The City of London and London generally is home to some of the most profitable businesses on earth. These businesses employ a significant number of the most talented and best paid people. However, considering the pressures on such professionals these days, it is not surprising to learn that these pressures often place a great strain on their personal lives, and indeed on their spouses’ lives.
We have a great deal of experience in dealing with financial settlements upon the breakdown of marriage for City Professionals, acting for both them and their spouses.
Remuneration Packages
Many City Professionals have much more complex remuneration packages than simple salaries. Remuneration packages can include share options which vest over a period of time, cash retention awards, sign-on bonuses, partner drawings/distributions, dividends, employee benefit trusts and offshore pension plans.
The founders and key players of start-up firms often take relatively low starting remuneration. Instead they anticipate an advantageous sale once the firm is a fully running concern. Such sales may involve significant tax issues.
Sometimes spouses believe that a sale is being negotiated but the city spouse denies it, which of course means a large discrepancy in valuations of assets.
When acting for the spouse of the City Professional, we make careful enquiries about the precise package that the City Professional is employed on, together with their expectations.
When acting for a City Professional, particularly bankers, we carefully consider that our client is not boxed into a position where they are paying such a high proportion of their assets or income that there is no allowance for the risks that they carry at the same time. This is particularly important when the market is volatile.
We have extensive experience dealing with many varied city occupations and businesses, ranging from banking, hedge funds and publishing to real estate and professional practices.
We use a full range of experts, including expert Counsel, forensic accountants, pension actuaries and other advisers to ensure that our clients receive the best possible advice in order to project their case in its best possible light.
A selection of the areas in which our clients live and work, in and around London:
| Kensington & Chelsea | City of Westminster |
| Holborn | Hampstead & Highgate |
| Camden | Wandsworth |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | Islington |
| Finsbury | Battersea |
| Marylebone | Harpenden |
We have a Central London office and an office in Richmond from which we serve our clients.
Or call us: +44 (0)20 7430 8470