Blog
How a prenuptial agreement can affect a divorce settlement
In many jurisdictions prenuptial agreements are given contractual status, so that the parties will almost always be held to them. In such circumstances the outcome of the case will obviously usually simply follow the terms of the agreement. But in England and Wales...
Wife not entitled to a pension share in addition to an award to meet her needs
When the court considers a financial settlement on divorce it will take into account all of the circumstances of the case, including the income, property and other financial resources of the parties, the duration of the marriage, and the contributions which each of...
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...