Dear Mark
You asked for more information about “ranges” for financial settlements in Australian separations.
You may be like other separating couples who have lots of different opinions being thrown at you about what you could/should/will get in your financial settlement.
This email will give you some "straight talking" factual information that will help you learn what a realistic and sensible outcome is likely to be for you.
One reason we're able to help is that we run deep statistical analysis of all reported family law cases and surveys covering tens of thousands of divorce cases. That analysis reveals patterns and groupings and outputs including the ones in this report to you.
The first thing we can tell you is this:
The vast bulk of couples end up with a settlement in a very defined range. Around 98% of couples split their wealth somewhere between 46% and 65% going to the Female, and the balance to the Male.
(Note: If you are a same sex couple, sorry about the labels, but that’s just the way the stats are collected. In your case, a rule of thumb interpretation is that the “Male” refers to the partner with the higher income)
Here’s how that looks graphically:
Q: Who sits outside that 46-65% range?
A: People with very unusual fact patterns.
For example:
- A man with a terrible health problem that means he’ll have horrendous medical expenses for the rest of his life, but his former wife is a management consultant earning $200,000 a year.
- Or a couple where he’s a heart surgeon earning $750,000 a year and she was a stay-at-home mum, but they had an expensive lifestyle with very little savings.
So unless you have a very unusual fact pattern, you’re almost certainly going to end up with a wealth split somewhere inside the standard range.
Q: Can you be more precise about where within the 46-65% range you should be?
A: Yes, you can.
The “right range” for you depends on your facts. Couples tend to fall into groups who have similar fact patterns. When you find the group that seems to describe you, you’ll almost certainly end up with a settlement split in the same range as those people.
Typical Family Scenarios - and the normal wealth splits they end up with
Here’s a table you can use to find about where you're likely to fit:
So if your “fact pattern” is very similar to one of the scenarios above, the range shown is probably where you’re going to end up.
It may be that you don’t fit neatly into one of these scenarios. Some couples do have some unique characteristics. There is a myriad of other factors that might mean you “could” or even “should” end up with a net result outside these ranges. So the table isn't legal advice specific to you and your exact circumstances.
If your former partner acknowledges that there are, factually, some other factors, you can start from the nearest scenario, then adjust a bit for those unusual factors. And if your matter is really complex, by all means, get some legal opinions.
But if your facts are pretty normal, then the ranges in the table are a pretty good guide.
Q: Are you likely to do better than this via lawyers or court?
A: To be blunt: it’s statistically very unlikely.
You could gamble spending money on legal and court fees and you might – possibly – get a little more in terms of the relative portions you get compared to your ex. But when you factor in the legal fees, you’re likely to be worse off. How much worse off? Around 18% to 30% for the average middle class Australian couple if they get a court to make a judgement.
So the financially sane thing to do is agree a deal somewhere in the narrow range mentioned. Naturally, you will want it at one end of the range and your ex may want the other end of the range! Don’t mess around – you're better to split the difference and get on with it.
For about 45% of our client couples, just seeing and studying this table is enough to help them reach agreement. Those are couples who want to save themselves the time, stress and expense of trying to fight about it.
If you need to, watch our video series
If you can’t get to a deal that easily, we have a short video series we’d like to share with you. They take the ranges concept above and expand on it in more detail.
About another 35% of our client couples figure out a deal when they’ve watched the videos.
If you’d like to watch the videos, send us an email. We can send them to your ex, too, if you’d like.
Use our Mediation Services if you need to
If you can’t reach a deal after reviewing the statistical ranges above or after watching the video series, then you may need some mediation. We provide some low-stress, low-cost mediation services. We can talk with you about those if you wish.
If you reach agreement, we can help you formalise it
If you can reach a deal like this, terrific. Then all you need to do is formalise it in a legally binding agreement. If that’s where you end up, send us an email with a bullet point of your proposed deal. We’ll give you a fixed price quote and can get the job done rapidly and with minimal fuss.
Forward this email to your "ex"
Feel free to forward this email to your former partner. Or if you think it would work better if we did so, let us know your ex’s first name and email address and we'll send it to them.
Have a Chat
If you want to talk about your situation, you book a time by clicking the Calendar link below. There's no charge for that.
Kind regards
Kate Johnson
Client Support
Phone: | 1300 975 994 |
Web: | www.divorcepartners.com.au |
Email: | [email protected] |
Calendar: | Make a booking |