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You won't be surprised to hear that as a divorce attorney among the questions that I'm typically asked is, 'when is my finest time to submit for divorce in order to get the greatest settlement?'.

The reward they have in mind is their spouse (or other half's) pension and I provide them an extremely simple response: the longer the marital relationship - the larger the claim.

Take Trudy whose second marital relationship was to Eric, a rich residential or commercial property designer who had a couple of residential or commercial properties, ISAs and financial investments. To Trudy, the real prize was Eric's pension which was worth more than ₤ 1 million.

The marriage pertained to an end after five years, however when Trudy tried to claim against Eric's pension she was devastated to be informed by her legal representative that instead of the half-share that she had actually calculated in her mind that she would be awarded, she was wrong.

Eric could, in reality, ring fence all the pension that he had actually developed prior to the marital relationship. This implied that Trudy might just claim a tiny percentage that had accumulated during their short time together.

The judge felt that the excessiveness of Trudy's claim was too expensive which most of the wealth in the marital relationship had actually come from Eric and this was shown in the settlement that Trudy got.

So while she got a capitalised settlement to reflect the way of life that they had actually delighted in together, it was no place near her expectations. The ethical of this story? A short marital relationship equates to less assets granted.

It could not have been more various for Gloria, who was married to Frank for more than thirty years. Frank confessed to having affairs with ladies who he referred to as 'the hired assistance', thinking it did not really count as extramarital relations. It did to Gloria. As the pensions accumulated throughout their 3 decade relationship, Gloria was able to declare half of it and was given equality of all the pensions.

Vanessa Lloyd Platt, a top divorce legal representative, states the longer the marital relationship, the bigger the divorce claim

Frank might not call fence one cent of it. And thanks to the length of the marital relationship, Gloria received what is called a 'Joint Lives Order' for maintenance. In other words, this indicates Gloria would be given upkeep for life, although this is uncommon today as the majority of upkeep payments are for a set term just.

It was not helped by the fact that Frank had actually not been forthcoming over the real level of his cost savings and had at the last minute tried to transfer funds offshore. He was offered a punitive award and Gloria took advantage of a number of thousands more on her side of the divorce equation. The moral here is that dishonesty does not pay - specifically in a divorce court.

So that's short and long marital relationships - what about a longer than typical length of marriage (12 years) for say 15 years?

Here the court will equalise the capital of the pension unless wealth has been accumulated before or certainly, for a duration, after separation.

It is constantly vital that a pensions professional analyse the worth of a pension so the appropriate figure can be calculated.

Which is where Gemma came unstuck. She had a 16-year marital relationship to City broker Paul. His pension faced hundreds of thousands of pounds. Gemma was none too troubled by the pension but, like lots of wives I see, she wanted the security of remaining in the home that she enjoyed. So instead of declaring any of Paul's pension she traded it off versus the value of the house.

This is called a 'set-off', but as a lawyer I would constantly suggest to any customer that an actuary report is obtained very first and all alternatives are considered.

Wives in specific can come out with a lesser offer when they select this alternative. The ethical here is that you might feel young and prepared to start afresh, however do not be too quick to trade away your future pension.

Vanessa states that in a marriage longer than the average of 12 years, the court will equalise the capital of the pension unless wealth has actually been accumulated before or, for a period, after separation

Another question I'm often asked is whether a mediator will take into consideration all of the couple's possessions to increase a settlement.

So lots of people appear to think that will go simple on the parties - and hubbies in particular - might get away with more by utilizing a conciliator, than if the matter is before the court.

This is a fallacy, as Neil discovered. The company director thought that mediation would imply that he might put pressure on Judy to settle. It had actually been a long marriage spanning twenty-eight years and he thought that Judy was not the brightest. He felt he could bluff his way through and hoodwink the arbitrator.

What Neil had not reckoned upon was the persistence and cleverness of the arbitrator who insisted that all information be produced for the meetings. The mediator could see that Neil was being obstructive in addressing questions about financial deals and motion of cash in between subsidiary companies.

Little had actually Neil presumed that the conciliator had been a forensic detective for HMRC, before ending up being a matrimonial arbitrator. After lots of sessions the mediator suggested a settlement figure which Neil was outraged by and insisted they go to court. Unfortunately for Neil - the precise very same settlement figure was reached in court. It's worth remembering that mediation can be a much better method of dealing with matters however is never a soft choice.

Mediators will help the couple and advise actuaries to work out pension departments whatever the length of the marital relationship. The courts are now motivating the parties to consider alternatives to court proceedings more than ever. Arbitration is likewise being motivated. All these alternatives are offered in short, medium and long marriages.

This is the factor EVERYONE is divorcing ... and why your marital relationship is at danger without you understanding

So no matter the length of your marital relationship, I advise all my clients not to have unrealistic expectations of what the last figure ought to be. It's crucial to understand that you can not punish your soon to be ex-partner in the courtroom. Unless you can show that the behaviour of your spouse has actually had a monetary impact, the conduct or behaviour will be neglected.

Let me introduce you now to Henry, who believed that he was being particularly clever when he transferred his shares in the family company to his sibling, moneyed in the capital from his pension and gave it to a buddy and purchased himself a Lamborghini.

This was since Claudia, his wife of twelve years had actually begun divorce proceedings. At the end of the litigation, the court discovered that he was intentionally trying to reduce the properties available to Claudia and added back all the worth of the pension, the expense of the Lamborghini and the shares to his side of the equation and then divided all of it in half. Henry's actions were so contrived that his attempts to drain the properties totally backfired on him. Oh and Henry had to offer the Lamborghini.
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The moral of the story when it concerns how to maximise your settlement? Don't attempt to be too creative, play reasonable and honestly, or run the risk of the really opposite of what you hoped to achieve. Divorce can be a minefield, and it does not need to explode for either of you if you both take reasonable steps towards resolving matters.

* All names have been changed to safeguard customer identity.
delhi.gov.in