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You won't be shocked to hear that as a divorce legal representative among the questions that I'm often asked is, 'when is my best time to apply for divorce in order to get the highest settlement?'.

The prize they have in mind is their husband (or spouse's) pension and I provide a very basic response: the longer the marital relationship - the larger the claim.

Take Trudy whose 2nd marital relationship was to Eric, a wealthy residential or commercial property designer who had a couple of residential or commercial properties, ISAs and financial investments. To Trudy, the real reward was Eric's pension which deserved more than ₤ 1 million.

The marriage came to an end after five years, however when Trudy attempted to claim versus Eric's pension she was devastated to be told by her lawyer that instead of the half-share that she had actually computed in her mind that she would be granted, she was incorrect.

Eric could, in truth, ring fence all the pension that he had developed prior to the marriage. This that Trudy could only claim a tiny percentage that had accrued throughout their short time together.

The judge felt that the excessiveness of Trudy's claim was expensive which most of the wealth in the marriage had originated from Eric and this was reflected in the settlement that Trudy got.

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

It could not have been more different for Gloria, who was wed to Frank for more than thirty years. Frank admitted to having affairs with women who he described as 'the employed aid', believing it did not truly count as adultery. It did to Gloria. As the pensions accumulated during their 3 years relationship, Gloria was able to claim half of it and was granted equality of all the pensions.

Vanessa Lloyd Platt, a leading divorce lawyer, says the longer the marriage, the bigger the divorce claim

Frank might not ring fence one cent of it. And thanks to the length of the marriage, Gloria received what is called a 'Joint Lives Order' for maintenance. Put simply, this implies Gloria would be provided upkeep for life, although this is uncommon today as the majority of maintenance payments are for a set term just.

It was not assisted by the fact that Frank had actually not been forthcoming over the real degree of his cost savings and had at the last minute attempted to transfer funds offshore. He was provided a punitive award and Gloria gained from a number of thousands more on her side of the divorce formula. The ethical here is that dishonesty does not pay - specifically in a divorce court.

So that's brief and long marital relationships - what about a longer than average length of marital relationship (12 years) for state 15 years?

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

It is constantly essential that a pensions expert analyse the value of a pension so the appropriate figure can be determined.

Which is where Gemma came unstuck. She had a 16-year marriage to City broker Paul. His pension ran into hundreds of countless pounds. Gemma was none too bothered by the pension but, like numerous better halves I see, she wanted the security of remaining in the home that she liked. So rather of declaring any of Paul's pension she traded it off versus the worth of your home.

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

Wives in particular can come out with a lower offer when they choose this option. The ethical here is that you might feel young and all set to start afresh, however do not be too quick to trade away your future pension.

Vanessa states that in a marital relationship longer than the average of 12 years, the court will equalise the capital of the pension unless wealth has been accrued before or, for a duration, after separation

Another concern I'm often asked is whether an arbitrator will take into consideration all of the couple's assets to increase a settlement.

So numerous people seem to think that conciliators will go simple on the celebrations - and spouses in particular - may get away with more by utilizing an arbitrator, than if the matter is before the court.

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

What Neil had actually not reckoned upon was the perseverance and cleverness of the mediator who firmly insisted that all info be produced for the meetings. The mediator might see that Neil was being obstructive in responding to questions about financial deals and motion of cash in between subsidiary companies.

Little had actually Neil thought that the arbitrator had been a forensic investigator for HMRC, before becoming a matrimonial mediator. After many sessions the mediator suggested a settlement figure which Neil was outraged by and insisted they litigate. Unfortunately for Neil - the specific very same settlement figure was reached in court. It's worth bearing in mind that mediation can be a much better way of fixing matters but is never a soft choice.

Mediators will assist the couple and instruct actuaries to work out pension departments whatever the length of the marital relationship. The courts are now encouraging the celebrations to think about options to court procedures more than ever. Arbitration is also being motivated. All these alternatives are offered in brief, medium and long marital relationships.

This is the factor EVERYONE is separating ... and why your marriage is at threat without you realizing

So no matter the length of your marriage, I encourage all my clients not to have unrealistic expectations of what the last figure should be. It's important 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 financial impact, the conduct or behaviour will be overlooked.

Let me present you now to Henry, who believed that he was being especially creative when he moved his shares in the household company to his sibling, cashed in the capital from his pension and gave it to a friend and bought himself a Lamborghini.

This was since Claudia, his better half of twelve years had started divorce procedures. At the end of the litigation, the court found that he was deliberately attempting to reduce the assets offered to Claudia and added back all the worth of the pension, the cost of the Lamborghini and the shares to his side of the equation and after that divided all of it in half. Henry's actions were so contrived that his attempts to drain pipes the assets absolutely backfired on him. Oh and Henry needed to sell the Lamborghini.

The moral of the story when it pertains to how to increase your settlement? Don't attempt to be too creative, play reasonable and honestly, or risk the extremely opposite of what you wanted to attain. Divorce can be a minefield, and it does not have to explode for either of you if you both take sensible actions towards fixing matters.

* All names have actually been changed to safeguard customer identity.