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Latest blog posts
Remediable Service Statements – What to Expect for ‘Immediate Choice’ Members
All of the public sector pension schemes are now further along the process of allowing for the McCloud judgment (public sector pensions remedy) for affected members (typically those with some pensionable service in the remedy period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022). Some of the public sector pension schemes have now commenced issuing Remediable Service Statements to affected members.
- Blog
- Pensions
!12/06/2025 09:00
How Cohabitation Reform Could Reduce Pressure on Public Finances
Following the UK general election in 2024, the Government has gone on record various times since to confirm that a public consultation will be issued later this year to strengthen the rights and protections available to women in cohabiting couples. In this article, Graeme Fraser sets out why legislating for and implementing reform should be a no brainer in terms of the money it could save for the UK economy.
- Blog
- Cohabitation
!30/05/2025 08:00
Prenups Aren’t ‘Sign and Done’: Why Reviews Matter Just as Much as the Ring
Elizabeth Bowden is a big fan of prenuptial/pre-civil partnership agreements (‘prenups’) because, at the very least, both parties are forced to have really open and transparent conversations about money, finances, goals and aspirations. Anyone looking to make marriage/civil partnership vows should do this before they sign on the dotted line.
- Blog
- Pre-Nuptial Agreements
!28/05/2025 14:00
Sham, Adverse Inferences and the Burden of Proof: Awolowo [2025] EWCA Civ 641
It’s often the financial remedy cases involving non-family barristers or judges which are the most interesting. There’s something about an outsider’s perspective which can illuminate legal principle and remind us that, per Mostyn J, ‘the Family Courts are not a desert island’.
- Blog
- Burden Of Proof
- Adverse Inferences
- Sham
!21/05/2025 14:00
NCDR Update – Are the Tides Turning for Failing to Mediate?
Looking back over the last 12 months, 29 April 2024 was an important day for financial remedy practitioners. This was the date the rules concerning NCDR changed. The changes make ignoring the NCDR options a costs hazard. It seemed inevitable that costs orders would follow.
- Blog
!20/05/2025 12:05
Latest cases
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THR v WAT [2025] EWHC 1125 (Fam)17 March 2025
HHJ Hess navigated his way through an Xydhias puzzle. Parties informed the judge they were Xydhias-bound but then argued over (i) a £2m asset, (ii) costs, (iii) an interest provision, and (iv) security. The court’s conclusions, in a nutshell, were that if it had not been raised at the time or in the written agreement, then the court would favour the written agreement.
- Cases
- Agreements
- Child Periodical Payments
- Child Maintenance
- Xydhias
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CA v UK [2025] EWFC 117 (B)10 January 2025
HHJ Watkins. A substantive application by the father for a child maintenance order under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 (‘Schedule 1’); [12]. Within the application, the main issue concerned the most suitable jurisdiction for child maintenance dispute resolution. There were two jurisdictions involved in the forum conveniens dispute namely England and Wales and California.
- Cases
- Forum Conveniens
- Jurisdiction
- Child Maintenance
- Variation
- Children Act 1989 Schedule 1 Applications
- Forum Disputes
- Enforcement
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AB v CD & Ors [2025] EWFC 95813 February 2025
HHJ Richard Williams. Judgment following a trial of a preliminary issue in financial remedy proceedings to determine (a) if a transfer of shares was made with the intention to defeat a claim for financial relief and should therefore be set aside and (b) if a loan had been made and, if so, if it had since been waived.
- Cases
- Loans
- Valuations
- Trusts
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SM v BA (No 2: Maintenance Pending Suit) [2025] EWFC 2819 February 2025
Nicholas Allen KC, sitting as a deputy High Court judge. Application to increase maintenance pending suit (MPS) in ‘super-rich’ financial remedies case.
- Cases
- Interim Relief
- Maintenance Pending Suit
- Costs
- Legal Services Payment Orders
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DSD v MJW (Costs of MPS) [2025] EWFC 119 (B)24 April 2025
DDJ David Hodson. Proportionality and maintenance pending suit (MPS), a cautionary tale. In this case the DDJ concluded that the game was very much not worth the candle, and the application turned out to be very costly for the applicant wife.
- Cases
- Interim Relief
- Maintenance Pending Suit