Short marriages in financial remedy cases

How the court in England and Wales deals with short marriages in financial remedy cases.

When a marriage or civil partnership comes to an end, one of the key and most difficult decisions is how to divide the financial assets. This includes capital, income, pensions and any debts. When deciding how to divide the finances, the court looks at many factors including the length of the marriage. In England and Wales, short marriages are those that typically last less than five years. 

How are assets divided?

When determining how to divide the assets, we are guided by the court’s principles. The court must take into account all of the factors set out in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The Court’s primary consideration is always the welfare of any minor children. The other factors are:

  1. The income, earning capacity, property, and financial resources of each party.
  2. The financial needs, obligations, and responsibilities each party has or is likely to have in the future.
  3. The standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage.
  4. The age of each party and the duration of the marriage.
  5. Any physical or mental disabilities of either party.
  6. The contributions each party made to the marriage, including non-financial contributions such as homemaking and caring for children.

The court will also consider the length of the marriage but it is not the sole determining factor and must be balanced with the others carefully. 

The Court’s approach to short marriages

Generally, the court will adopt a more limited approach to the division of assets in short, childless marriage. In long marriages, the starting point is one of equal sharing, the court will then look at the spouses needs and then whether any compensation is required. In a short marriage, the court tends to lean towards ensuring that each party is adequately provided for but does not overcompensate one party at the expense of the other.

Several key principles guide the court’s approach in short marriage cases:

Initial equal division may not be appropriate

In short marriages, the court is more likely to primarily consider each parties’ needs, looking to ensure they are met rather than starting with an equal division of the assets. Needs must be assessed in light of the length of the marriage and the full circumstances of each case. 

Pre-marital assets and contributions

In short marriages, it is often the case that one or both parties have significant assets that were acquired before the marriage. In all cases it is possible to argue that pre-marital assets should not be subject to sharing. However, the court is more likely to uphold this where the marriage is short in length. This is not an absolute rule though and if the pre-marital assets are required to meet the needs of one of the parties, the court may decide to share some of the pre-marital assets. 

The role of needs over equality

In short marriages, the financial needs of each spouse are a crucial consideration. Needs can include housing, income both now and on retirement and most importantly those of any children. The court will also consider the parties future abilities to accrue assets and earn money which will be taken into account in the overall assessment. The spouse with the greater need is often likely to receive a greater share of the marital assets. 

No automatic entitlement to maintenance

In all financial remedy cases there is no automatic right to share income. Often though when the need arises, one party is required to provide for the other’s income needs either on a monthly basis or as a capitalised lump sum for a period of time. In short marriages however, the court is less likely to provide for a spouse to receive maintenance for a long period of time. The court will consider the parties ability to become self-sufficient in the future and will be more likely in short marriages to limit the maintenance for a short period of time or instead order a clean break where no further financial obligations exist between the parties after the settlement.

The court’s discretion 

The court of England and Wales has significant discretion when deciding how the finances should be divided. It is guided by the principles set out in statute and case law and each case is considered on its individual circumstances. There is no one size fits all approach. 

Recent case law: Helliwell v Entwistle [2024] EWHC 740 (Fam)

The family court has recently published the judgment of what is said to be a ‘paradigm’ case of how not to conduct litigation in a short childless marriage. The wife in this case was extremely wealthy, the husband had modest assets of his own. The parties had been married for 3 years, there were no children. Prior to the marriage, the parties had entered into a pre-nuptial agreement. 

Mr Justice Francis commented that regardless of the existence of a pre-nuptial agreement, it makes no difference in a short, childless marriage how wealthy the economically stronger party is when the wealth was not accrued during the marriage. 

He further commented that if, at the commencement of a dispute, a party adopts an extreme position, an equal and opposite extreme position is likely to be adopted on the other side. The costs in this case were extraordinary and sadly both parties had polar positions which led to lengthy and costly litigation, despite there being a pre-nuptial agreement as to how the assets should be shared in the event of the marriage breaking down. 

Ultimately, the husband was awarded a lump sum of £400,000 which took into account his need for in-patient medical treatment and his income needs for a period of 3 years including rent. The Judge stated that the husband was wrong in the case of a short, childless marriage to require the wife to provide funds for him to purchase a house.

Read the full judgement in Helliwell v Entwistle [2024] EWHC 740 (Fam) here.

Key takeaways

In short marriages, the court always aims to take into account all of the factors in each case to achieve a fair and just financial settlement. It will take into account the needs of any children and both spouses, any pre-marital assets and the contributions made by each party to the  marriage. Where one party has sacrificed a career for the benefit of the other spouse’s, that spouse should not be disadvantaged. The duration of the marriage is another key factor to consider. While there is no automatic rule, case law shows that short marriages often result in less extensive financial claims, with a greater focus on meeting the parties’ immediate needs rather than an equal division of assets.

How Moore Barlow can help

It is important to seek independent legal advice at the outset of the breakdown of your marriage so that you can be guided by specially trained lawyers as to the likely outcome of your case, considering all of the factors mentioned above. Moore Barlow’s Family and Divorce team have many specially trained lawyers who would be pleased to assist you at the outset and throughout.