You may recall this famous quote from 1990 – “we don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day”. This was uttered by supermodel Linda Evangelista in a Vogue interview and marked the peak of the supermodel era.
Some might say that divorce lawyers are attempting a similar cliché by referring to themselves or their cases as “high net worth” (HNW) or even “ultra high net worth” (UHNW).
What is HNW? What is the significance? How much money do I need for a HNW solicitor to take me on?
It is my view that HNW is an unhelpful phrase.
In most cases the main concern a couple will have is in relation to the children and surely children are of the upmost worth to the parties involved and yet children never really feature in any description of HNW cases.
The real question to consider is whether the financial issues in the case are sufficiently complex to merit a detailed analysis of legal principles or whether in fact the focus should be on meeting the needs of both parties.
In matrimonial law in England and Wales, the key distinction is an analysis of sharing principle but only after financial needs have been met. In general, this means that there will need to be capital in excess of the housing needs of the parties to merit costs being spent on a consideration of complex legal principles.
The typical complex issues are:
Do we need to consider whether an asset is marital or not?
This will often depend on the source of funds, whether it has been co-mingled during the marriage and who has been responsible for the growth. This can often be a lengthy factual matrix but is one where enquiry may be wholly irrelevant if the first consideration is needs in any event.
Are there assets or residencies across multiple jurisdictions?
Different countries have different ways of enforcing financial settlement. In England for example it is possible to divide a pension by way of a pension sharing order. In Germany for example, pension sharing orders are not available.
Is an independent valuation required?
This will depend on whether it is realistic for that asset to be valued – for example, whether an engagement ring is worth £2,000 or £10,000 is unlikely to be worth an argument. Equally, it is not necessarily the case that a private company needs to be valued if there is, for example a minority shareholding and/or it represents the sole source of income and has no “goodwill value”.
There are far too many lawyers who say that they will only act for families where the assets exceed £10million or even £50million. In practice this simply isn’t the case, and it is nothing more than advertising.
The real issue for a client is knowing that a solicitor can deal with cases with complexity involving the issues as described above. It is essential to have a team who can carry out a cost benefit analysis as to the value of spending time and money arguing over a principle or whether in fact the focus should be on needs.
At Rayden Solicitors we have a team of family law experts. Many of us within the team have expertise in complex financial structures including farming, private equity investments, trusts, multiple international jurisdictions.
If you would like to have a meeting please call this number 01727 734260.
