Trusts on Divorce

WHAT HAPPENS TO TRUSTS ON DIVORCE?

Clare Curran, Director in Curran Bowles Family Law based here in Northern Ireland looks at how trusts can be dealt with upon a marriage breakdown.

There are a number of different types of trust and how they are considered as part of a marriage breakdown and a subsequent divorce settlement can vary widely.  Here at Curran Bowles Family Law we specialise in finances on relationship breakdown and we can advise you what may happen to all assets including those held on trust in a matrimonial breakdown.

If you or your partner has a beneficial interest in a trust, its existence should form part of your financial disclosure when negotiating a financial settlement.  Disclosing its existence does not mean you accept that it should be split equally and different arguments will apply in relation to how it will be treated.

Giving full details as to the nature of the trust will help us advise you as to what way it might be dealt with in a matrimonial settlement.  Certain types of trust may actually have little significance in terms of the overall financial settlement.  However, if a spouse has derived an income or received capital payments from a trust, then it is much more likely to be considered as a financial resource which it would be unfair to disregard in terms of the  financial settlement.

Once the nature and value of the trust has been established, we can advise as to the impact it will have in relation to your overall financial settlement. 

Here at Curran Bowles Family Law, we specialise in all legal issues arising from a marriage or relationship breakdown. 

Getting the right advice at the outset will help you in resolving your issues in the best possible way so get in touch today on clare.curran@bowles-law.com or telephone 02897 512722 if you need to discuss your situation in confidence.