Case Study: Helping you reach a good out of court settlement

Problem

Our client had cohabited with his partner for over ten years. They had a child together. During their relationship, his partner did not work. Our client had enjoyed a very successful career before and during their relationship and had amassed assets in his name worth over £7 million. The parties separated and our client’s ex-partner wanted to claim a share of the value of his assets.

Advice

A cohabitant can only make a restricted claim in court, which is to seek payment of a sum of money if certain criteria are met. The majority of our client’s assets were rental properties. We proposed a settlement that would allow his ex-partner to take ownership of some of his properties rather than payment of money which would involve selling the properties. This would give his ex-partner valuable assets and source of income to provide for herself and the child.

Outcome

Our client’s ex-partner accepted that acquiring ownership of some of our client’s properties would be better than receiving a sum of money, and an out of court settlement was reached. This saved our client the extremely expensive costs of litigating and provided a result that ensured good income to provide for the parties’ child.