For this reason, professional advice should always be obtained.
Here are some examples of where things can go wrong unexpectedly:
Financial Claims following a Divorce
The couple who dealt with their divorce without professional assistance without realising that although they were no longer married to one another they were each able to pursue financial claims against the other both for maintenance, capital as well as pension claims and as a result an application into court to settle the parties financial claims was made many years after the divorce concluded.
Overturning a Financial Agreement reached without Legal Advice
Conversely, take the couple who divorced and agreed a financial settlement between them but without realising that divorce proceedings only concluded their marriage and did not include the financial settlement which they had agreed and implemented. As a result an application into court to settle the parties financial claims was made many years after the divorce concluded
Excessive Legal Costs and Long Delays
The party who started divorce proceedings based upon their spouses adultery, only their spouse refused to admit to the adultery which meant excessive legal costs were incurred in withdrawing the original divorce petition and starting the entire process again as the original divorce petition could not be pursued.
Mis-informed
The spouse who started divorce proceedings thinking this would award them a greater share of the assets in the financial settlement but regretfully it did not.
Missed Costs Award
The Spouse who did not pursue costs against their spouse as they had been told that they could not claims costs in the divorce – which of course was incorrect advice.
Loss of Control
The party who allowed their spouse to issue divorce proceedings as they had been told it made no difference only to find they had little control over how quickly the divorce application could be concluded.
The above scenarios are in no way exhaustive but are there to provide examples of the common misconceptions in divorce and emphasise the importance of securing specialist advise at the beginning of your case.
