Clean break order

My stbx is threatening me with a vested interest in future inheritance. Do I have to wait until the divorce is finalised before I seek a Clean Break order? What happens if stb won't agree?

Can you be a wee bit more explicit as to what you mean by
'threatening me with a vested interest in future inheritances '. Do you mean that he intends to make a claim on future inheritances you receive ?

If so, then he can probably forget it ; a Court would not take potential inheritances into account unless the donor was already dead or terminally ill ; see case of Michael v Michael, 2FLR 389.

Mike

What if they die before the divorce is finalised? I couldn't be more precise as I don't have much idea what he was talking about anyway!!
Thanks for your imput Mike

Donnylass,
Usually a clean break order is used where parties are fully in agreement with each other on the finances.

The ususal course of events in a non-contentious situation is to obtain the degree nisi (stage 1), apply for ancillary relief / agree finances and draw up a Consent Order. Both parties need to take legal advice to ensure settlement is fair (and so the other can';t come back later moaning that they have been badly done to) and have the consent order rubber stamped by the court. Once done, apply for Decree Absolute and get on with your new single life.

Often couples will negotiate equity in house against pension entitlement to obtain a clean break.

Without a clean break, if there is a significant change in circumstances (e.g. lottery win, inheritance) then the one party can come back and seek an adjustment to claim against the other party's good fortune.

Courts favour clean breaks, as it is a fairer outcome that is arrived at by negoiation, and more likely to be adhered to by both parties.

If your STBX is being awkward, sadly apart form negotiation there isn't much you can do other than to take it to court and have a judge decide a 'fair' settlement. Different Judge + different day = different result If it goes to court, you spend a huge amount of the marital pot on both sides on solicitors - as much as 10K each.

Given that, it is sometimes worth conceding a reasonable chunk of cash upfront to get a clean break rather than have it drag on and incur huge costs.

mediation is a good way of trying to find a solution, but i would recommend lettign the dust settle a little first. A few months can make a huge difference in letting the emotions calm down in order to face a financial asset split in a stable mindset.

Read this thread through:
www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Divorce-Forum/...diation/Page-15.html

Best of luck

Mike

thanks for that, makes more sense now.
DL