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You will not be amazed to hear that as a divorce legal representative one of the concerns that I'm typically asked is, 'when is my best time to declare divorce in order to get the highest settlement?'.

The prize they have in mind is their husband (or other half's) pension and I provide an extremely easy response: the longer the marital relationship - the larger 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 prize was Eric's pension which was worth more than ₤ 1 million.

The marriage concerned an end after five years, however when Trudy tried to declare versus Eric's pension she was ravaged to be informed by her legal representative that instead of the half-share that she had determined in her mind that she would be granted, she was wrong.

Eric could, in truth, ring fence all the pension that he had actually developed up prior to the marriage. This suggested that Trudy could only claim a tiny proportion that had actually accumulated during their brief time together.

The judge felt that the excessiveness of Trudy's claim was too high and that most of the wealth in the marital relationship had actually come from Eric and this was reflected in the settlement that Trudy got.

So while she got a capitalised settlement to reflect the way of life that they had actually enjoyed together, it was nowhere near her expectations. The ethical of this story? A short marital relationship equates to less properties granted.

It could not have actually been more various for Gloria, who was wed to Frank for more than 30 years. Frank confessed to having affairs with ladies who he described as 'the hired assistance', believing it did not really count as cheating. It did to Gloria. As the pensions accumulated throughout their 3 decade relationship, Gloria was able to declare half of it and was approved equality of all the pensions.

Vanessa Lloyd Platt, a leading divorce legal representative, says the longer the marital relationship, the bigger the divorce claim

Frank might not call fence one penny of it. And thanks to the length of the marital relationship, Gloria received what is called a 'Joint Lives Order' for maintenance. In other words, this means Gloria would be provided upkeep for life, although this is uncommon today as many maintenance payments are for a set term only.

It was not helped by the truth that Frank had actually not been forthcoming over the real extent of his savings and had at the last minute tried to transfer funds offshore. He was provided a punitive award and Gloria gained from a number of thousands more on her side of the divorce equation. The moral here is that dishonesty does not pay - particularly in a divorce court.

So that's brief 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 capital of the pension unless wealth has actually been accumulated before or undoubtedly, for a duration, after separation.

It is constantly important that a pensions expert analyse the worth of a pension so the correct 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 countless pounds. Gemma was none too troubled by the pension but, like lots of spouses I see, she wanted the security of remaining in the home that she liked. So rather of declaring any of Paul's pension she traded it off against the value of the home.

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

Wives in particular can come out with a lower offer when they choose this choice. The ethical here is that you may feel young and prepared to start 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 actually been accumulated before or, for a period, after separation

Another question I'm frequently asked is whether a conciliator will take into account all of the couple's possessions to increase a settlement.

Numerous people appear to think that will go easy on the parties - and partners in specific - may get away with more by utilizing a conciliator, than if the matter is before the court.

This is a misconception, as Neil discovered. The business director believed that mediation would indicate that he could put pressure on Judy to settle. It had been a long marital relationship 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 not reckoned upon was the persistence and cleverness of the conciliator who firmly insisted that all details be produced for the conferences. The conciliator might see that Neil was being obstructive in answering questions about monetary transactions and movement of money between subsidiary companies.

Little had actually Neil thought that the mediator had been a forensic detective for HMRC, before becoming a matrimonial conciliator. After lots of sessions the conciliator recommended a settlement figure which Neil was outraged by and insisted they go to court. Unfortunately for Neil - the precise very same settlement figure was reached in court. It deserves remembering that mediation can be a far better method of dealing with matters however is never a soft option.

Mediators will assist the couple and instruct actuaries to work out pension divisions whatever the length of the marital relationship. The courts are now motivating the celebrations to consider options to court proceedings more than ever. Arbitration is likewise being motivated. All these alternatives are readily available in brief, medium and long marriages.

This is the factor EVERYONE is separating ... and why your marital relationship is at risk without you realizing

So no matter the length of your marriage, I advise all my customers not to have impractical expectations of what the last figure ought to 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 partner has had a monetary effect, the conduct or behaviour will be disregarded.

Let me present you now to Henry, who believed that he was being particularly smart when he transferred his shares in the household business to his sibling, moneyed in the capital from his pension and gave it to a buddy and purchased himself a Lamborghini.

This was since Claudia, his other half of twelve years had begun divorce proceedings. At the end of the lawsuits, the court found that he was deliberately attempting to decrease the properties readily available to Claudia and included back all the value of the pension, the expense of the Lamborghini and the shares to his side of the equation and then divided all of it in half. Henry's actions were so contrived that his attempts to drain the properties completely backfired on him. Oh and Henry had to offer the Lamborghini.

The ethical of the story when it pertains to how to maximise your settlement? Don't try to be too smart, play reasonable and truthfully, or risk the really opposite of what you wanted 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 solving matters.

* All names have actually been changed to safeguard client identity.
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