A short marriage often ends with a longer divorce due to differences of opinion over the financial settlement warns Caroline Bourn, solicitor at Buss Murton Law LLP.

Caroline Bourn comments: “This is highlighted by recent media coverage of Katie Price and Alex Reid’s split as reports claim Alex Reid is seeking a £6million divorce settlement, whilst Katie Price is offering £700,000. Couples can have great difficulty in agreeing what is the right settlement when dealing with a short childless marriage where one person brought into the marriage the majority of the wealth.”

“There is no one size fits all approach to any divorce settlement, as each case will depend on its own individual facts and circumstances.”

“In this case, the starting point of any financial agreement will be to identify the “marital acquest”, or more simply, what was built up during the marriage.”

“For example, in Katie Price and Alex Reid’s case this might include the money from the TV shows or magazine deals they were in together. The marital acquest, once identified, is often shared equally, which then leaves the decision as to what should happen to those assets that were bought into the marriage by one party or were inherited or are business assets, which were the result of one party’s effort.”

“In short marriages, contributions made by either party can prove to be decisive; whilst the longer the marriage lasts, the less weight may be given to those contributions made before a marriage.”

“With a short marriage, there is often not the acceptance that the assets will be divided equally, which is often the case in longer marriages.”

“A contested court case will cost thousands of pounds and could take years to conclude and if Katie Price and Alex Reid wish to avoid this, they would be well advised to find a better way of resolving the finances, such as Collaborative Law. This will mean they have to sit down around the same table with their lawyers and thrash the deal out.”

Caroline concludes: “If either party considers remarrying in the future, they would be well advised to draw up a Pre Nuptial Agreement to protect the wealth they bring to the marriage.”