For this Expert Answers column, The Glass Hammer turned to Catherine Costley, Assistant Solicitor in the Family Department of Rooks Rider Solicitors, a top British law firm known for its expertise in Employment Law. Here, Catherine provides her expert opinion to Glass Hammer readers about how to protect your assets in the event of a divorce. Erin Abrams, a New York divorce attorney, also contributed to this article with respect to divorce law in the United States.
There’s a saying favored by women divorcing their husbands… “What’s mine is mine but what’s yours is mine too.” There’s a misconception that upon a divorce, most women are out to take their husbands for all the money they’ve got. Flowing from that is the misconception that the courts will actually endorse such thinking when it comes to financial settlements in a divorce. To the contrary, today more and more women are amassing wealth in their own right and instead of wanting to take her husband’s assets upon divorce, it is a case of preservation of the fruits of their labor.
Although this advice may come a little late for those of you reading this with a wedding band on your hand, the best place to start the preservation of your assets is with a prenuptial agreement.