Family Law Insights: When It Comes to Financial Remedy Proceedings, Divorce Is a Team Sport

John Randle, Head of Family Practice

John is a specialist family solicitor with over 40 years’ experience dealing with complex, high value divorce cases.

With the introduction of no-fault divorce, many individuals or couples are choosing to avoid lengthy and costly court processes by managing their own divorces. While this decision is understandable, it is often one they come to regret, particularly when the inevitable complications over finances or child arrangement arise. I will not rehash the legal arguments against self-service divorce (which I have written about: How do the Family Courts Treat “Bad Behaviour” in Financial Cases? and Divorce & Family Law – Financial Cases & Division of Assets).

Instead, I want to focus on the emotional hardships that often accompany divorce, particularly when it comes to financial remedy proceedings. It is my experience that many people going through financial separation, men especially, either downplay their emotional needs or end up neglecting them to their detriment.

I have represented many clients going through contested financial remedy proceedings and have always advocated that, where the client’s funds allow for it, it is crucially important for the client to have a full team to support them for the duration of the litigation.

Contested legal proceedings can last two to three years in some cases, and anyone approaching divorce needs to be prepared for that eventuality. The legal process is a marathon, not a sprint. It can at times be punishing. As fatigue sets in, many clients may be tempted to look for an easy way out, sometimes agreeing to a financial settlement that is manifestly against their best interests. It is understandable that they want the case to be over and the pain to cease, but with the right support they often find the reserves of strength needed to secure a far more favourable settlement.

In my view, it is the family law solicitor’s job to help their client find that strength by creating the right team around them. Divorce can be lonely; having the right professionals and emotional support can make all the difference during the process.

Recruiting the right team for a client’s divorce

The importance of a good working relationship between the client and the legal team can never be underestimated. It is here that the solicitor plays a particularly important role, drawing on his or her contacts and experience to assemble the right team to support the client’s range of needs throughout the entire process.  

While the right team will vary from client to client, it should generally include the following:

• Family law solicitor
• Counsellor or divorce coach
• GP
• Family law barrister
• Accountant
• Financial adviser
• Friends/family

Each of the above are either indispensable to or will add great support for any contested financial remedy proceedings case.

The client will likely endure very stark emotions during the process of separation. If not then, the emotional drain will certainly become apparent in the heat of litigation. This is where the role of a counsellor, or more likely the divorce coach is vital. The coach can guide the client when things get tough, helping them to be better handle the legal processes.

A financial adviser will of course be necessary to advise the client on matters such as financial investments and pension sharing during the financial remedy proceedings. They can also help the client to invest monies at the end of the case. This is especially true if the client was not responsible for managing the joint finances during marriage: for some clients it can be overwhelming to suddenly have to make important financial decisions, when in the past they have relied on their spouse.

If the case involves businesses or complex tax issues, then an accountant will need to be briefed to assist the team.

The GP can also play an important role in monitoring the client’s physical and mental health through the rollercoaster ride that is the financial proceedings in court.

Finally, friends and family will always have a large part to play in providing much needed moral support and a sounding board to the client along the way.

The advantages of a team approach to separation

Of course, the above assumes that the client can afford the luxury of a full team. In many cases, clients already feeling stretched by the costs of their divorce do not want to start spending freely on a team of support professionals. My advice is to pay for what you need to pay for wherever possible. And when it comes to divorce, you most certainly need to pay for support, even if it means calling on family and friends for loans or looking into other sources for legal funds.

The distinct advantage of the comprehensive team approach is that each professional brings a different skill set, enhancing the collective wellbeing of the client. The legal case will go through several ups and downs, with some particularly intense periods in the case, especially in the run up to court hearings. It is here that the emotional drain on the client will be at its highest. To keep the client “legally fit” to survive the marathon requires a delicate pulling on all the levers by the solicitor to ensure that the client gets the right help from the right team member as the situation develops.

Whist the quality of the legal advice on the case including strategy and tactics are essential tools for the client in these types of punishing proceedings, it is also vitally important for the client to get to the finishing line in one piece. The client will be using all their emotional energy just to get through the case. When they are feeling at their worst or feel like throwing in the towel, it is the team that will help them get there.  This, I firmly believe, is a part of the case strategy. By helping the client to stay the distance, the solicitor is helping the client to get the best possible outcome for them.

I have worked in this complex field for over forty years. I have seen how the ebbs and flows of contested proceedings can weigh heavy on the client’s psyche. The feeling of wanting to settle at all costs can at times be overwhelming. The client needs to be made aware of the risks of deciding on an offer in haste or settling a case on bad terms. It should be made clear that settling in haste almost certainly means repenting at leisure.

It is also of primary importance that the team is assembled at the beginning of the case. The solicitor and barrister need to be working from the same hymn sheet so the client can feel that their case will follow a consistent approach. If the barrister is instructed very late in the case – for example, in the weeks before an important hearing – that barrister’s court experience may necessitate a change of strategy. This last-minute change of plans can make the client feel even more vulnerable or nervous that their case has gone down the wrong path. A consistent and efficient approach from the start can help build the client’s confidence in their own case. The last thing the client wants before a crucial hearing is a change in approach.

So, what is the solicitor’s role in all of this? Aside from giving legal advice and setting case strategy, I like to think of my role as something akin to a personal trainer for an endurance athlete. Just as the athlete needs a physio, a sports psychologist and the like, the person going through a contested divorce, particularly where money is the central issue being contested, needs elite mental (and sometimes physical) conditioning. And matters will be more difficult for the client if the parties in the divorce are also contesting the child arrangements…

There is lot of psychology going on in these contested court proceedings, where the gap between love and hate between the parties is a close one. Litigation is often very brutal, but concentrating on the best financial settlement for the client is the end game. The client will have one shot at this case, and it is vital that the final settlement is the best they can get. Indeed, if the other side is behaving unreasonably, the client needs to be prepared to take the matter to a final hearing.

The client will need a great deal of “hand holding” through this intense period of their life, and the solicitor must remain compassionate and dispassionate in equal measure. The role of the team is to supply the passion when the solicitor must remain cool headed.