At George Green our Family Solicitors always advise clients to consider reaching a financial settlement with their spouse upon separation. A financial settlement can help to avoid any outstanding financial claims in the future even after your divorce has been finalised.

If you cannot reach an agreement with your ex-spouse you may need to apply to the court to decide how your finances are to be divided. The court may make a lump sum payment order which requires your ex-spouse to pay a lump sum of money to you. Alternatively, the court may order a part payment when the court order is made followed by other payments, for example, when the property is sold.

If the court orders that your ex-spouse must pay the lump sum by instalments and there is a concern they may not make the payments, they can be secured against their property or assets as long as they have sufficient assets. The court has the power to vary, discharge, or suspend any provisions of the order temporarily or revive an order for a lump sum by instalments at some point in the future.

On the other hand, the court may order a series of lump sum payments where a number of lump sums must be paid on set dates. In this case, the payments cannot be secured against a property or assets which may be concerning if you are uncertain about whether your ex-spouse will make the payments. The court does not have the power to make any changes to this type of order.

At George Green LLP our specialist Family Solicitors are experts in advising clients in respect of financial orders upon divorce.  Our expert Family Lawyers have offices based in Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath and serve clients across the West Midlands and Black Country including Stourbridge, Wolverhampton, Penkridge, Halesowen, Birmingham and beyond.  If you complete our online enquiry form, a member of our team will contact you for an initial discussion. Alternatively, you can call 01902 328 365 and speak to Alex Mansfield, who is an Associate Solicitor based in our Wolverhampton office.