Divorce. Money / property – filling in the Form E.
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010Let me give you some advice
Who does this advice apply to? It applies to anyone who needs to sort out money and property on marriage breakdown – it is unlikely to be relevant to unmarried couples. It deals with the law in England and Wales.
Who does it not apply to? There are some situations where this advice may not apply. If you can fully discuss all the relevant details with your husband or wife you may decide to do away with what I am going to suggest.
This is what you do. You download a Form E and you fill as much of it in as you can.
How much of it can I fill in without a solicitor? You can fill in most of the first twenty pages – your solicitor only needs to check it through it with you. The rest sometimes requires a little more help.
How do I answer the questions about pensions on page 12? If you have a pension I suggest you send a copy of page 12 of the Form E to your pension provider and tell them you need the answers to those questions. The pension provider has to provide you with the information without charging you for doing so unless you ask for the same information more than once in one year.
What does “income needs” mean on page 20? These are your regular outgoings.
What if some of the questions do not apply? At this stage, leave them blank.
What else do I need to do? Obtain the documents mentioned in the Form E such as 12 months bank statement for each account you have. If you need to get copies of bank statements from your bank there is a limit to how much they can charge no matter how many sheets there are (it was £10 last time I looked). If you have a business you will need the last three years accounts and copies of tax returns. if you are employed you will need to obtain your last P60 and three months wage slips. Read the form carefully to see what other documents it asks for.
This sounds difficult and time consuming. Do as much as you can. Whatever you cannot do your solicitor will help you with; but there is no point in paying for stuff you can do yourself. Yes, it is boring.
I don’t expect my husband / wife will be willing to fill in their form E or provide me with information. Look, at this stage don’t worry about with what your wife or husband will cooperate with, it is something we will have to deal with when we get to it.
Why are you advising me this? Because getting the Form E done is not only the key to presenting and negotiating your case, it also keeps your legal costs down if you do it properly.
