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You will not be surprised to hear that as a divorce legal representative one of the questions that I'm often asked is, 'when is my best time to file for divorce in order to get the greatest settlement?'.

The reward they have in mind is their hubby (or better half's) pension and I provide an extremely easy response: the longer the marriage - the larger the claim.

Take Trudy whose second marriage was to Eric, a wealthy residential or commercial property designer who had a few residential or commercial properties, ISAs and investments. To Trudy, the genuine prize was Eric's pension which deserved more than ₤ 1 million.

The marriage came to an end after 5 years, but when Trudy tried to declare against Eric's pension she was ravaged to be informed by her attorney that instead of the half-share that she had calculated in her mind that she would be awarded, she was incorrect.

Eric could, in fact, ring fence all the pension that he had actually developed prior to the marital relationship. This suggested that Trudy could only lay claim to a tiny proportion that had actually accrued during their brief time together.

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

So while she got a capitalised settlement to reflect the lifestyle that they had delighted in together, it was nowhere near her expectations. The moral of this story? A short marital relationship equates to less properties awarded.

It couldn't have actually been more various for Gloria, who was wed to Frank for more than 30 years. Frank admitted to having affairs with women who he referred to as 'the hired help', thinking it did not actually count as infidelity. It did to Gloria. As the pensions accumulated during their three decade relationship, Gloria was able to declare half of it and was granted equality of all the pensions.
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Vanessa Lloyd Platt, a top divorce attorney, says the longer the marital relationship, the bigger the divorce claim
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Frank might not ring fence one cent of it. And thanks to the length of the marriage, Gloria got what is called a 'Joint Lives Order' for maintenance. Simply put, this means Gloria would be given maintenance for life, although this is unusual today as the majority of upkeep payments are for a set term just.

It was not assisted by the truth that Frank had not been forthcoming over the real degree of his savings and had at the last moment tried to transfer funds offshore. He was offered 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 short and long marital relationships - what about a longer than average length of marriage (12 years) for say 15 years?

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

It is always vital that a pensions specialist analyse the value of a pension so the proper figure can be computed.

Which is where Gemma came unstuck. She had a 16-year marital relationship to City broker Paul. His pension faced numerous thousands of pounds. Gemma was none too troubled by the pension however, like many other halves I see, she wanted the security of remaining in the home that she liked. So rather of claiming any of Paul's pension she traded it off versus the value of your home.

This is called a 'set-off', but as a legal representative I would always suggest to any customer that an actuary report is acquired very first and all options are considered.

Wives in particular can bring out a lower offer when they choose this alternative. The moral here is that you might feel young and prepared to start afresh, however do not be too quick to trade away your future pension.

Vanessa states that in a marriage 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 period, after separation

Another concern I'm frequently asked is whether a mediator will take into consideration all of the couple's possessions to maximise a .

Many people appear to believe that mediators will go easy on the parties - and partners in specific - may get away with more by utilizing a conciliator, than if the matter is before the court.

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

What Neil had not reckoned upon was the persistence and cleverness of the arbitrator who firmly insisted that all details be produced for the meetings. The conciliator could see that Neil was being obstructive in responding to queries about financial deals and motion of cash between subsidiary business.

Little had actually Neil thought that the arbitrator had actually been a forensic detective for HMRC, before becoming a matrimonial arbitrator. After numerous 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 method of dealing with matters but is never a soft choice.

Mediators will assist the couple and instruct actuaries to work out pension divisions whatever the length of the marital relationship. The courts are now encouraging the celebrations to consider alternatives to court proceedings especially. Arbitration is likewise being motivated. All these options are readily available simply put, medium and long marriages.

This is the reason EVERYONE is divorcing ... and why your marital relationship is at risk without you recognizing

So no matter the length of your marriage, I advise all my clients not to have unrealistic expectations of what the last figure should be. It's important to realise that you can not punish your quickly to be ex-partner in the courtroom. Unless you can show that the behaviour of your partner has had a financial impact, the conduct or behaviour will be neglected.

Let me introduce you now to Henry, who believed that he was being especially clever when he moved his shares in the household company to his brother, cashed in the capital from his pension and offered it to a pal and purchased himself a Lamborghini.

This was since Claudia, his partner of twelve years had started divorce proceedings. At the end of the litigation, the court found that he was deliberately attempting to reduce the properties available to Claudia and added back all the value of the pension, the expense of the Lamborghini and the shares to his side of the formula and after that divided all of it in half. Henry's actions were so contrived that his efforts to drain pipes the assets completely backfired on him. Oh and Henry had to sell the Lamborghini.

The ethical of the story when it concerns how to increase your settlement? Don't try to be too clever, play fair and honestly, or risk the very opposite of what you intended to achieve. Divorce can be a minefield, and it does not need to blow up for either of you if you both take reasonable actions towards dealing with matters.

* All names have been changed to secure customer identity.