I am going through a divorce and my husband is asking me for a substantial financial settlement. I am in my mid-40s, have successfully run my own business for the past 15 years – with no input from my spouse – and have made a substantial amount of money from it. My husband works full-time as a youth worker and, although he earns far less than me, is by no means penniless. We have two children who will remain living with me in the family home. My husband’s lawyers claim that he is entitled to a payout, which may be quite large. What can I do to lessen the settlement?

Henry Brookman, founding partner of Brookman Solicitors, says he can see how your husband’s argument is likely to run. He and his lawyers will say that you both enjoyed a good lifestyle, based on your successful business but also on his being a fully participating parent. They will say that while, yes, you earned more money, he was there to take the children to school, and he had the flexibility to manage their after-
school care. The argument will also be that he needs enough money to buy a suitable house for him to have the children to stay regularly. As you fear, this could be quite a large claim.

However, whether he gets what he wants will depend on the evidence and strength of your counter-
arguments. I would start by looking at the value in your business. From your point of view, it is nothing to do with your husband and he made no contribution to it. It sounds as if your business critically depends on your personal input, and its real usefulness is that you can earn a good income from it. Your argument would be that the value of the business is largely irrelevant in any divorce settlement, because it is the means of providing income for yourself and the children.

Ten years ago, the divorce case of White v White made it clear that, all other things being equal, then in a medium-
length marriage – which yours is – the starting point for any financial settlement should be equality – a 50:50 split. At the time, this was seen as a significant advance for gender equality. But it is important to remember that 50:50 is the start – not the end – point for a settlement.

You have some good arguments on your side and you should push them hard. A good solicitor will examine each of the issues that matter. For example: whether your husband’s claim to be housed by you is justified; whether his occupation as youth worker is only recent and possibly a ploy to improve his settlement; and where the responsibilities for the children will fall. It could be reasonable to argue that he looks for a better-paid job – particularly as the children will continue to live with you.

You need to get your evidence and arguments together to have the strongest possible position. Had you agreed a pre-nuptial agreement with your husband, a standard pre-nup would have sought to ringfence your business from any divorce settlement. Commonly, such agreements would cover the business even if its value grew – rather than simply its value at the time of marriage. Property and other assets can be similarly set aside in pre-nups, adopting the principle that what individuals bring into a marriage they would keep on divorce – with a settlement being restricted to wealth accumulated during the union. However, the ongoing question is whether courts will uphold pre-nups, and many have applied a test of fairness to decide whether to enforce any agreement.