High Net Worth Divorce

What Counts as a High Net Worth Divorce

There is no legal definition of a high net worth divorce and no figure that makes one. Whatever the size of the case, the court divides finances under section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. What changes is complexity: how the assets are held, and how much of the value is in dispute.

The Financial Remedies Court's guide of March 2026 asks the allocating judge to weigh, among other things:

• the level of the assets and income involved
• whether serious non-disclosure is alleged
• whether substantial assets sit offshore, in trusts or in unquoted companies, so that enforcement or detailed valuation evidence is in question
• whether compensation, non-matrimonial property or conduct is seriously argued
• whether third parties claim the assets, or a nuptial agreement is in issue

High Court Judge level is kept for cases that are exceptionally complex, or where there is another substantial ground, and only where that level is proportionate. The guide treats net assets above £20 million, or net earned annual income above £1 million, as relevant considerations.

Where the finances are large but conventional, the route is the ordinary one set out on our pages on financial remedy proceedings and on reaching a financial settlement on divorce. Ending the marriage runs separately: see no fault divorce.

How the Court Decides What Is Fair

The court weighs all the circumstances, and section 25(1) gives first consideration to the welfare, while a minor, of any child of the family under 18. The statute then lists what it must have particular regard to:

• the income, earning capacity, property and other resources each of you has or is likely to have
• your financial needs, obligations and responsibilities, now and in future
• the standard of living before the marriage broke down
• your ages and the length of the marriage
• any disability of either of you
• the contributions each of you made to the family, including caring for the home
• conduct, where it would be inequitable to disregard it
• the value of any benefit, such as a pension, lost through the divorce

The GOV.UK guide to asking the court to decide says the judge finds the fairest division where there is enough to meet everyone's needs, deals with the children first, and does not take the reason for the divorce into account.

Section 25A requires the court to consider ending the financial obligations between you as soon after the order as is just and reasonable, the basis of a clean break order, and whether any maintenance should run only long enough for the receiving party to adjust without undue hardship, which our page on spousal maintenance covers.

Child maintenance is normally worked out by the Child Maintenance Service rather than the court, though a financial order can include maintenance for a child: the service uses the paying parent's yearly gross income supplied by HM Revenue and Customs, and where gross weekly income is more than £3,000 the receiving parent can apply to the court for extra maintenance. See GOV.UK on how child maintenance is worked out, our child maintenance advice page, and Schedule 1 claims for children.

Sharing, Needs and Non-Matrimonial Property

In Standish v Standish, decided on 2 July 2025, the Supreme Court settled how the sharing principle works in what has been termed a big money case. Five principles follow.

1. Non-matrimonial property is typically brought into the marriage, or received as an external gift or inheritance; matrimonial property is the fruits of the marriage, and legal title does not decide which is which.
2. The sharing principle applies only to matrimonial property, though non-matrimonial property can still be reached by the needs and compensation principles.
3. Matrimonial property starts from equal sharing, though a departure can be justified.
4. Non-matrimonial property can become matrimonial, and that rests on the parties, over time, treating the asset as shared.
5. A transfer between spouses in a scheme designed to save tax will not normally show an asset is treated as shared, so it will not normally matrimonialise it.

In that case a portfolio put into the wife's sole name for inheritance tax planning stayed 75 per cent non-matrimonial and her appeal was dismissed. Pre-marital shareholdings, family money and inherited property need documents showing where the value came from and how it was treated since.

A prenuptial agreement can record the categories at the outset without binding the court, and trading companies raise their own valuation questions, taken further on our page on business assets on divorce.

Disclosure, Valuations and Common Problems

Both of you complete Form E, the financial statement. It states that you have a duty to the court to give a full, frank and clear disclosure of all your financial and other relevant circumstances. A failure to give full and accurate disclosure may result in any order being set aside, and deliberate untruth may bring criminal proceedings for fraud under the Fraud Act 2006.

Form E asks for documents rather than assertions:

• a valuation of each property obtained within the last six months, or your own realistic estimate of its market value
• accounts for the last two financial years for every business interest, with any documentation you have behind your estimate of its current value, for example a letter from an accountant
• a pension valuation no more than a year old at the date of the first appointment
• documents for investments, trust interests, overseas assets and directors' loans

Before the first appointment the applicant files a market appraisal of each family home, other than a rented one, from an estate agent you have both agreed, and jointly obtained material on borrowing capacity; each of you files up to three sets of property particulars on your own housing need and three on the other party's. Contested figures need permission for expert evidence under Part 25 of the Family Procedure Rules, and the court can direct a single joint expert, so disputes about the family home and pensions on divorce are usually narrowed by agreeing the valuer.

The recurring problems are timing and candour: accounts that stop before a strong trading year, a share award vesting just after separation, a loan account used as income, or assets moved before disclosure. The answers are the questionnaire, an order for specific documents and, where assets are at risk, a freezing injunction under section 37 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 or section 37 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, which should almost always be dealt with in the family court. See hidden assets and non-disclosure and freezing orders.

How the Process Works

1. We take the whole financial picture, decide which assets need independent valuation, and agree a strategy before filing.
2. You try non-court dispute resolution first. The pre-application protocol expects at least one form of it before proceedings, unless there are safety concerns or another good reason, and a mediation information and assessment meeting is required unless an exemption applies.
3. If agreement is out of reach, Form A goes to the Financial Remedies Court through the online portal with the allocation questions answered, and any application for a High Court Judge is made at once rather than days before the first hearing.
4. You both file and exchange Form E with its documents, then raise a questionnaire on what is missing and file the material on values and housing need.
5. At the first appointment the judge directs which questions must be answered, which valuations are needed and whether an expert is permitted.
6. At the financial dispute resolution appointment you negotiate before a judge who will not decide the case, and what is said there is not normally admissible later. The aim is settlement there or at a private FDR; in arbitration an arbitrator decides instead.
7. The agreement goes to the court as a consent order; otherwise a final hearing follows and the judge decides. Afterwards, enforcing a financial order and varying a financial order are separate applications.

If abuse is part of your situation, say so early: it affects the mediation requirement in step 2. If you are in immediate danger call 999, and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where:

• a company, partnership or private shareholding must be valued on assumptions that have to be tested
• wealth came from before the marriage, or from a gift or inheritance, so source and treatment decide how much is shared
• assets sit offshore or in trusts, where enforcement may be difficult
• a nuptial agreement exists and the weight it carries is in issue
• either of you has a connection with another country, which can affect where the case is heard: see international divorce
• you believe disclosure is incomplete, or income rather than capital is the real question

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

We act in substantial and complex financial cases from our office at 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, a short walk from Tower Bridge. RakLAW Solicitors was founded by solicitor Rakesh Prajapati, and this work sits inside our wider money and financial settlements service, with accountants, valuers and pension specialists instructed where needed.

RakLAW does not offer legal aid, so this work is privately funded; our charges are on the family law fees page, court fees are on the GOV.UK page about court and tribunal fees, the first 15 minute consultation is free, and you can call 0203 345 2000 or book an appointment.