The Powers of the Divorce Court

Financial settlements: divorce court powers

Family courts have surprisingly limited powers to make financial orders on divorce.

In simple terms, a family court can only order the following:

• payment of lump sums: the court can order one of you to pay a lump sum or a series of lump sums to the other. For example, the court could order you to transfer to your spouse your interest in the matrimonial home, and for your spouse to pay you a lump sum by way of exchange. You or your spouse may be required to pay to the other a lump sum instead of paying future spousal maintenance

• sale or transfer of property: family courts can order the sale or transfer of all forms of property, although the most common is the family home. The court could order the property to be sold and also state how the proceeds of sale are to be divided. The divorce court can also order the property to be transferred from one of you to the other
  
  
• spousal maintenance: the court can order one of you to pay the other maintenance. It is most common for the court to order a husband to pay maintenance to his wife. The maintenance can be paid for joint lives, until the recipient’s re-marriage or for a fixed period of time. In many cases it may not be appropriate for an order to be made for spousal maintenance, in which case the court will order a 'clean break'
  
  
• pension sharing: since 2000, the court has had the power to order the division of pension policies. For example your own or your spouse’s pension could be divided between the two of you, with half of the pension being transferred into a new pension fund for the benefit of the other person
  
  
• creation or variation of settlements: although this is quite uncommon, the court can vary family settlements / trusts if they are nuptial settlements. The court can also create settlements which take into account family property, for example, ordering that the family home remains in joint names until, say, your youngest child reaches 18, at which point the property would be sold

Family law solicitors

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