Is the Current Approach to ‘Conduct’ in Financial Remedy Proceedings in Need of Reform?

The significance and role of marital misconduct in proceedings for financial relief on divorce has had a long and varied history in family law. This article explores that history and the evolving significance of conduct within the litigation process and poses the question whether the current approach to conduct under s 25(2)(g) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 is in need of reassessment.

• Journal

• Conduct

• Femi Ogunlende

!04/10/2024 08:00

Mainwaring v Bailey [2024] EWHC 2296 (Fam)28 August 2024

Henke J. The husband unsuccessfully appealed against an order leaving him with c.35% of the assets in a ‘small money’ case. Ms Justice Henke emphasised the breadth of the trial judge’s discretion and affirmed that fairness does not always mean equality.

• Cases

• Sharing Principle
• Housing Need
• Loans
• Appeals
• Debts
• Needs

• Jasmine Knapman

Ma v Roux: Can You Strike Out a Set Aside Application?

It was settled in Wyatt v Vince [2015] UKSC 14 that the court cannot strike-out/give summary judgment on a legally recognisable application for a financial remedy order as an applicant is entitled to have such an application heard on its merits. But is that the end of the matter? In Ma v Roux [2024] EWHC 1917 (Fam) Francis J heard an appeal from HHJ Reardon.

• Blog

• Striking Out Applications
• Setting Aside Orders (Including Barder Applications)

• Nicholas Allen KC
• Philip Tait

!25/09/2024 17:32

Report of the Duxbury Working Party (provisional), September 2024

The Duxbury Working Party have just released their provisional report. It has been prepared without any prior public consultation and is published provisionally to allow interested parties to respond. Responses should be emailed to j.rainer@qeb.co.uk by 1 November 2024 and will be considered by the Working Party ahead of publication of their final report which is intended to be on 15 November 2024.

• Blog

• Duxbury Capitalisation

• Michael Allum
• Simon Bruce
• Sarah Hoskinson
• Lewis Marks KC
• Sir Nicholas Mostyn
• Joe Rainer
• Mary Waring

!02/10/2024 13:31

Till Debt Do Us Part: Bankruptcy and Financial Remedies

Financial remedies practitioners are well-accustomed to advising parties in straitened financial circumstances. Often the central question is how to stretch the available resources to ensure both parties have a roof over their heads. However, when one or both parties find themselves in serious financial difficulty, a less familiar issue may arise: the interplay between the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.

• Blog

• Bankruptcy

• Jasmine Knapman
• Rosie Vorri

!01/10/2024 08:00