By Sadia Ahmed

Solicitor

24 March 2026

Article Blog

You’ve made the decision to end your marriage/civil partnership. You’ve had some hard conversations about who’s moving out and when. You and your (soon-to-be-) ex have largely decided what’s to happen with your finances – you’ll split the sale proceeds from the house sale, you’ll keep your own pensions, she’ll keep the business, you’ll split the money in the joint back account, you’ll each keep your own sole bank accounts and investments. That sounds fair, right? You’ve done some research online and it looks like a Consent Order (a document recording the terms of your financial agreement) might need to be drawn up and approved by the Court – to draw a line under the matter, get things sorted. You make an appointment with a solicitor and at that initial meeting, you ask them about this division of assets, you ask “is my agreement fair?”

The answer is not definitive. Unfortunately, it probably won’t ever be. After all, in the landmark case White v White [2000] UKHL 54, Lord Nicholls says “Features which are important when assessing fairness differ in each case. And, sometimes, different minds can reach different conclusions on what fairness requires. Then fairness, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder.”

The Court has a wide discretion when it comes to deciding the finances on a divorce or dissolution of civil partnership. There are number of ways your assets and income could be divided which could be considered “fair” by the Court. When you ask a solicitor whether your agreement is fair, what you are really asking is whether the terms of the agreement you have reached are one of various settlements that could (potentially) be approved by the Court. It is difficult to advise you about the possible fairness of your agreement without an understanding of your circumstances including (but not limited to) your financial circumstances.

Before you come to a decision on how to split your finances, think about whether you know what these finances look like. You’ve decided to keep your own sole bank accounts and investments – but do you know the current values of your ex’s various investments? You’ve decided to retain your respective pensions – but do you know what type of pension assets your ex has?

Where financial proceedings are started (i.e. someone makes an application to the Court asking the Court to decide how your finances should be divided), you and your ex would be mandated to each complete a comprehensive 30-page document called a Form E (Financial Statement). The Form E requires you both to outline your assets (including your pensions) and income and provide certain documents in evidence (e.g. bank statements for the last 12 months). The Forms E would then be exchanged so that hopefully* everyone (including you both, your legal advisers (if instructed) and the Court) has a full and complete picture of the finances involved.

Even where there are no financial proceedings, you can complete and exchange Forms E on a voluntary basis, and this route is often encouraged by solicitors to achieve full, frank and clear disclosure between the parties. It is often this level of disclosure that is required before a solicitor can fully advise you about the possible fairness of any agreement you have reached (or help you formulate/negotiate a settlement where an agreement hasn’t been reached yet).

There are other forms (and levels) of financial disclosure e.g. you could exchange a schedule (list) of assets with or without some documents in support. If you want to engage in mediation to try and reach an agreement in relation to finances, the mediator will guide you through a form of financial disclosure. In any case, where a Consent Order is submitted to the Court for its approval, a Form D81 (Statement of Information) also needs to be provided which includes a summary of your financial circumstances (and other circumstances).

If you want a solicitor to advise you about the possible fairness of an agreement you have reached, note that the solicitor will likely require you to have engaged in a form of full, frank and clear disclosure before being able to advise you. If you do not need or want a solicitor’s advice as to fairness, our advice is to ensure you are comfortable with the level of financial disclosure that you have engaged in before reaching an agreement. Ask yourself: do I truly know what our finances look like? Is there anything missing?**

If you would like further advice in relation to the division of finances, please make an appointment with one of our solicitors.  We would also suggest having at least an initial appointment with a solicitor in advance of agreeing the terms of the settlement to ensure that you are aware of the legal position when negotiating. 

Sadia Ahmed can be contacted on 01582 390636 or sadia.ahmed@taylorwalton.co.uk

* and ** – If an ex is not engaging in financial disclosure fully or at all, there are options available. The Courts have various powers to encourage/ensure engagement with the process. This article does not cover these options.

Disclaimer: General Information Provided Only

Please note that the contents of this article are intended solely for general information purposes and should not be considered as legal advice. We cannot be held responsible for any loss resulting from actions or inactions taken based on this article.