Divorce changes almost every part of your financial life at once. We help you value every asset properly — pensions, property and savings — see your finances clearly, and plan a settlement that holds up. Independent advice, working alongside your solicitor or mediator, not instead of them.
Divorce changes almost every part of your financial life at once. We help you value every asset properly — pensions, property and savings — see your finances clearly, and plan a settlement that holds up. Independent advice, working alongside your solicitor or mediator, not instead of them.
Illustration only — not based on a real client.
Most people arrive asking those two questions, often when they have least energy to deal with them. At H&D Financial Planning we help you answer both. Divorce financial planning is the financial side of separating — valuing every asset properly, helping you reach a settlement that holds up, and planning for the life that follows. It works alongside your solicitor or mediator, not instead of them, so you can see what a settlement really means for you before you sign.
40%
of divorcees believe the process is financially unfair
7%
yet only this many seek financial advice
900,000
UK divorcees have not updated their wills to exclude a former partner
Divorce financial planning helps separating couples understand, value and divide their finances fairly, and plan securely for life afterwards. It works alongside a solicitor or mediator, not instead of them — dealing with the money side so any agreement is sound both now and decades from now. It joins up decisions that affect one another: keeping the family home might mean giving up part of a pension, and taking a lump sum now changes the income you can rely on later. Seen together, the trade-offs are far easier to weigh.
What it covers
What it gives you
It works alongside your solicitor, not instead of them. Your solicitor handles the law; we handle the money. The two together give you a settlement that is legally sound and works for the life that follows — rather than one that looks balanced on paper but leaves you stretched in real life.
Who does what
A financial adviser and a solicitor do different, complementary jobs. Your solicitor handles the legal process — advising on your position, drafting the agreement and dealing with the court. A financial adviser makes sure the numbers behind that agreement actually work. Having both matters because a settlement can be legally sound yet leave you stretched, or look balanced on paper while being far from balanced in real life.
Handles the law
Handles the money
We work alongside your solicitor or mediator throughout. We do not give legal advice — our work is making sure nothing is missed and everything is valued for its true long-term worth.
Reaching a fair settlement
A financial settlement is the agreed division of everything you own and owe, made binding by the court. In England and Wales there is no fixed formula and no automatic 50/50 split: the starting point is to identify the matrimonial assets, then divide them fairly, with the welfare of any children the first consideration.
From there the court weighs each person's income and earning capacity, age and health, the length of the marriage, the standard of living you had, and what each of you will need. So a settlement that looks even on a spreadsheet can be very uneven once you account for who can earn what in future.
Fairness depends on seeing the full picture, which is why both of you must give full and frank financial disclosure — a complete, honest account of your finances, usually set out in a form known as Form E. Only then can each asset's real value, rather than its headline figure, be understood. That is where our work is most useful.
Dividing the main assets
Dividing assets means looking at the family home, pensions, savings and investments, business interests and income — as well as any debts. Cash and property are easy to value and emotionally visible, so they tend to dominate. Pensions are harder to value and easy to overlook, yet they are often the second-largest asset a couple owns.
Usually the largest and most emotionally charged asset, and one of the most flexible. The options are to sell and split the proceeds, for one person to buy out the other, or to transfer it in exchange for a larger share of other assets such as pensions. Each route reaches well beyond the front door, so we model what each would mean over time rather than deciding under pressure.
Often the second-largest asset a couple owns, and the most often overlooked — a pension has no obvious value and statements name only one person. Combined pension wealth can rival the equity in the home and decide whether retirement is comfortable, particularly where one person built up far less of their own. There are three main ways to divide them — see below.
Bank accounts, ISAs, shares and bonds are usually more straightforward to value than pensions, but how they are divided still has lasting effects. Some are easy to access; others carry tax consequences if sold or moved at the wrong time, and how proceeds are reinvested shapes your future income. We look past the headline balances to what each holding would deliver once it is yours alone.
A settlement is about income going forward, not only what exists today. Spousal maintenance supports a former partner who cannot meet their reasonable needs from their own income and share of the assets; a clean break replaces it with a one-off division of capital. Child maintenance is handled separately, usually through the Child Maintenance Service.
Why pensions need extra care. Pensions are dealt with in three main ways in England and Wales, each with very different consequences for control, timing and certainty of income: a pension sharing order splits one or both pensions at divorce; pension offsetting trades pension value against other assets such as the home; and pension attachment (earmarking) directs part of a pension to a former spouse when it is paid. Valuing one fairly is where care is needed — the figure used is usually the cash equivalent transfer value (CETV), which for a final-salary or defined benefit pension can understate its real worth, so assessing it properly usually calls for a specialist (a pension on divorce expert, or PODE). This is regulated, specialist territory, and we handle it with particular care alongside any expert involved.
A pension is a long-term investment. The fund value may fluctuate and can go down. Your eventual income may depend on the size of the fund at retirement, future interest rates and tax legislation.
The value of your investments and income from them may go down. You may not get back the original amount invested.
Making it legal
Reaching agreement is only part of the job; making it binding is the other. A divorce does not automatically end the financial claims you each have against the other — until a court approves a financial order, those claims can in principle be reopened years later. The legal mechanics are your solicitor’s and the court’s work; what we do is make sure you understand what any proposed order means for your finances.
Where you agree how to divide your finances, that agreement is usually recorded in a consent order and approved by the court. Once approved, it is legally binding. Where you cannot agree, the court can decide and make orders such as a property adjustment or pension sharing order.
A clean break order severs the financial ties between you, so neither can make a future claim on the other's income, assets or inheritance. It is not suitable in every case — particularly where ongoing maintenance is needed — but a firm line under the financial relationship where it fits.
Planning life after divorce
Once the settlement is agreed, the focus shifts to rebuilding — one income and one household where there were two, so the plan has to be rebuilt from the ground up. This is where a financial planner adds the most. Using cashflow modelling, we can show you year by year what your finances would look like under different settlements and afterwards: whether you could afford to keep the home, what income a particular pension share would give in retirement, and where the pressure points lie. Seeing it laid out turns an anxious guess into an informed decision, and often changes which settlement a person chooses to pursue.
Investing settlement proceeds sensibly, with a plan rather than under pressure.
Establishing and investing a pension received through sharing, and re-modelling retirement on a new footing.
Your retirement picture changes after divorce; we rebuild it around your new income and goals.
Revisiting your protection, beneficiaries and will so they reflect your new circumstances.
Where it connects
Because a settlement connects to so much of the rest of your financial life, our divorce work joins up with the longer-term planning that follows it.
Shows, year by year, what your finances would look like under different settlements — and afterwards.
A pension share or a lump sum changes your retirement picture; we re-model it on the new footing.
We follow the same three steps with every client. The structure is deliberately simple, because the value is in how thoroughly each step is done.
Understand everything before anything is recommended.
We understand everything first — the assets and debts, the pensions, the home, your income and earning capacity, and what you need life to look like afterwards — valuing what you own and modelling what different settlements would mean. Nothing is recommended until the picture is clear.
Set out the options and put the plan into action.
We set out the options in plain terms, explain the trade-offs, and work alongside your solicitor or mediator so the financial and legal sides line up. Once the settlement is agreed, we put the plan into action — investing proceeds, arranging pensions and rebuilding your finances.
Stay alongside you as life settles into its new shape.
Life after divorce keeps moving. We stay alongside you, revisiting the plan as your income, housing and goals settle into their new shape.
Behind that process sits a firm with unusual continuity. The H&D name traces back to Harris & Dixon, a City of London house whose roots reach toward 1797 — a name that has moved through different trades and several centuries. What endured was never the ledger but the instinct behind it: knowing your client, holding their interests above the transaction. The advice business that carries the name today has looked after individuals and families since 1987. Read more about our heritage, or meet the team behind H&D.
H&D Financial Planning is independent. We are not tied or restricted to any product provider, and our recommendations are based on a comprehensive and fair review of the market, made in your best interests. On a settlement that shapes your finances for decades, that difference matters. You can check the firm's status on the Financial Services Register.
A restricted adviser chooses from a single provider or an agreed panel; we consider every suitable option and recommend what fits you.
To implement advice we use a carefully selected range of investment managers and platforms, kept under regular review.
We are part of the Loyal North Group; where a group firm is among the options we consider, we say so clearly, and any recommendation is made on its merits.
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My job is to help you make the decisions that still make sense years from now.”
A financial adviser deals with the money side of separating. They identify and fairly value every asset — including pensions, which are easily overlooked — analyse what different settlements would mean for your income and retirement, and help you put the agreement into practice. This is separate from your solicitor, who handles the legal process. The adviser makes sure the figures behind any settlement hold up, both now and for the years ahead.
They do different and complementary jobs. Your solicitor handles the legal process and the settlement itself; a financial adviser makes sure the figures behind it work — confirming every asset and pension is identified and properly valued, modelling what different settlements would mean for your future, and helping you put the agreement into practice. Many people find that having both gives them a settlement that is legally sound and workable for the life that follows.
There is no fixed formula in England and Wales and no automatic 50/50 split. The court starts with the matrimonial assets — broadly what you built up during the marriage — and divides them fairly, with the welfare of any children the first priority. It then weighs factors such as each person's income and earning capacity, age, the length of the marriage and the standard of living you had. A fair division is not always an equal one, which is why understanding the true value of every asset, including pensions, matters before anything is agreed. Scotland and Northern Ireland follow different rules.
In England and Wales, assets are divided by first identifying the matrimonial assets — the property, savings, investments, pensions and other resources built up between you — and then sharing them fairly in light of each person's needs, with any children's welfare coming first. Everything is considered, not just the obvious items: the family home, pensions, savings, business interests and debts. Fair does not always mean a straight half each, and Scotland and Northern Ireland follow different rules.
There are three main approaches in England and Wales. A pension sharing order splits one or both pensions at divorce, giving each person their own pot. Pension offsetting trades pension value against other assets, such as one person keeping more of the home. Pension attachment directs part of a pension to a former spouse when it is paid. Pensions are often the second-largest asset a couple owns and are easily overlooked, and a final-salary pension's headline transfer value can understate its real worth — so it is well worth having them valued properly before anything is agreed.
A financial order is a court order setting out how your finances are divided on divorce. Where you agree, it usually takes the form of a consent order approved by the court; where you cannot, the court can impose orders such as a property adjustment or pension sharing order. A clean break order is a type of financial order that severs the financial ties between you, so neither can claim on the other. Both matter because a divorce alone does not end your financial claims — without a court-approved order they can be reopened years later.
If you are facing a divorce or separation, we are here to help you understand the numbers and plan for what comes next, with no pressure and no obligation. We'll listen, ask the questions that matter, and tell you honestly whether we're the right firm to help.
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