One of the most common reasons divorce financial proceedings take longer — and cost more — than they need to is that neither party comes to the table with a clear, organised picture of what they actually have.

Solicitors are excellent at the legal strategy. They are less cost-effective at helping you remember whether you have a Cash ISA, what the outstanding balance on the mortgage is, or what each pension's CETV figure is. That groundwork is yours to do.

This worksheet is designed to do exactly that. It doesn't give legal advice, and it doesn't predict what a court will order. What it does is give you a structured, comprehensive picture of your financial position — in the same format a court and your solicitor will expect to work through.

The worksheet is structured to mirror the financial disclosure process, covering every category the court will want to see:

Family Home

Enter the agreed or estimated market value, outstanding mortgage balance, any early repayment charge, and the solicitor's standard 2% selling cost estimate. Net equity calculates automatically. If you and your spouse disagree on the value, you can run both figures and compare.

Assets & Debts

Side-by-side layout — Party A on the left, Party B on the right — with pre-listed categories for other property, pensions, savings and ISAs, bank accounts, vehicles, personal possessions, and loans and credit cards. You fill in the numbers; the worksheet totals everything and calculates a combined net marital pot.

Pensions

A dedicated pension planner covering CETV input, growth rate assumptions, projected value at retirement, and a pension sharing modeller. Includes a clear explanation of the three main treatment options — sharing order, offsetting, and earmarking — and flags where a Pensions on Divorce Expert (PODE) is recommended.

Settlement Modeller

Choose an illustrative split ratio from a dropdown (50/50 through 70/30) and the worksheet calculates each party's target allocation, current allocation from the assets sheet, and the resulting balancing payment. A what-if comparison table shows all common splits side by side.

Summary

A print-ready one-page summary pulling all the key figures together — designed to share with your solicitor or mediator at the start of proceedings.

• Pre-filled with example data so you can see how it works before you start
• Blue cells are editable; grey cells calculate automatically
• All formulas tested — no broken calculations
• Works in Microsoft Excel and LibreOffice Calc
• No macros, no internet required — your figures stay on your device

If financial proceedings become necessary — either because you can't reach agreement between yourselves, or because you want a court order to make any agreement legally binding — both parties will need to complete Form E.

Form E is the mandatory financial disclosure document required by the Family Procedure Rules. It covers assets, income, liabilities, pension values, and each party's financial needs. It is several pages long, requires supporting documentation, and has to be exchanged simultaneously by both parties on a court-set deadline.

The worksheet doesn't replace Form E. But working through it first means that when you or your solicitor sits down to complete the formal document, you already have all the figures to hand — rather than scrambling through bank statements and pension correspondence under time pressure.

The worksheet tells you what's in the pot and how different splits would work. The Needs Estimator takes it a step further — it assesses whether the proposed settlement actually leaves both parties able to rehouse and live independently.