Kim Beatson & Lehna Hewitt review the court’s approach to asset sharing & brief encounters
One of the factors under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, s 25, which the court must have regard to when redistributing the assets on divorce, is the age of the parties and the duration of the marriage. What is the court’s approach when the marriage has been short?
The first point to consider is what is meant by a “short marriage”. Although this is a subjective question, it is generally accepted that a short marriage is one which has lasted for around five years or less. Pre-marriage cohabitation will be added to the length of the marriage (see GW v RW [2003] EWHC 611 (Fam), [2003] All ER (D) 40 (May), however, the duration of the marriage cannot be considered in isolation, and there may be a multitude of other relevant factors such as children, contributions, and earning potential. Although the court’s approach to the division of assets in short marriages has evolved in a somewhat piecemeal fashion, there are some solid rules which are worthy
