The season of goodwill has traditionally been followed by a season of increased filing of divorce petitions.

Of course the assumption is that the festive period is a time when cracks show because of the pressure to have the perfect family Christmas. However, in reality the reason most people choose January to announce the decision, is that they do not wish to spoil Christmas for their loved ones. In actual fact, they have been planning the moment and putting it off until after the period of enforced togetherness. Divorce is far from a spur of the moment decision for the majority.

Many couples have always shared financial decisions and organised their finances together, so going solo can be very daunting. Sometimes financial planners like FMB do not get involved until the very end when the court has imposed a pension sharing order. However, solicitors and courts are not financial experts. Often there could have been a better way to share the finances than the court decrees, particularly with pensions, to avoid loss of benefits within long standing policies. By analysing the pensions at an early stage, we can achieve a better outcome for both parties.

Separating your financial affairs can be complex and when emotions are high, it makes sense to have somebody calmly helping with financial decisions that could have long term consequences.

A fresh start in a new life is an excellent time to sit down and re-evaluate your priorities. If you have suddenly become the main breadwinner; supporting a family with no backstop, then it is especially important to think about making a long term financial plan to ensure you have everything in place for all eventualities.

At FMB, we find that new clients often arrive because of a life change. We understand how emotionally draining and time consuming this is. Our job is to find solutions to carry you forward. The starting point is where you are now, but we also want to know about you as a person so we can unlock your thoughts, fears and dreams for the future in order to create your personal financial plan.

So if your New Year is the start of a new life, click here to arrange a no obligation chat with a financial planner to talk about how we can help.