LEGAL
Divorce if you have been abandoned by your spouse
By Alexandra Kelly (pictured), family law expert at Family Law Group
Husbands, wives and civil partners can find themselves abandoned through a variety of different situations. Sometimes the reason is
obvious, such as a forced marriage, a scam marriage, an abusive marriage or because a spouse wanted to return home abroad. Sometimes a spouse may disappear without any warning, and you may be at a loss to understand why. Regardless of the background
circumstances leading to the abandonment, you may be wondering what your options are in order to obtain a divorce and move on with your life. To be granted a divorce, it must
be shown that your marriage has broken down irretrievably in one of five different ways. One of the ways is known as desertion, which essentially means you have been abandoned. You will need to show your
spouse has, without your consent or without good reason, abandoned you for at least two years before you can start a petition for divorce. It is important to note that if you attempted a reconciliation, then it
is still possible to proceed with a desertion divorce provided you have not lived together for more than six months in the past two and a half years.
COLLECTING EVIDENCE The intention of your spouse is important. The court needs to be satisfied that when leaving they intended to abandon the marriage. Any evidence to help show that will assist your case.
CONTACTING YOUR ABSENT SPOUSE As part of the divorce process, your spouse is normally sent the divorce petition to give them an opportunity of responding, ensuring a court knows fair process has been followed. If you do not know where your
spouse is residing, you should make enquiries with anyone you can think of that may be able to tell you your spouse’s current address. If you can get their last known
address, then the divorce petition can be posted there. If it is not returned as undelivered then the court will likely accept it as having been properly sent to your spouse. If it is returned as undelivered
the regional divorce centre may be able to carry out searches with other Government bodies to see if they can find an updated address for your spouse. If all else fails and there are no
other routes to trace them, your solicitor can make an application with an explanation to the court on
your behalf and ask the court to proceed without the divorce petition being sent to your spouse. Each case will turn on its own
facts, and it is important that you obtain early legal advice in order to make an informed decision on how best to progress in your own circumstances.
The business of the bank of mum and dad By Dodds Solicitors
A national newspaper recently reported an increase in couples entering pre-nuptial or living together agreements to protect their assets if they should separate, and it appears that often they are being strongly encouraged to do so by their parents. While this may appear to be applying business principles to parenting, it is important to ensure assets and investments are protected. As it is increasingly difficult to
get on the property ladder, often parents are helping their adult children by lending or giving them money for a deposit. While such parents no doubt do not want their children to split up
90 business network March 2020
with their partners, they also know from experience that unfortunately couples sometimes do separate and naturally want to ensure their child’s financial position be protected in the event of separation. A pre-nuptial agreement or living
together agreement will provide certainty as to who is entitled to
what share of any property in the event of a divorce or separation. It is also important for parents to
consider, if parents are providing a deposit to assist with a property purchase, taking legal advice as to whether a trust deed is required to ensure such a deposit would be repaid to the parents in the event
of a sale of a property at a future date. It may therefore be useful to consider the situation with a “gifted deposit”. If parents provide funds by way of a gifted deposit, they might lose out financially in the future. Many lenders require parents to produce a letter or a deed which declares that once the money is given to their child for the purchase, they have made an outright gift which cannot be reversed. A parent in this situation might
want to consider becoming a part owner of the property with their child and can reflect the amount of monies paid into the property. If over time the child pays the parent back, a further transfer can be made regarding ownership of the property.
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