I want to raise awareness of a bill going through the House of Lords to amend the outdated law on divorce financial settlements, sponsored by top divorce lawyer Baroness Shackelton. If you too believe the existing law is unfair, I suggest that you take a look at this bill and contact your local mp to request they support it.
Link to divorce bill & contact details of Baroness Shackleton
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bills.parliament.uk]
Link to text of divorce bill
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publications.parliament.uk]
Find your MP’s contact details
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members.parliament.uk]
Below is the text of an email that I have sent to my MP, feel free to use the same text, or amend it, if you wish to contact your MP over this matter.
As my member of parliament, I respectively ask that you lend your support to the ‘Divorce financial provision bill’ to amend the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and make provision in connection with financial settlements following divorce. Sponsored by Baroness Shackelton. The bill had its first reading on 20th January 2020.
The existing laws on financial settlement in divorce are almost 50 years old, completely out of date, unfit for purpose and utterly out of step in todays society and the rest of the World.
This has resulted in England becoming seen as the divorce capital of the world, with many thousands of people coming there to get thier divorce financial settlement, as it unfairly favours the weaker financial party. It has also given rise to ‘Honey traps’, where lonely people are being preyed on. By unscrupulous people faking love affairs, getting married to the wealthier individual and after just a few years, divorcing them, claiming half of thier assets and financially ruining them.
As it stands in England & Wales, even if you had 100% of all the assets before marriage, there were no children in the marriage and both parties worked. There will still be a split along the lines of 50/50, or if you are really lucky 60/40….How can this be fair?
People are getting married later in life now. If the marriage ends, how can it be fair that all assets accrued before the relationship become part of the settlement?…Even, in some cases, inheritances.
The situation is becoming worse with the ‘Pension Advisory Committee’ report of 2019. Which now advises that all pensions in divorce should be split 50/50…..Even if you solely contributed towards your own pension decades before meeting your spouse. How can it be fair that a large part of your pension that you have solely contributed to for decades can be taken away from you because you were married for just 5 years or so? We have a ridiculous situation whereby in Scotland, any pensions accrued before marriage cannot be shared in divorce, which is fair, yet in England & Wales all pensions accrued pre marriage can be split 50/50.
The general public do not realise the implications of the existing law concerning financial settlements on divorce and how they are becoming ever unfairer….If they did, I believe there would be uproar and a sharp decline in marriage.
We urgently need to move to a fairer system, along the lines of this bill. So that assets accrued during the marriage are shared but pre martial assets, whether property, savings or pensions are kept by the prospective owners.
Yours Sincerely,