Financial planning support for family lawyers & divorce professionals
Divorce can change a client's financial position more quickly than almost any other life event.
Where pensions, investments, property, business interests or family members span more than one country, the financial consequences can become particularly difficult to assess.
Josh Clancey works alongside family lawyers and divorce professionals where clients need help understanding pensions, investments, retirement planning, cash flow and the longer-term financial consequences of a settlement.
Financial planning alongside the legal process
The family lawyer remains responsible for legal advice, disclosure, negotiation, settlement terms and the legal consequences of the divorce.
Josh's role is financial planning.
That may include helping a client understand:
- their post-divorce cash flow
- pension and retirement assets
- investment portfolios
- liquidity requirements
- the affordability of different settlement outcomes
- future retirement income
- investment risk
- protection needs
- assets held across several countries
- how a settlement may affect longer-term financial security
The aim is not to influence the legal strategy.
It is to help the client understand what different financial outcomes may mean in practice.
Client situations where family law and financial planning commonly intersect
A divorce involves pensions
Pensions may represent a significant proportion of family wealth, particularly where one spouse has accumulated benefits over a long career.
The client may need help understanding how pension assets fit alongside property, cash and other investments.
Assets are held in several countries
The couple may own investments, pensions, property or business interests across more than one jurisdiction.
The legal and tax treatment should be established by the relevant specialists, while financial planning can help assess the client's resulting personal position.
One spouse is internationally mobile
One spouse is internationally mobile
Residence changes before, during or after divorce can affect the client's wider planning, including pensions, investments, account access and retirement.
One spouse holds concentrated business or employer wealth
A settlement may involve business interests, company shares, RSUs, options or other assets that are difficult to assess solely by reference to headline value.
Retirement plans have changed
A client who previously expected to retire as part of a couple may need to reconsider retirement age, spending, pension access and investment withdrawals.
The settlement creates substantial investable capital
A client may receive cash, investments or sale proceeds but have little experience managing significant assets independently.
Questions that may indicate a financial-planning need
What will the client's post-divorce spending look like?
Housing, children, travel, education and retirement may all need to be funded from a different asset base.
How much liquidity will the client require?
A settlement can appear substantial while leaving too much wealth tied up in illiquid assets.
What pension assets are involved?
Pensions should be considered alongside the client's age, retirement objectives, other assets and expected future income.
Will the client need to manage investments independently?
A spouse who previously relied on their partner for financial decisions may need a new investment and cash-management framework.
Are assets held in different currencies or countries?
Cross-border ownership can introduce additional practical, tax and investment considerations.
Has the client's retirement plan materially changed?
The settlement may affect retirement age, required savings, withdrawal rates and future lifestyle.
Are protection arrangements still appropriate?
Life cover and other protection may need to be reviewed as family responsibilities and financial dependencies change.
Professional resources for family lawyers & divorce professionals
The Document Centre includes technical briefs, professional guides and practical checklists that can support cases involving pensions, international assets, beneficiaries, investment portfolios and clients rebuilding their financial position after a major life change.
Relevant resources include cross-border financial planning, pension and beneficiary coordination, international retirement planning and clients with assets across several jurisdictions.
Useful resources for family lawyers & divorce professionals
The Professional Adviser's Guide to Cross-Border Financial Planning
A broad guide to the issues that can arise where a client's assets, pensions, residence or family circumstances span jurisdictions.
The Professional Adviser's Guide to International Retirement Planning
A professional guide covering pensions, investments, cash flow, retirement income and future residence.
Pension and Beneficiary Coordination Checklist
A practical checklist for reviewing whether pension and beneficiary arrangements remain aligned after a major family change.
Cross-Border Financial Planning Document Checklist
A practical resource for identifying the financial documents and information that may be relevant where a client's affairs span several jurisdictions.
Defined Benefit Pensions for Internationally Mobile Clients
A technical brief covering planning considerations where a client holds a defined benefit pension while living internationally.
Cross-Border Beneficiary and Estate Coordination
A technical resource covering beneficiary arrangements and internationally held assets, which may require review after divorce or another major family change.
Modelling different settlement outcomes
The legal value of an asset and its practical value to the client are not always the same thing.
A client receiving property, pension rights, cash or investments may end up with very different levels of liquidity, income potential and investment flexibility.
Cash-flow modelling can help illustrate how different financial outcomes may affect:
- future spending
- housing costs
- retirement timing
- pension income
- investment withdrawals
- education or family commitments
- emergency liquidity
- long-term capital sustainability
This does not determine what the legal settlement should be.
It helps the client and their advisers understand the financial consequences of different outcomes.
Rebuilding the financial plan after divorce
The end of the legal process is often the beginning of a new financial-planning process.
Once the settlement is known, the client may need to reorganise their finances around a new set of circumstances.
That may include consolidating investment accounts, establishing cash reserves, reviewing pensions, updating beneficiaries, changing protection arrangements and creating a new retirement plan.
Where the lawyer or tax adviser has established the legal or tax treatment of the settlement, Josh can work from that advice.
Josh does not provide family-law advice, determine the appropriate division of matrimonial assets or replace the client's lawyer.
His role is to help the client understand and manage the financial position that results.
Have a client case you would like to discuss?
If a divorce involves pensions, international investments, substantial liquidity or a material change to the client's retirement position, an initial discussion can help establish whether financial-planning input would be useful.
There is no requirement to make a formal introduction simply to determine whether the case falls within Josh's remit.