
Blog
A Priceless Inheritance: Family Law, Open Justice and the Rule of Law
Sir Nicholas Mostyn presented on this topic at the Bar Council’s law reform lecture 2025, on 2 July 2025. This monograph is the property of Sir Nicholas Mostyn.
- Blog
!03/07/2025 06:00
Non Court Dispute Resolution – What Difference Does a Year (and a Bit) Make?18 June 2025
Important revisions to both FPR Part 3 and Part 28 came into effect on 29 April 2024 when the material parts of the Family Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2023 came into force.
- Blog
- NCDR
Financial Remedy Reform – ‘Fairness’ – Do Divorcing Parties Get Any Say – Time for Some Soul Searching for Family Law Professionals
Ashley Murray considers the Law Commission’s 373-page scoping report on Financial Remedies on Divorce and Dissolution, which was published just before Christmas 2024.
- Blog
- Private FDR
!30/06/2025 06:58
Reflecting Domestic Abuse in Financial Proceedings: a Comparative Analysis of English and Australian Approaches Since the Family Law Amendment (No 2) Act 2024
A significant shift in the treatment of domestic abuse within financial remedy proceedings will shortly take effect in Australia. Following Royal Assent on 10 December 2024, the Family Law Amendment (No 2) Act 2024 will introduce reforms that require courts to account for the impact of family violence on property and spousal maintenance outcomes. The property reform schedule within the legislation will apply to proceedings filed on or after 11 June 2025.
- Blog
- Domestic Abuse
- International Comparison
!16/06/2025 08:30
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
Legal Research, AI and the Canary in the Mineshaft
One of the sobering experiences of training to be a lawyer – the dawning realisation that it isn’t all dramatic cross-examination and fighting for the underdog – is legal research. Like learning a new language (let’s say, German), it’s a long and often tedious process. Some trainees, admittedly, seem to enjoy the tedium more than others. I was firmly in the ‘not enjoying this tedium’ camp.
- Blog
- AI
!09/05/2025 09:04