Blog
The ‘dos and don’ts’ of protecting assets on divorce
Anyone with substantial financial assets is obviously not going to be happy at the prospect of losing a large proportion of those assets in the course of divorce proceedings. Protecting assets from any future divorce is therefore often uppermost in the mind of anyone...
New rules to encourage out of court resolution
The benefits of resolving family disputes outside the court room hardly need stating. Non-court dispute resolution, as it has become known, is (amongst other things) quicker, cheaper, and far less stressful. Yet despite those benefits many couples still choose to go...
FT v JT: Valuing and realising a share in a spouse’s business
It is not uncommon that one spouse will seek a share of the other spouse’s business assets on divorce. But this raises at least two questions: how do you go about valuing the share, and how can the share be realised, given in particular that an immediate sale of the...
What is family mediation, and what are its benefits?
What is family mediation, and what are its benefits? It goes without saying that family law disputes should be resolved by agreement, rather than through the courts. Contested court proceedings are time consuming, expensive, and stressful, and should be avoided if at...
Gifting asset impacts wife’s award
It is not unusual that a party to a financial remedy application on divorce may claim that the other party has purposely dissipated assets, with the aim of reducing the amount that the party making the claim will receive. If such a claim is successful it will be taken...
Can I get costs back in my children case?
It goes without saying that contested court proceedings can be extremely expensive, and proceedings between parents regarding arrangements for their children is no exception to that rule. So is there any way that you can recover your costs from the other party in a...
Adding back – how should spent assets be dealt with on divorce
Usually the primary issue in most financial remedy cases is how the pot of matrimonial assets should be divided between the parties. But what if, as is not uncommon, one of the parties has dissipated assets, thereby reducing the amount available for division, and...
Living together – how the laws could change to protect cohabiting couples
There is the common misconception, the so-called “myth of common law marriage”, that cohabiting couples have the same or similar legal rights in relation to children, finances and property as if they were married. By way of example, in Burns v Burns [1984] Ch 317 the...
Parental alienation: What it is, and how the courts deal with it
‘Parental alienation’ is a phrase that has slipped into common usage in recent years. Allegations of parental alienation are a common feature in disputes between parents over arrangements for their children, and the subject is commonly discussed in the media, and...
Wife’s claim on divorce fails after court finds husband had not hidden assets
Judgments are normally published because there is some aspect of the case that is considered to be of interest to family lawyers and others concerned with family justice. But sometimes a case may be of interest for a number of reasons. And so it was with the judgment...