Background
The Husband and Wife married in 2019. Their relationship unfortunately broke down in 2021 and the Husband filed for divorce. There were no children of the marriage.
Conflict
Following on from the breakdown of their relationship, the Husband issued divorce proceedings on the basis of his Wife’s unreasonable behaviour. This caused great conflict between the parties and due to the Wife feeling blamed for the breakdown of the marriage.
Upon the issuing of the divorce petition, the parties remained residing together and which caused further animosity between them.
Whilst the Family Law Act matters where proceeding, the parties were also dealing with financial matters within their divorce. The parties did not have an agreement in relation to how the matrimonial finances would be dealt with. Negations between the parties were not successful and as the party’s proposals were too far apart. The parties struggled to narrow their differences. The parties had not yet had sight of financial disclosure and so were not aware of exactly what was available within the matrimonial pot.
Resolution
We successfully assisted the Husband in filing an application for a Non-Molestation Order under the Family Law Act 1996. As the parties remained living together the Non-Molestation Order set out that the parties were prevented from corresponding with each other and entering the other parties’ “zone” within their shared home. The zonal Non-Molestation Order set out which parts of the property Husband could enter, and which parts of the property Wife could enter.
In light of the party’s struggle to narrow their differences, we advised the husband to enter into a period of voluntary financial disclosure with the wife and to determine the true extent of the matrimonial finances. This then allowed us to advise our client effectively and as to what would be a fair and reasonable settlement in the circumstances. From this, further negations began, and the parties put forward various without prejudice proposals in an attempt to narrow matters and reach an agreement.
These negotiations were successful, and the parties managed to reach an agreement in relation to financial matters and the necessary financial documents were drawn up accordingly. Once we reached the appropriate stage within the divorce proceedings, we were able to file the final agreement with the Court.
