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You will not be surprised to hear that as a divorce lawyer among the questions that I'm frequently asked is, 'when is my finest time to declare divorce in order to get the highest settlement?'.

The prize they want is their hubby (or wife's) pension and I provide a very easy answer: the longer the marital relationship - the larger the claim.

Take Trudy whose 2nd marital relationship was to Eric, a wealthy residential or commercial property developer who had a couple of residential or commercial properties, ISAs and financial investments. To Trudy, the real prize was Eric's pension which deserved more than ₤ 1 million.

The marital relationship pertained to an end after five years, but when Trudy tried to declare against Eric's pension she was ravaged to be told by her lawyer that rather of the half-share that she had computed in her mind that she would be awarded, she was incorrect.

Eric could, in reality, ring fence all the pension that he had actually developed prior to the marital relationship. This implied that Trudy could just claim a small proportion that had actually accrued during their short time together.

The judge felt that the excessiveness of Trudy's claim was too high and that the majority of the wealth in the marriage had actually originated from Eric and this was shown in the settlement that Trudy received.

So while she got a capitalised settlement to show the lifestyle that they had delighted in together, it was no place near her expectations. The moral of this story? A short marriage equates to less properties awarded.

It couldn't have actually been more various for Gloria, who was married to Frank for more than 30 years. Frank admitted to having affairs with females who he referred to as 'the employed help', believing it did not really count as extramarital relations. It did to Gloria. As the pensions accumulated during their 3 decade relationship, Gloria was able to claim half of it and was given equality of all the pensions.

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

Frank might not sound fence one penny of it. And thanks to the length of the marital relationship, Gloria received what is called a 'Joint Lives Order' for upkeep. Put merely, this suggests Gloria would be given maintenance for life, although this is unusual today as many upkeep payments are for a set term only.

It was not helped by the fact that Frank had not been forthcoming over the true degree of his savings and had at the last minute attempted to transfer funds offshore. He was offered a punitive award and Gloria benefited from numerous thousands more on her side of the divorce formula. The moral here is that dishonesty does not pay - particularly in a divorce court.

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

Here the court will equalise the of the pension unless wealth has actually been accrued before or undoubtedly, for a duration, after separation.

It is always crucial that a pensions expert analyse the value of a pension so the correct figure can be calculated.

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

This is called a 'set-off', however as a legal representative I would always suggest to any customer that an actuary report is obtained first and all alternatives are considered.

Wives in particular can bring out a lower offer when they pick this alternative. The ethical here is that you may feel young and all set to start afresh, but 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 actually been accumulated before or, for a period, after separation

Another question I'm frequently asked is whether a mediator will take into consideration all of the couple's properties to increase a settlement.

Many individuals seem to think that mediators will go easy on the celebrations - and hubbies in particular - may get away with more by utilizing a mediator, than if the matter is before the court.

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

What Neil had actually not reckoned upon was the persistence and cleverness of the arbitrator who insisted that all information be produced for the meetings. The arbitrator might see that Neil was being obstructive in addressing queries about financial transactions and movement of money between subsidiary companies.

Little had actually Neil presumed that the conciliator had actually been a forensic detective for HMRC, before ending up being a matrimonial mediator. After many sessions the mediator suggested a settlement figure which Neil was outraged by and insisted they litigate. Unfortunately for Neil - the specific same settlement figure was reached in court. It's worth keeping in mind that mediation can be a far better way of dealing with matters however is never ever a soft alternative.

Mediators will help the couple and instruct actuaries to work out pension divisions whatever the length of the marriage. The courts are now motivating the celebrations to consider alternatives to court procedures more than ever. Arbitration is likewise being encouraged. All these alternatives are offered simply put, medium and long marital relationships.

This is the reason EVERYONE is divorcing ... and why your marriage is at threat without you understanding

So no matter the length of your marital relationship, I recommend all my customers not to have impractical expectations of what the last figure must be. It's crucial 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 spouse has actually had a monetary impact, the conduct or behaviour will be overlooked.

Let me present you now to Henry, who thought that he was being especially creative when he moved his shares in the household business to his brother, moneyed in the capital from his pension and offered it to a good friend and bought himself a Lamborghini.

This was due to the fact that Claudia, his partner of twelve years had actually begun divorce proceedings. At the end of the litigation, the court found that he was intentionally trying to decrease the assets offered to Claudia and included back all the value of the pension, the expense 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 efforts to drain pipes the properties completely backfired on him. Oh and Henry had to offer the Lamborghini.
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The moral of the story when it pertains to how to maximise your settlement? Don't try to be too creative, play fair and truthfully, or run the risk of the really opposite of what you hoped to attain. Divorce can be a minefield, and it does not need to blow up for either of you if you both take reasonable actions towards dealing with matters.

* All names have been changed to protect client identity.