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You will not be surprised to hear that as a divorce lawyer one of the concerns that I'm often asked is, 'when is my best time to declare divorce in order to get the highest settlement?'.
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The prize they want is their partner (or partner's) pension and I offer them a really simple answer: the longer the marital relationship - the bigger the claim.

Take Trudy whose second marriage was to Eric, a rich residential or commercial property designer who had a couple of residential or commercial properties, ISAs and investments. To Trudy, the genuine reward was Eric's pension which was worth more than ₤ 1 million.

The marriage came to an end after five years, but when Trudy tried to claim against Eric's pension she was devastated to be informed by her lawyer that instead of the half-share that she had determined in her mind that she would be granted, she was incorrect.

Eric could, in reality, ring fence all the pension that he had actually built up prior to the marital relationship. This meant that Trudy could only lay claim to a small percentage that had actually accrued during their short time together.

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

So while she got a capitalised settlement to reflect the way of life that they had delighted in together, it was no place near her expectations. The moral of this story? A short marriage equates to less possessions granted.

It couldn't have been more various for Gloria, who was married to Frank for more than 30 years. Frank admitted to having affairs with ladies who he referred to as 'the hired aid', believing it did not truly count as adultery. It did to Gloria. As the pensions stacked up throughout their 3 decade relationship, Gloria had the ability to declare half of it and was approved equality of all the pensions.

Vanessa Lloyd Platt, a top divorce lawyer, states the longer the marriage, the larger the divorce claim

Frank might not ring fence one penny of it. And thanks to the length of the marriage, Gloria got what is called a 'Joint Lives Order' for maintenance. Put simply, this indicates Gloria would be given maintenance for life, although this is unusual today as a lot of upkeep payments are for a set term only.

It was not helped by the fact that Frank had actually not been upcoming over the real degree of his cost savings and had at the last minute attempted to transfer funds offshore. He was offered a punitive award and Gloria gained from several thousands more on her side of the divorce formula. The ethical here is that dishonesty does not pay - specifically in a divorce court.

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

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

It is constantly crucial that a pensions specialist evaluate the value of a pension so the right figure can be calculated.

Which is where Gemma came unstuck. She had a 16-year marital relationship to City broker Paul. His pension ran into hundreds of countless pounds. Gemma was none too bothered by the pension but, like lots of other halves I see, she desired the security of remaining in the home that she liked. So instead of declaring any of Paul's pension she traded it off versus the value of your house.

This is called a 'set-off', however as an attorney I would constantly suggest to any customer that an actuary report is acquired first and all options are considered.

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

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

Another concern I'm often asked is whether a mediator will consider all of the couple's properties to increase a settlement.

Numerous people appear to think that arbitrators will go simple on the celebrations - and other halves in specific - may get away with more by using a conciliator, than if the matter is before the court.

This is a misconception, as Neil found. The business director thought that mediation would imply that he might put pressure on Judy to settle. It had been a long marriage spanning twenty-eight years and he believed that Judy was not the brightest. He felt he might bluff his way through and hoodwink the arbitrator.

What Neil had actually not reckoned upon was the perseverance and cleverness of the mediator who insisted that all details be produced for the conferences. The conciliator could see that Neil was being obstructive in responding to questions about monetary deals and movement of cash in between subsidiary companies.

Little had actually Neil thought that the conciliator had actually been a forensic detective for HMRC, before becoming a matrimonial mediator. After numerous sessions the arbitrator suggested a settlement figure which Neil was outraged by and insisted they litigate. Unfortunately for Neil - the precise same settlement figure was reached in court. It deserves keeping in mind that mediation can be a better method of fixing matters however is never a soft option.

Mediators will help the couple and instruct actuaries to work out pension departments whatever the length of the marriage. The courts are now motivating the parties to think about alternatives to court procedures especially. Arbitration is likewise being encouraged. All these alternatives are available in brief, medium and long marriages.

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

So no matter the length of your marital relationship, I encourage all my customers not to have unrealistic expectations of what the final figure must be. It's crucial to understand that you can not penalize your quickly to be ex-partner in the courtroom. Unless you can demonstrate that the behaviour of your partner has actually had a monetary effect, the conduct or behaviour will be neglected.

Let me introduce you now to Henry, who thought that he was being particularly creative when he moved his shares in the household business to his bro, cashed in the capital from his pension and offered it to a friend and purchased himself a Lamborghini.

This was since Claudia, his other half of twelve years had actually started divorce procedures. At the end of the lawsuits, the court found that he was deliberately trying to minimize the assets offered to Claudia and added back all the worth of the pension, the expense of the Lamborghini and the shares to his side of the equation and after that divided all of it in half. Henry's actions were so contrived that his efforts to drain the assets completely backfired on him. Oh and Henry had to sell the Lamborghini.

The ethical of the story when it concerns how to maximise your settlement? Don't attempt to be too creative, play fair and truthfully, or run the risk of the extremely opposite of what you wanted to accomplish. Divorce can be a minefield, and it does not need to blow up for either of you if you both take reasonable actions towards fixing matters.

* All names have been altered to safeguard customer .