Farming & Agricultural divorce

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Farms are very specialised businesses and it is important to have the right quality of legal advice to ensure a fair outcome. This is an area where experience counts, as claims against farms can be damaging to both their short and long term viability.

Farming families need to think about their divorce settlement in a very different way when it is the farm that is at stake rather than simply the family home. Agricultural divorce can therefore be uniquely complex. On divorce, the Courts are able to transfer or sell farmland, distribute business assets or transfer shares between the couple concerned.

A Farming Divorce settlement is therefore very different to a normal divorce and our family lawyers identify and understand these structures to avoid a business being destroyed:

• Farms are income light and capital heavy e.g. the value of the land and property can be substantial compared with the income from them
• Farms are often inherited, prior to a marriage, making them non-matrimonial assets that may not be subject to the sharing principle (i.e. may not be divided equally) which can be very relevant to the case
• There is often wider ownership amongst brothers/sisters/parents or other members of the family, so extracting capital is more difficult
• There is often a lack of liquidity, so raising cash to buy alternative houses can be difficult
• The ownership can be complicated by specialised agricultural tenancies, corporate ownership and/or trust arrangements which may very well impact and reduce the value of the Farm and Land

Our experience

Our Family and Divorce Solicitors can also call upon our experts in other areas of law such as farming and rural conveyancing, trust and tax planning and corporate and partnership law to help us achieve an outcome that is not only fair to you but one that protects your Farm or agricultural business.

Our team of specialists can assist you on a wide variety of family and personal matters including:

• Divorce/civil partnerships
• Dividing assets in divorce
• Financial claims
• Business interests
• Separation or Cohabitation Agreements
• Prenuptial Agreements
• Child Arrangement Orders
• Dispute resolution

For more advice, or to make an appointment, please call Lisa Cogger at Bowcock & Pursaill today on 01538 370830 / 07814 175350 or via email lc@bowcockpursaill.co.uk.