Clean break years after a divorce

laurajane6486

Bit of background as it might make a difference?...Myself and my ex husband met in 2003, moved in together in 2007, married in 2010, separated in 2011 and divorced in 2012. Our divorce was pretty straightforward logistically (not so much emotionally) as we had no children, no property (we rented our house) and very little savings at that time. What savings and household items we had we split between us. We didn't apply for a "clean break" order because neither of us knew about it and, as we didn't use solicitors to divorce, no one advised us to.

We haven't had any contact at all for over 4 years. I know that he has bought a house since, and I have also bought my own house. I am starting to build up my savings again having used what I had for the deposit on my house. I have no idea if he has any savings, although I think he received some inheritance a few years ago. We both have NHS pensions. I earn almost double what he earns.

I recently met someone who is being "stung" by his ex wife years after their divorce because they didn't apply for a clean break order. I had no idea what this was. When we divorced I assumed that was it. It seems it isn't! I certainly don't want anything of his. But I worry that one day he might come after my finances and/or assets, particularly my pension as it will likely be worth a lot more than his. Something that may make this worse is that he is disabled and, although he has always worked, I worry that maybe one day he won't be able to and that might make him more likely to try to go after my finances, or more swayed to do so if he found out he could.

I think applying for a clean break would be a good idea, but I'm worried that doing so will cause suspicion from him as to why I am suddenly doing it. I don't want him to think my circumstances have suddenly changed for the better hence why I'm trying to protect myself. And if he looks into the clean break thoroughly he might realise he could apply for a share of my pension, something I don't think he currently realises. And I obviously I don't want that.

What do I do?? I'm so confused. I wish I had known about this five years ago!

krlyr

I would see if you can get a free half hour appointment with a solicitor for advice on the matter - especially considering your marriage may be considered a 'short marriage' which may help matters (usually both parties restored to their financial situations prior to the short marriage)

prosaver

https://www.wikivorce.com
knows a lot

chesky

How long was the person you spoke to married to his wife? Did they have children? When did all this happen? Did she work or was she a stay-at-home mum?
It may be that your circumstances are totally different from his. But it would probably be worth your while making an appointment with a solicitor to make sure.

Vodkalass75

My ex husband & I sorted out a clean break 5 years after our divorce. I never used a solicitor, I always said that I wouldn't claim his pension etc but he wanted it done because he never relised that I could claim. His solicitor even offered me a percentage of his pension but I said no.It was a job to convince the judge etc that I knew what I was doing. As long as he provided for our 3 boys I didn't want anything from him & he always has & continues to do so even for our eldest who is 21 & a full time student.

TBagpuss

In the event that your ex did seek to claim against you, a court would have the over-riding aim of reaching a financial settlement fair to you both, taking into account all the relevant circumstances, including the length of the marriage and the time since the separation.

Even if he does try to claim against your pension, he might not succeed, but any claim would be smaller now than in another 5 years!

That said, given that you had a relatively short, childless marriage it is likely (but not certain) that the court would see a clean break as a fair outcome.

Given his disability and the difference between your incomes, it would make sense to try to sort it out now rather than leaving it any longer.

Pyxis

Slight deviation, but does anyone know, in the event of your ex-husband remarrying, whether he would still have any claim against your future occupational pension?

pphillips

I'm not sure what your worried about, unless either of you have had a significant change of circumstances since the divorce that would have an effect on the settlement agreed at the time or if you think that the settlement was very unfair on your ex-husband and he would have challenged it if he had received legal advice.

Assuming the settlement was fair, taking into account all the relevant circumstances, and nothing has since changed significantly I think both parties would be held to what was agreed and therefore it would be best to go for a consent order asap. However you may decide to go for a consent order in any event to give you peace of mind and certainty concerning the future.

The previous post is not usually relevant for a short marriage as in the event of your husband remarrying he is still be able to make a claim against occupational pension(s) that were accrued during the marriage but he would have to prove that this was not considered as part of any previous financial settlement.

laurajane6486

pphillips wrote: »

I'm not sure what your worried about, unless either of you have had a significant change of circumstances since the divorce that would have an effect on the settlement agreed at the time or if you think that the settlement was very unfair on your ex-husband and he would have challenged it if he had received legal advice.

Assuming the settlement was fair, taking into account all the relevant circumstances, and nothing has since changed significantly I think both parties would be held to what was agreed and therefore it would be best to go for a consent order asap. However you may decide to go for a consent order in any event to give you peace of mind and certainty concerning the future.

The previous post is not usually relevant for a short marriage as in the event of your husband remarrying he is still be able to make a claim against occupational pension(s) that were accrued during the marriage but he would have to prove that this was not considered as part of any previous financial settlement.

I'm not sure whether you've actually read my post? There was no settlement, we did not use solicitors. So now, or in the future, either one of us could request that a court look at our finances and decide how to split them, inc pensions, despite us having been divorced for 5 years. My concern is that he could do that now, or any time in the future, if he suddenly realises that.

pphillips

Yes i did read your post and I thought what you wrote was clear. You wrote that there was a settlement at the time of the divorce but you said that settlement was informal as it was never formalised by solicitors into a consent order, but just because it was an informal settlement that does not mean that the court will automatically disregard it and not hold either party to it. You did not mention any marital assets which you still had yet to divide up.

The problem that you communicated was that if he thought the settlement you agreed upon was unfair or he fell on hard time in the future then he could apply to the court and that he was free to do so because the settlement had not been formalised. You therefore need to protect yourself from any claims in future and a consent order is the correct mechanism to achieve that objective, it seems it is best that you do so before any major changes occur.

PeacefulWaters

Pyxis wrote: »

Slight deviation, but does anyone know, in the event of your ex-husband remarrying, whether he would still have any claim against your future occupational pension?

Yes. And your future lottery wins.

Do the paperwork now and cap the risks for all parties.