Harold Stock & Co. Solicitors

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Why disclosing your assets before the divorce is the wise approach

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Don’t go “Russian” to hide your assets

You may have seen recent headlines about the world’s largest divorce case taking place in London, where the son of a Russian Billionaire oligarch found himself on the wrong end of a Judge’s order requiring him to pay a huge sum of money to his mother because he had helped his father hide monies in an attempt to avoid having to share his wealth with her.  For once, this was a case which was not just of interest to family lawyers.

Any lawyer dealing with the family finances on a divorce will say that before starting to decide how the assets are shared, everyone involved needs to know exactly what there is.  We family lawyers refer to “disclosure” as the essential starting point is for each party to make full and frank disclosure of every aspect of his or her finances – and that is not just stating the numbers, but also providing documents to prove what each asset or resource is worth.

Avoid the temptation to hide assets

However, there are often cases where one person claims to be responsible for creating the family’s wealth and does not want to share all that wealth with his or her spouse on divorce, so starts trying to move or hide assets.  The Law has been aware of this for decades and has a variety of tools to employ to tackle the problem.

If you are getting divorced and you think your spouse is hiding assets, the Court can order him or her to answer very probing questions and produce audit trails to help you follow the money.

If you think your spouse is going to try and hide assets to put them out of your reach, the Court can make ‘Freezing orders’ so that the monies do not disappear.

If you think your spouse has already tried to hide assets by passing them on to someone else, (as was the case with this oligarch), the Court can effectively cancel the transaction after the event and order the monies to be refunded.

It takes patience and hard work – and as the Akhmedov case demonstrated, it can be expensive – but if it is proved that someone has not been open with his or her disclosure or has hidden assets or tried to put them out of the reach of the Court, the legal costs incurred in finding the assets will almost inevitably all fall upon the person at fault.

We will be using this case to strengthen the advice that we already give to our clients that it is foolish to try and be clever by hiding assets or trying to put them out of reach of an estranged spouse and also, to reassure those of our clients who feel that their spouse may be about to do something underhand, that the Law can come to their aid to ensure a fair settlement, based on a full appreciation of all the assets and resources that the couple have accumulated during their marriage.

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Chris Bowen is our Family Law Solicitor. Find out more about Chris and get in touch here.

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How do I protect my home in my Will? What can I do about care home fees?

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There are various ways in which you can own your home. These are:

  1. Solely
  2. Jointly – as joint tenants
  3. Jointly – as tenants in common

If you own your property as joint tenants, this means that upon your death, your share in the property will automatically pass to the surviving joint owner.  The property is owned as a whole, by the joint owners and this happens regardless of the contents of your Will, if you have one. This is also known as “survivorship”.

If you own your property as tenants in common, rather than owning it as a whole, you each own a share (this may be an equal or unequal share) in the property.  Whatever your share in the property, at the date of your death, you should pass that share via your Will to someone other than the person you own the property with.  This is a very popular way to deal with your property in your Will, should you have a blended family i.e. children from previous relationships. 

Another reason why owning your property as tenants in common is useful, is if you are looking to protect your share in your home in the event that the survivor of you needs to go into care.  Once the first person passes away, their share can be held in trust for their child(ren)/other beneficiaries, meaning that the share is completely protected by the trust.  Only the share of the surviving owner, who is then in care, can be used towards payment of that care.  If you own the property jointly as joint tenants and as the survivor you go into care, there is a strong possibility that the full value of the property will be used towards your care fees, meaning that your chosen beneficiaries may not receive anything, upon your death.

Our team come across a lot of couples who are unhappy at the thought of working all of their lives, for their property then to be eaten up by care home fees, when they would rather it be passed down to their children/beneficiaries. Therefore, if they are joint tenancy property owners and want to separate their property into shares, we can advise on this and arrange for this to happen for our clients when drafting their Wills.

When leaving your share in your home to someone other than the joint owner, we also include a clause called a ‘Life Interest Trust’ in your Will.  This enables the surviving joint owner to remain in the property for the rest of their days, completely secure.  Again, this is popular with families with stepchildren, who maybe do not get along with their step parent and this enables the step parent to remain in the property without the worry that the property could be sold from under them.

If you are concerned about the above or require help making or amending your current Will, please contact our specialised team, Kelly or Kirsty on 0330 400 4040 or on info@haroldstock.com and they will be more than happy to explain how this may benefit you and your loved ones.

Couples feeling the strain?

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During the COVID pandemic there has been a lot of focus on effects of lockdown and restrictions upon mental health but it seems clear that relationships have also felt the strain. Couples who had been managing to get along in normal times have struggled to cope with extended periods of confinement with each other, or perhaps the pandemic has made them re-evaluate priorities and to consider whether they want move on from an unsatisfactory relationship. Whatever the catalyst, in these changed times it still remains the case that getting proper advice is as vital as ever.

If you have decided to end your marriage or Civil Partnership, do not just concentrate on the legal process to dissolve it. Any decent family law solicitor will tell you that the divorce is just the tip of the iceberg. It is far more important to consider the other consequences of leaving the relationship, particularly the future arrangements for your children if you have them. After that, sorting out the money is hugely important – what should happen about the house, dividing assets, pensions – should there be maintenance?  Getting all that right is crucial, especially in these uncertain times.  We see many self–negotiated settlements where people sell themselves short or have agreed to schemes which fail because they are unworkable.

If you get advice from a family law solicitor, you will probably be able to negotiate an agreement without having to spend lots of time energy and money on a dispute which has to be resolved by a Court. The cost will be modest compared to what you might lose if you go ahead without advice and settle for less than the law would consider fair and reasonable or agree to a deal which falls down and needs to be revisited later.

Our family team are on hand to offer the appropriate advice on these sensitive matters in a proactive and courteous manner.

Elf Day 2018

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Staff from our offices took part in Elf Day to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society. They raised over £340! Well done to everyone that took part.

The highlight of the day for most was the opportunity to Pie Face Paul Stock together with Tom Simpson, Scott Turner-Percy and Claire Atkinson. Unfortunately, Mr Stock wouldn’t allow the moment to be caught on camera but we can assure you it did happen!

Harold Stock & Co show their pedal power for Road Safety Week

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We held a Virtual Cycle on 20th November 2018 at our Stockport office to raise funds for Brake, the Road Safety Charity. 

Collectively, we cycled 100.05km and have raised £210 so far. You can still donate to our Fundraising page https://www.gofundme.com/haroldstockvirtualcycle 

Special thank to our super cyclists: Tom Simpson, Debra Woolfson, Francesca Rigby,  Kirsty Dunn, Tracey Hine, Danielle Eyres, Wendy Smith, Niamh Darraugh, Scott Turner-Percy, Darren McGuinness and Kelly Jackson. 

Stick or Twist – Is it a gamble to change solicitor?

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As a specialist team with over 40 years experience in getting our clients the support and compensation that they deserve. We have seen a nervousness about asking for a second opinion. Whilst it has become the norm to change car insurer if you can find better cover, we are sometimes less confident about checking that we are getting all that we are entitled to when pursuing a claim for injuries suffered through no fault of our own.

Changing solicitors is as simple as calling a member of our team for a chat. If we can support you to get the best result possible, then all that needs to be done is to complete a simple transfer form with you and we will sort the rest.

Why would you need to consider changing solicitor? Here are some of the reasons we have seen:-

  • You have never met your solicitor.
  • Your solicitor doesn’t take your calls.
  • The firm you are using is closing down.
  • The person dealing with your claim appears inexperienced.
  • The solicitor acting for you doesn’t believe you can win.
  • You don’t feel that you are listened to – You feel part of a process rather than the effects of your injuries and losses being considered in the unique way that they should be.
  • You feel you are being ‘pushed’ to settle before you are fully recovered.
  • Your solicitor was chosen for you by your insurer, as you have legal expenses cover.

There is nothing to lose by speaking to us, there is no charge and you are not committing yourself to anything. The examples set out below may reassure you that we can, as your local solicitors, with specialist knowledge help you to sort out your claim.

John, a local factory worker, was involved in an accident that made back problems he had always suffered from much worse. As he had accident cover with his house insurance, those insurers chose a solicitor from a national firm for him. Unfortunately, they ignored his previous back problem and kept calling him to get him to agree to settle for £4,000, on the basis that his back symptoms were a new problem, ignoring his concerns. John called into our office and after discussions completed the form that enabled us to get his file which showed that he was right to question the advice that he had been given. With more detailed medical investigations, and after getting John some physiotherapy we were able to negotiate a settlement for his injuries and losses at over £10,000. John has continued to turn to Harold Stock & Co for all of his legal needs and says:

“Kirsty and the team treated me as a person, not a number. She was available at times that suited my shifts. She was quickly able to sort things for me and got a great result.”

John has referred family members and friends to Harold Stock & Co, having confidence in the service we provide.

Sharon, a company director, had suffered really poor treatment at her local hospital which affected her health and her ability to work. She decided that it was important to make a claim as she didn’t want others to go through the same trauma and pain that she had experienced. She initially chose a solicitor by responding to an advert on the TV. She never met her solicitor and became concerned when her calls were not returned, and when she did speak to her solicitor he didn’t seem to understand how her deteriorating health had affected her work. Sharon knew a member of our staff and met up with our medical negligence specialist, Debra, who got all the financial issues sorted with the assistance of an independent accountant. She also prepared detailed evidence so that the full effects of the delayed diagnosis, that the hospital accepted was its fault, were clear to everyone. Her settlement was nearly 12 times the amount that it had been suggested she settle for before the transfer. Sharon commented:

“Thank you for all your hard work in getting the settlement. It is very much appreciated and you have restored my faith in solicitors and the legal system”.

If you would like a second opinion in relation to your current claim, please contact Debra Woolfson or Kirsty Dunn on 01457 835597 or email info@haroldstock.com