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You will not be amazed to hear that as a divorce attorney among the concerns that I'm often asked is, 'when is my finest time to declare divorce in order to get the greatest settlement?'.

The reward they want is their hubby (or partner's) pension and I provide a really easy answer: the longer the marriage - the bigger the claim.

Take Trudy whose 2nd marriage was to Eric, a rich residential or commercial property designer who had a few residential or commercial properties, ISAs and financial investments. To Trudy, the real reward was Eric's pension which was worth more than ₤ 1 million.

The marital relationship concerned an end after 5 years, but when Trudy tried to declare against Eric's pension she was devastated to be informed by her legal representative that rather of the half-share that she had determined in her mind that she would be granted, she was wrong.

Eric could, in fact, ring fence all the pension that he had actually developed prior to the marriage. This implied that Trudy could only lay claim to a tiny percentage that had actually accumulated during their short time together.

The judge felt that the excessiveness of Trudy's claim was too expensive and that the bulk of the wealth in the marriage had come from Eric and this was shown in the settlement that Trudy got.

So while she got a capitalised settlement to reflect the lifestyle that they had enjoyed together, it was no place near her expectations. The ethical of this story? A brief marriage equates to less assets awarded.

It could not have actually been more various for Gloria, who was married to Frank for more than 30 years. Frank confessed to having affairs with females who he described as 'the employed help', thinking it did not truly count as adultery. It did to Gloria. As the pensions stacked up during their three years relationship, Gloria had the ability to claim half of it and was approved equality of all the pensions.

Vanessa Lloyd Platt, a leading divorce lawyer, says the longer the marriage, the larger the divorce claim

Frank might not call fence one penny of it. And thanks to the length of the marriage, Gloria received what is called a 'Joint Lives Order' for . In other words, this suggests Gloria would be given upkeep for life, although this is rare today as many upkeep payments are for a set term just.

It was not assisted by the reality that Frank had actually not been forthcoming over the true degree of his cost savings and had at the last minute tried to transfer funds offshore. He was given a punitive award and Gloria gained from several thousands more on her side of the divorce formula. The moral here is that dishonesty does not pay - especially in a divorce court.

So that's brief and long marital relationships - what about a longer than average length of marital relationship (12 years) for state 15 years?

Here the court will equalise the capital of the pension unless wealth has been accumulated before or certainly, for a duration, after separation.

It is always important that a pensions professional evaluate the worth of a pension so the proper figure can be computed.

Which is where Gemma came unstuck. She had a 16-year marital relationship to City broker Paul. His pension encountered numerous thousands of pounds. Gemma was none too troubled by the pension however, like numerous spouses I see, she desired the security of remaining in the home that she liked. So rather of claiming any of Paul's pension she traded it off against the worth of your home.

This is called a 'set-off', but as a lawyer I would constantly suggest to any client that an actuary report is obtained very first and all alternatives are considered.

Wives in specific can come out with a lesser offer when they pick this option. The ethical here is that you may feel young and all set to begin afresh, however do not be too fast to trade away your future pension.

Vanessa says that in a marriage longer than the average of 12 years, the court will equalise the capital of the pension unless wealth has been accrued before or, for a period, after separation

Another concern I'm frequently asked is whether a mediator will take into account all of the couple's possessions to maximise a settlement.

So numerous individuals seem to believe that arbitrators will go simple on the parties - and other halves in specific - might get away with more by utilizing a mediator, than if the matter is before the court.

This is a fallacy, as Neil discovered. The company director believed that mediation would indicate that he might put pressure on Judy to settle. It had actually been a long marriage covering twenty-eight years and he believed that Judy was not the brightest. He felt he might bluff his method through and hoodwink the arbitrator.

What Neil had actually not reckoned upon was the persistence and cleverness of the arbitrator who firmly insisted that all information be produced for the conferences. The mediator could see that Neil was being obstructive in responding to inquiries about financial transactions and movement of money between subsidiary companies.

Little had actually Neil suspected that the mediator had actually been a forensic detective for HMRC, before becoming a matrimonial conciliator. After numerous sessions the arbitrator recommended a settlement figure which Neil was outraged by and insisted they go to court. Unfortunately for Neil - the specific very same settlement figure was reached in court. It's worth remembering that mediation can be a much better method of dealing with matters however is never ever a soft alternative.

Mediators will help the couple and advise actuaries to exercise pension divisions whatever the length of the marital relationship. The courts are now motivating the parties to think about options to court proceedings more than ever. Arbitration is likewise being motivated. All these options are available in brief, medium and long marital relationships.

This is the reason EVERYONE is separating ... and why your marriage is at threat without you recognizing

So no matter the length of your marriage, I advise all my clients not to have unrealistic expectations of what the final figure ought to be. It's important to realise that you can not penalize your soon to be ex-partner in the courtroom. Unless you can demonstrate that the behaviour of your partner has actually had a financial impact, the conduct or behaviour will be ignored.

Let me present you now to Henry, who believed that he was being particularly creative when he moved his shares in the family company to his brother, cashed in the capital from his pension and gave it to a friend and purchased himself a Lamborghini.

This was due to the fact that Claudia, his better half of twelve years had actually begun divorce procedures. At the end of the lawsuits, the court found that he was deliberately attempting to decrease the assets offered to Claudia and included back all the value of the pension, the cost of the Lamborghini and the shares to his side of the formula and then divided all of it in half. Henry's actions were so contrived that his attempts to drain pipes the assets absolutely backfired on him. Oh and Henry had to offer the Lamborghini.

The moral of the story when it comes to how to increase your settlement? Don't try to be too creative, play reasonable and honestly, or risk the very opposite of what you intended to accomplish. Divorce can be a minefield, and it does not have to blow up for either of you if you both take reasonable actions towards resolving matters.

* All names have actually been altered to secure client identity.