- The income and earning capacity and financial resources of both spouses.
- The income and earning capacity and financial resources of both spouses.
- The financial needs, obligations and responsibilities which each spouse has or is likely to have.
- The standard of living of the spouses before the proceedings.
- The age of the spouses and the length of their marriage.
- Any physical or mental disability of the spouses.
- The contribution, which each of the spouses has made or is likely to make to the welfare of the family.
- Whether the earning capacity of either of the spouses has been affected by the marriage.
- The income and benefits to which either spouse is entitled.
- The conduct of each of the spouses.
- The accommodation needs of either spouse.
This is extremely wide but at least it gives you an idea what the court can take into account before granting a divorce.
Many people believe that the court is no longer interested in the reasons why a marriage broke down. In other words, they do not attribute blame. As you can see under (i) above, the conduct of the spouses can be very relevant. Under (d) above, the length of the marriage is very relevant and is particularly so in cases where the marriage was short lived. An argument can be made under (b) above that if one spouse has not worked for many years then it can be argued they have an obligation and a responsibility to perhaps look for employment in order to ease the financial burden on the other spouse.
Another issue that increases tension where a relationship is breaking down is where one spouse, usually the wife will say that the husband has to leave the family home and he can get himself a flat somewhere. Under (j) above, it will be seen that the accommodation needs of either spouse must be taken into account, not just one of them. If the man in the above example has children, he is quite entitled to argue that if he has to have any future relationship with his children, he needs to be able to look after them and have arrangements in place to provide for their accommodation as well as his own accommodation and this will mean that he needs accommodation appropriate to look after his children and look after them overnight.
In my experience, bad conduct of one of the parties tends to get glossed over in family law proceedings. If it is relevant to the justice of the decision the court has to make, then it should not be ignored.
This is extremely wide but at least it gives you an idea what the court can take into account before granting a divorce.
Many people believe that the court is no longer interested in the reasons why a marriage broke down. In other words, they do not attribute blame. As you can see under (i) above, the conduct of the spouses can be very relevant. Under (d) above, the length of the marriage is very relevant and is particularly so in cases where the marriage was short lived. An argument can be made under (b) above that if one spouse has not worked for many years then it can be argued they have an obligation and a responsibility to perhaps look for employment in order to ease the financial burden on the other spouse.
Another issue that increases tension where a relationship is breaking down is where one spouse, usually the wife will say that the husband has to leave the family home and he can get himself a flat somewhere. Under (j) above, it will be seen that the accommodation needs of either spouse must be taken into account, not just one of them. If the man in the above example has children, he is quite entitled to argue that if he has to have any future relationship with his children, he needs to be able to look after them and have arrangements in place to provide for their accommodation as well as his own accommodation and this will mean that he needs accommodation appropriate to look after his children and look after them overnight.
In my experience, bad conduct of one of the parties tends to get glossed over in family law proceedings. If it is relevant to the justice of the decision the court has to make, then it should not be ignored.
Brophy Solicitors