What is a Separation Agreement?
16 August 2022
A Separation Agreement is a written agreement between two parties. For example, this could be a Cohabiting Couple who are separating and want to have a written agreement confirming how they have divided their assets.
In general, a Separation Agreement may not be required unless cohabiting couples have a property in joint names and for whatever reason the property is not going to be sold straight away. Therefore, one person may be living in the property and they may have agreed certain events that would trigger a sale or transfer and the other party receiving their share of the property.
It might be for example that one person is going to live in the house until the children are older or for a certain period of time. In these circumstances, it would be really beneficial to have that put into a written agreement. It would then make it enforceable, although written agreements do not bind the court and is an agreement only between the two parties.
Another reason for entering into a separation agreement between cohabiting couples might be that one person is retaining the property but not quite paying 50% of the sale proceeds or on the transfer to the other party. It is advisable to have something in writing as evidence that the payment is a final lump sum and so the other party does not attempt to make a further claim in the future.
A Separation Agreement can also be entered into by a married couple. It might be that for whatever reason they are choosing not to divorce at the present time, it might be for religious reasons that they will never divorce. Where there is not going to be a divorce and no Consent Order, a Separation Agreement is a good alternative.
A Separation Agreement can be useful for any couple, whether married or cohabiting, who are separating and want to record a financial agreement.
Here is a video recorded by Head of Family Law, Sharon Mckie:
Here at Taylor Bracewell our Family team are always on hand to assist with anyone considering or proceeding with divorce proceedings. Our team can be there every step of the way to ensure the overall process is as smooth as possible. To contact our family team, please call us on 01302 341 414 or by filling out our online enquiry form.
In addition to this, we have a wide range of content on our website. Here are some article we have hand-selected which you may find beneficial:
