For those who are about to begin divorce proceedings, one important distinction to make is the difference between matrimonial and non-matrimonial assets. Having a clear idea of this is essential for your financial settlement after your divorce.
Defining the difference
- Matrimonial assets
These are the financial assets you and your partner acquired during your marriage. According to the law in England and Wales, these marital assets also belong to your spouse. It doesn’t matter who contributed to them. Even if you have a pension that you’ve paid into, for instance, your partner is entitled to half of it.
The assets you share with your spouse tend to include things like the family home, your pensions, and any savings you have. It also includes stocks and any businesses too, along with major purchases like other properties and cars.
If you’ve been married for a long time, you’ll likely have more marital assets than a couple who’s been married for a few years, and this can make the process of dividing everything up a little more complex.
- Non-matrimonial assets
Non-matrimonial assets are the financial assets you acquired before or after your marriage. These tend to be things like inheritance or properties that were bought before you got married or after your divorce was finalised.
Why make the distinction?
It’s important to be able to make the distinction because the final financial arrangement between you and your ex-partner must be fair and reasonable, both legally and also on a practical basis. Before 2000, and a case known as White v White [2001], this wasn’t so and many people lost out on both a financial and ethical basis.
There’s the chance that defining asset types can become blurred, especially if there were arrangements to share certain assets during the marriage that could be classed as non-matrimonial assets during the divorce process.
You can request to have non-matrimonial assets excluded from the financial settlement, but this might not always be upheld. For instance, you might have acquired an inheritance before your marriage. This would usually be classed as non-matrimonial finances. But then, if you’ve both used the inheritance money to buy the family home, it becomes a matrimonial asset.
Where there are children, non-matrimonial assets can also be included in the financial settlement to provide for them. For instance, if you bought a property before your marriage, this could be included in the settlement if it covers the provision for your children.
Legal implications and advice
There are further mixtures of these asset types too. For instance, you might have launched a business before you met your now ex-partner. But if they put money towards the business and grew it with you while you were together, this could mean your ex can include it in the divorce settlement.
You must seek professional advice before agreeing to anything during a divorce. To ensure that the division of assets is fair, contact experienced divorce solicitors. They can take you through the process, help you establish marital and non-marital assets, and help put forward your case for your financial settlement so that you get a fair deal.
