of the many other factors that the court takes into account and that you may wish to discuss, depending on your individual circumstances, so do please contact us for a free initial half hour consultation with one of our family law experts.
To explore your options further and receive personalised legal guidance, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team of experts. You can reach us at 01202 203200 or via email at enquiries@hgw.evmk.dev. Alternatively, you can fill out our contact form for a Free 30-minute Consultation here.