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Divorce can be an incredibly emotional process, and the financial effects can continue long after a settlement has been agreed.
This is especially true when clients need to divide significant assets such as property, investments, or pensions.
Yet, many make important decisions without financial support. Research from Legal & General found that 25% of over-50s going through a divorce included pensions in settlement discussions, while 31% waived their rights to a partner’s pension entirely.
Only 8% received financial advice before making these decisions.
As a solicitor, you can help your clients deal with the legal process of divorce and reach an appropriate settlement.
Working with a financial planner could further support this by showing clients what different options could mean for their finances.
This joined-up approach could result in more productive negotiations and clients who feel better equipped to make significant decisions.
Continue reading to discover five ways a financial planner could support your divorcing clients.
1. Give your clients a clear picture of their financial position
Before your client can start making informed decisions about a divorce settlement, they should ideally understand what they already have and might need later.
This can be more complicated than simply creating a list of assets, but a financial planner can work with your client to build a picture of their:
- Properties
- Pensions
- Savings
- Investments
- Income
- Debts
- Regular expenditure
They can then consider this alongside their future needs, such as housing costs, childcare, or retirement income. This could help identify issues that need more attention than they’re getting.
For you, having a client who understands their overall financial position could make conversations about priorities and settlement options more focused.
2. Explain complex financial matters in plain English
Some of your divorcing clients may need to make decisions about financial matters they haven’t dealt with before.
For instance, pension sharing or offsetting are often overlooked options that can result in additional complexity at an already difficult time.
Alternatively, if your client wants to remain in the family home, they may focus on the security it provides without fully considering whether they can afford the mortgage and bills.
A financial planner can take the time to explain these issues in clear and practical ways to help your clients understand both sides before negotiations progress. Consequently, they can give you clearer instructions based on their long-term needs, rather than focusing only on the assets that feel most important today.
3. Use cashflow modelling to test different settlement options
While a proposed settlement might look reasonable on paper, it may not reveal how your client’s future standard of living will be affected. This is where cashflow modelling can help.
A financial planner can create a sophisticated model of your client’s future finances using information such as their assets, income, expenditure, and pensions.
Then, they can forecast how various scenarios might affect their security.
For example, if your client is deciding between the family home and a larger share of pension assets, cashflow modelling could illustrate how each option could affect their disposable income, retirement plans, and long-term financial security.
The planner could also test these scenarios against changes such as:
- Higher-than-expected expenditure
- Retiring earlier or later
- Different investment returns
- Providing support to children.
This should give your clients information about the potential outcomes of any decisions they make during a settlement.
And, for solicitors, this could help clients establish what they genuinely need from a settlement and potentially result in more productive negotiations.
4. Support clients with more complex financial needs
Some divorces involve far more financial complexity than others. This might be the case for high net worth clients with multiple pensions and investments, or one who shares a business with their spouse.
A business owner’s income may come from several sources, including salary and dividends. So, they might face difficult questions about the company’s value, how much income it can provide, and whether shares need to be transferred.
A financial planner can work with solicitors and other specialists to help the client understand how their business and personal finances link up.
For instance, a client may agree to retain the company while their former spouse receives a greater share of different assets.
Bringing financial planning into such cases could help identify any practical issues before they cause arguments.
5. Help your clients build a plan for life after divorce
After your client signs a financial settlement, this isn’t the end. In fact, they may suddenly have to manage money entirely differently.
One person might receive a substantial lump sum but have no experience investing independently. Another may need to rebuild their pension after sharing part of it with a former spouse.
Your client could also need to buy a new home, arrange financial protection, or update their estate plan.
In fact, Legal & General found that later-life divorce can force people to rethink their established plans, with 32% expecting to downsize their home, while 20% believed they may no longer be able to leave the inheritance they intended.
A financial planner can help your client turn their settlement into a new long-term plan.
Get in touch
We can work closely with you to support your clients as they go through a difficult divorce.
Email hello@sovereign-ifa.co.uk or call us on 01454 416653.
Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.
Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article. All contents are based on our understanding of HMRC legislation, which is subject to change.
A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The fund value may fluctuate and can go down, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Thresholds, percentage rates, and tax legislation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.
The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate estate planning, tax planning, or cashflow planning.
Approved by Best Practice IFA Group Ltd on: 22/09/26