High Net Worth Divorce

Divorce can be particularly complicated for High Net Worth individuals, so it is essential to seek specialist legal advice and support from divorce lawyers with specific expertise in High Net Worth divorce.

Crisp & Co’s divorce solicitors have been guiding High Net Worth individuals through every aspect of divorce for over two decades, giving us the experience you need to effectively handle the particular challenges these cases involve.

We can support you through every aspect of the divorce process, ensuring your interests are protected at all times. From preparing and submitting a divorce application to dealing with the complexities of divorce settlements involving high value and overseas assets and making arrangements for children, we provide an exceptional service that makes High Net Worth divorce as easy as possible.

For specialist advice and support for a High Net Worth divorce, please get in touch with our divorce solicitors today. We support clients throughout London and the rest of the UK. You can contact us by calling 020 3613 3505 or contact your local Crisp & Co office.

Our divorce services for High Net Worth individuals

Our divorce lawyers understand the many complicated issues that can be involved in divorce involving High Net Worth individuals. We can support you through every aspect of your divorce, ensuring a positive outcome for you and your loved ones.

Issuing or responding to divorce proceedings

The legal process of ending your marriage can be made more complicated by a number of issues, especially if you are now living outside of the UK.

We can advise you on everything you need to consider, including where to start divorce proceedings, completing your divorce application and responding to divorce proceedings initiated by your spouse.

In England and Wales, it is now possible for both spouses to apply for a divorce together, which is known as a ‘joint application’. This means we can act for both spouses where appropriate, saving time and legal costs.

Our goal is to expedite the process of getting a divorce, allowing your divorce to go ahead as quickly and smoothly as possible so you can end your marriage and move on with your life sooner rather than later.

Divorce for High Net Worth individuals can be an incredibly complex area of the law, with many potential issues that may arise. Rest assured, our experts have much experience navigating all of these, and will ensure that you are well supported.

High Net Worth divorce settlements

Being able to reach a fair High Net Worth divorce settlement is, understandably, one of the top concerns many High Net Worth individuals and their spouses have during divorce.

There are often a number of complicating factors that need to be taken account of, including offshore assets, business interests and inheritances. We can advise you on your legal rights, including where a pre-nuptial agreement or post-nuptial agreement exists, giving you a clear picture of what you may be able to realistically achieve during a divorce settlement.

Our High Net Worth divorce solicitors can guide you through the entire process of making a financial settlement, ideally with the agreement of both spouses, ensuring all of the relevant assets are included, such as pensions, trusts, properties and shares.

With our expertise in high value divorce settlements, we can help you achieve a fair settlement that provides for you and your loved ones, allowing you to make a clean break as easily as possible.

To discuss your High Net Worth divorce settlement today, please get in touch with our specialists at Crisp & Co.

Arrangements for children

In any divorce, deciding where your children will live and what contact they will have with a non-resident parent is critical. For High Net Worth divorces, there are often a number of other important issues to deal with, including where the children should go to school and ensuring appropriate financial provision is made for school fees and other expenses.

It is also not unusual for one of the parents to wish to relocate or take children abroad on trips. Because both parents will usually need to consent to the children being taken abroad, this can sometimes present a problem.

Our High Net Worth divorce lawyers can help you make arrangements for your children with your ex-partner, protecting your children’s wellbeing and your rights as a parent. Wherever possible we will do this through non-confrontational dispute resolution, but we are also highly experienced in court action related to children and divorce.

Non-confrontational dispute resolution for High Net Worth divorce

Using non-confrontational dispute resolution can save you a lot of time, money and stress, while normally helping you to preserve a better relationship with your ex-partner.

While this approach is almost always the easiest for everyone involved, it can be particularly beneficial if you have children together who can be negatively affected by acrimonious divorce proceedings or any ongoing conflict or ill-feeling between their parents.

If you would like to learn more about reaching High Net Worth divorce settlements through dispute resolution, please get in touch with our expert solicitors.

Divorce mediation for High Net Worth individuals

This is now the most commonly used approach for divorce. It involves you and your spouse sitting down for a series of meetings with a trained, neutral third-party known as a mediator.

The aim of these meetings will be to discuss any points of conflict, such as your divorce settlement or arrangements for children, and come to a voluntary agreement with your former partner over how those issues should be resolved.

You will usually need to at least consider mediation before being allowed to take your divorce through the courts. You will need to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) to learn about mediation and see if it could be suitable for your divorce.

Mediation is generally the fastest and least expensive way to resolve the practical issues involved in divorce. However, because you do not have immediate access to your own legal counsel during the sessions it may not be ideal where there are complicated issues to resolve. In such cases, collaborative law may be a better choice.

Collaborative law for High Net Worth divorce

This can be a very effective option for couples with significant and/or complex assets. This allows both spouses to sit down with the support of their own lawyers to negotiate the practical details of the divorce, including making a financial settlement and arrangements for children.

This approach allows you to keep things friendly, minimise conflict and keep control of the process while also giving you immediate access to your own lawyer’s specialist advice and guidance. That way, you can be confident you are not agreeing to anything that could undermine your best interests.

What is considered a High Net Worth divorce?

A High Net Worth divorce means that the divorcing couple are significantly wealthy. These couples have financial resources that substantially exceed what is needed to reasonably cover their financial needs.

There is no set monetary threshold for a high net worth couple, the term is used to broadly refer to those with substantial wealth, for instance, multimillionaires, or the owners of multiple businesses.

Due to this significant wealth, a High Net Worth divorce can be more complicated compared to a standard divorce. Reaching a High Net Worth divorce settlement usually involves valuing a large marital plot, which may include many assets, inherited wealth, investments and offshore investments, substantial savings and pensions, businesses, trusts, and so on.

At Crisp & Co we have much experience supporting High Net Worth individuals to move through the divorce process, whilst protecting their financial interests and resolving any issues swiftly.

There are a variety of complications that may arise during a high value divorce, and so it is essential that clients seek guidance from specialist solicitors.

To learn how we could help you today, please get in touch with our High Net Worth divorce solicitors at Crisp & Co.

How can I protect my business during a divorce?

If you own or have an interest in a business, this will be treated as an asset for the purposes of your divorce settlement. However, it is highly unusual for a business to be sold or broken up as part of a financial settlement. The law tends to favour protecting the value of a business and its employees.

How this is usually resolved is that the value of the business will be considered as part of the settlement, but your spouse will usually be awarded a larger share of cash and other assets to offset their entitlement to a share of your business.

Do I need to disclose offshore assets in a divorce settlement?

Both parties are legally required to disclose all of their assets during divorce so they can be considered for the purposes of the financial settlement. This includes offshore assets and if you attempt to hide these assets, your spouse could later make a claim for a new financial settlement if those assets are not included in the original divorce settlement.

How do I prove my spouse is hiding their wealth during a divorce?

If you believe your spouse is attempting to hide their wealth so it is not included in your divorce settlement we can advise you on your options, including your right to scrutinise your spouse’s bank and credit card records.

Can my ex claim part of my inheritance tax in a divorce settlement?

Any money, property or other assets you have inherited before or during your marriage, or are due to inherit, may be considered as part of a divorce settlement. Whether a specific inheritance will need to be included in the settlement will depend on the specific circumstances, so it is essential to take legal advice at the earliest opportunity.

One way to prevent such issues arising is to have a post-nuptial agreement made if you receive a significant inheritance during your marriage, specifying that the inheritance would be excluded from any financial settlement if your marriage ends in divorce.

What is a no-fault divorce?

Since 6 April 2022, couples divorcing in England and Wales can do so on a “no-fault” basis. This means you do not need to give a reason or assign blame for the breakdown of the marriage.

The introduction of no-fault divorce is intended to make ending a marriage or civil partnership simpler and remove the potential for unnecessary conflict. However, it is still essential to seek specialist legal advice, especially for issues around finances and children.

You can read more about this on our no-fault divorce page.

Why choose Crisp & Co for High Net Worth Divorce?

Crisp & Co’s High Net Worth divorce lawyers have more than two decades of experience helping individuals and couples to navigate divorce, including High Net Worth divorce.

We have specialist expertise in all of the complexities of such divorces, including handling trusts in High Net Worth divorce, dealing with offshore assets, and supporting clients with any financial disclosure issues.

We have a particular focus on non-confrontational dispute resolution, meaning we can usually help you to achieve an amicable divorce while keeping matters out of court.

However, where court action is required, we can offer the expertise and skilled advocacy you need to ensure a fair settlement and that your children’s best interests are protected.

Our team includes several members of Resolution, a group of family lawyers committed to removing the conflict from family law, and trained collaborative lawyers. Our divorce lawyers are accredited by the Law Society for Family Law Advanced.

Crisp & Co is also Lexcel accredited by the Law Society for the strength of our practice management and client care, and we are independently regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

Get in touch with our High Net Worth divorce lawyers in London & South East England

For help with a High Net Worth divorce, please contact our specialist divorce solicitors, we support clients across London and the rest of the UK. You can get in touch by calling 020 8003 4192 or contacting your local Crisp & Co office.