Separation Agreement

DoDa

Hi, I understand that prior to divorce a couple can complete a separation agreement without the aid of a solicitor and that these can be downloaded for free from the web. I'm struggling to find one...has anyone been down this route and offer any general advice and/or suggest where I can find a form.
Thanks.

WillowCat

It is best just to get divorced and sort out the finances in the normal way.

A separation agreement, if made, may carry weight in any future financial court hearings. In order to do so, you must have disclosure (i.e. each of you knowing the finances of the other), you must understand what you're potentially giving up (normally by getting legal advice), there must be no duress or undue pressure, and the agreement must be 'fair' though there is a wider range of discretion as to what fairness is with an agreement. Most importantly the agreement must not prejudice the needs of a child.

If you do go down this route I thoroughly recommend that you each have a solicitor. This will enable you to show that the issues of disclosure, legal advice, duress and undue pressure will not be an issue.

Later on, if one of you wishes to resile (reject) the agreement you will need to go through the normal court hearings in order to have the agreement turned into a court order. If your circumstances have changed or the agreement is not deemed to carry enough weight then the order may not be what you had originally agreed.

I speak as someone who did have a DIY separation agreement upheld in court - it was extremely stressful and took several years and I would not recommend that route to anyone.

TBagpuss

For a separation agreement to carry any weight at all, you will both need to have given full financial disclosure and to have taken independent legal advice.


As Willowcat says, you'll almost certainly be better off just going straight for the divorce and sorting the finances in an order.

It is possible (although not normally, a good idea) to have an order without legal advice, but unless you have very, very simple finances and are very confident about what you are doing, this is not something to try without proper advice.

If you are trying to save money then do the divorce yourself That is much more straightforward that the finances so if you can't afford proper advice for the whole lot, focus on getting advice for the financial settlement, that's where you need it most.

caprikid1

"It is best just to get divorced and sort out the finances in the normal way."


Whilst they have value without legal advice etc they have little wait I am led to believe.


I had exactly the same conversation with my solicitor and ex wife. We decided to get divorced on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour. It was merely a paperwork exercise to get the finances sorted. All worked out fine for us, divorce was as per we had agreed previously despite the best efforts of our combined solicitors.