Divorce column March 2025

Divorce top tips
Going through a divorce can be challenging so here are a few
top tips to bear in mind:
1. Seek legal advice early: Taking legal advice early enables
you to learn about your rights and how the process works.
Early advice might also enable you to take steps to protect
your interests, make important informed decisions early and
perhaps avoid costly mistakes.
2. Organise your finances: Gather your financial documents
early, such as property values, mortgage details, payslips, bank
statements, tax returns, pension values etc. Sooner or later it will
be necessary to exchange disclosure with the other side and
making an early start on preparing this can help speed things
up and streamline the process.
3. Be prepared to compromise: Keep your expectations realistic.
It’s important to understand that you will almost certainly need
to compromise in some way. Rarely does one party have
everything all their own way. Rarely, if ever, does one party
exit a marriage entirely on their own terms. Be willing to make
concessions where necessary and compromise within reason.
It’s not a weakness to be sensible and realistic.
4. Consider the children: Divorce can have a profound impact
on children in many ways. Thought will obviously need to be
given to who the children will live with, where they will live,
contact arrangements, schooling and so on, but also careful
consideration needs to be had for their emotional and
psychological wellbeing and appreciate that some children
may struggle with coming to terms with the fact that their family
is breaking up.
5. Pick your battles: Fighting over absolutely everything can
prolong the process, escalate tensions and add unnecessary
expense. It makes sense to identify, prioritise and focus on
which issues are worth fighting for and if necessary be willing
to let go on smaller disagreements that might not be worth the
stress, conflict and expense of arguing over.
For advice and assistance regarding divorce and related matters
please get in touch – we have a lot of experience advising,
guiding and supporting clients in this area of law.