What happens when the honeymoon is over?
You are back from honeymoon, the dress has been packed away, and the cake is in the freezer waiting for your 1-year anniversary. But what if you realised you made a terrible mistake, and you do not want to be married anymore?
Justin Bieber & Hailey Baldwin case
In the UK courts marriage is treated as a legally binding contract and is one that cannot be ignored easily. If the couple were commencing divorce proceedings in the UK the first stumbling block would be the fact that they have only been married for 6 months. In the UK you have to be married for at least 1 year before you can file a divorce petition. The only option you have prior to that is an annulment and there are only a handful of scenarios where that would be applicable.
Hailey would have to prove that there has been some form of fraud or that the marriage has never been consummated. Whilst it is not for us to comment on the Biebers’ personal life, this seems unlikely!
The other issue of course is what this could do to their respective financial position. The couple are both celebrities in their own right and no doubt have their own significant personal wealth. It is likely that they have considered prenuptial agreements, particularly as these are very popular in the United States, but if they haven’t and they were getting divorced in the UK then this could be somewhat problematic.
The length of a marriage is an important factor in any divorce proceedings and this would be something to take into account when looking at whether there should be any sort of financial order in this case. They do not have any children together and they are both financially independent. If Hailey was not the global supermodel that she is, and they had a very young baby, then she could be looking at a reasonable financial settlement to help her with her future as a single mother. It may also be that she could have made financial sacrifices entering into the marriage and she may need to be financially compensated for the same. This compensation does not necessarily have to mirror exactly what was sacrificed prior to the marriage as ultimately they are both adults and both made a decision to enter into a relationship with each other, however if it was difficult for Hailey to go out on her own then it could be reasonable for her to have some form of financial support in the short term.
If you have recently become married and you are concerned that you have made a mistake, you can seek legal advice about what the consequences would be if you did choose to start divorce proceedings, or alternatively you can reach out to a marriage counsellor, like Relate, who are a charity specifically designed to assist couples that are going through relationship difficulties.
Watson Thomas Solicitors have offices in Fleet, Guildford, Bracknell, Camberley, Farnborough and Woking.
At Watson Thomas our staff can work from home and access all systems so even if all are required to self-isolate this will not affect the day-to-day running of your case. We can also hold appointments via telephone and video conferencing, as needs be, to ensure that your service is not interrupted.
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