Catherine and her husband, Brian, separated after 20 years of marriage. When Catherine came to us, Brian had proposed a financial settlement, which would have seen her retain the family home and a modest amount of savings. Catherine worked but did not earn anything like as much as Brian who owned a manufacturing business.

How we helped

We worked with Catherine to put together her financial disclosure for the court process and to set out detailed questions about Brian’s financial disclosure, which was not straightforward. We managed to get Brian’s solicitors to agree that the business would need to be valued before any negotiations could begin.

Once the business valuation, undertaken by a very highly regarded forensic accountant, was complete, it was clear that the original settlement proposal was far below what Catherine could expect to receive if the case were to be decided by a judge.

Settlement

Over the following months we negotiated a deal whereby Catherine would still retain the family home but would also get a large share of the family’s cash and savings to balance out the value of Brian’s business interests, which he retained. Catherine also received a substantial pension sharing order to provide her with security in retirement.