A family lawyer says couples need to treat marriage "like any other contract" as even if they split and one wins the lottery their ex may be entitled to half. <br /><br />Tracey Moloney, 53, has been practising family law for 25 years and believes that people should get a pre-nuptial agreement if they have assets to protect in a marriage.<br /><br />Tracey said couples don't want to talk about pre-nuptial agreements as they are wrapped up in a "romantic bubble" but says it is essential to if you are entering into a marriage with assets and should be treated like any other contract.<br /><br />The solicitor suggests people need to talk about marriage seriously before committing and says couples need to realise divorce "does not sever your financial ties with your partner".<br /><br />Tracey, from Chippenham, Wiltshire, said: "If I had my way, we would have a section in school teaching people about marriage.<br /><br />"Any other contract that you enter into, you will be sent a multitude of papers, and you will be asked to read through them.<br /><br />"Marriage is no different - if you get divorced you could potentially be giving your pension to someone else, maybe half of your property to someone else.<br /><br />"Marriage is wrapped up in that romantic bubble.<br /><br />"People don't want to talk about prenups, but people are becoming savvier and getting one.<br /><br />"People are getting married later in life and doing prenups in their 30s.<br /><br />"By the time you're in your 30s, you may be on the property ladder and paying into your pension.<br /><br />"If you are going into a marriage with assets you will want to protect them."<br /><br />Tracey says most people don't realise divorce does not sever your financial ties and to do that you will need to get a financial order.<br /><br />A financial order is an order you apply for post-divorce.<br /><br />The financial order creates a legally binding financial agreement between parties that can be enforced in the event of a party breaching a term set out in the order.<br /><br />Tracey said that without a financial order, you will still be financially attached to your ex-partner even though you are divorced.<br /><br />If a partner gets into debt, it could impact their ex - even if they've split - as they can claim they need money from them.<br /><br />Tracey said: "What a lot of people don't appreciate is that when they marry, they create a financial contract between them both.<br /><br />"Once they get divorced, we then have to sever that contract.<br /><br />"A lot of people assume the divorce will do that, but it doesn't.<br /><br />"All the divorce does is bring the marriage to an end."<br /><br />When it comes to determining what both parties are entitled to after divorce, Tracey said there are various factors that dictate what a person is going to receive.<br /><br />She said: "The starting point is always a 50/50 split - the law is clear that we are going to do something reasonable in terms of money.<br /><br />"In society, you are always going to have someone who will get paid more.<br /><br />"The man might get paid more and pay into his pension for example.<br /><br />"There also might be health conditions to contend with.<br /><br />"We will look at various factors to see if we move away from 50/50 as the needs of the two parties will differ.<br /><br />"I rarely do a 50/50 split - the only way I will do a 50/50 split is to do a clean break.<br /><br />"This is where both parties don't have anything, are more or less earning the same, and are renting a property - in those cases, we do a clean break."<br /><br />Tracey also said that if your ex-partner wins the lottery, you even might be entitled to make a claim on the winnings.<br /><br />Tracey said: "I recently did a case the same as this and the judge did award us a share of the winnings.<br /><br />"If you don't have a financial order following your divorce, you're always going to be able to make a financial claim against your ex-spouse.<br /><br />"What the courts going to then consider, is if giving you some of those winnings is actually going to be fair and reasonable."
