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ST v AR: The Origin of Assets and the Assessment of Needs
As Mostyn J observed in Clarke v Clarke [2023] 2 FLR 1 at [36], Peel J’s oft-quoted summary of the law in WC v HC (Financial Remedies Agreements) (Rev 1) [2022] 2 FLR 1110 at [21] is an ‘impeccable synopsis of the jurisprudence applicable in financial remedy cases [which] has become justly famous’. Somewhat more colloquially, Peel J has himself said (with a smile) that he has heard his summary described as ‘the Noddy Guide’ to financial remedies.
- Blog
- Assets
- Needs
!01/04/2025 10:20
Let’s Be Clear: The Transparency Reporting Pilot for Financial Remedy Proceedings
One of the most important considerations for anyone with significant wealth, or who has a public profile and who is getting divorced, is the subject of confidentiality and privacy. It is often a key factor of any such client who is considering where and how to get divorced, and it is something matrimonial solicitors have in mind in the first meeting they have with their client. Balanced against that is the push towards increasing transparency within our family justice system, the purpose of which being to promote accountability and public confidence in the same.
- Blog
- Transparency
!28/03/2025 07:00
Vince v Vince: Every Cloud Has a Green Lining
On Friday, 17 January 2024, Mr Justice Cusworth handed down the judgment of *Vince v Vince* [2024] EWFC 389 (Fam), which addresses a number of pertinent issues concerning business valuations, arguments over the duration of the marital partnership and whether pre- or post-marital endeavour warrants a departure from the sharing principle. This article aims to summarise the main points and issues raised by both parties, together with some helpful guidance provided by Cusworth J.
- Blog
- Expert Business Valuations
- Marital-Partnership
- Pre and Post-Marital Endeavour
!26/03/2025 07:00
Pre-Nuptial Agreements: an ‘Oven-Ready’ Solution to a Pressing Problem? A House of Lords Debate
Late last month, Baroness Deech brought a motion in the House of Lords, ‘That this House takes note of the law relating to prenuptial agreements’. The debate came against the backdrop of Baroness Deech having (of course) long pursued financial remedies reform through her Divorce (Financial Provision) Bill.
- Blog
- Pre-Nuptial Agreements
!13/03/2025 16:45
Stamp Duty Land Tax and Divorce
This is sometimes the forgotten tax on divorce. Maybe this is fair enough as there is a pretty clear exemption in tax law that states that stamp duty land tax (SDLT) will not apply to transfers pursuant to divorce.
- Blog
- Stamp Duty
- Tax
- Land
!10/02/2025 23:53
What to Do Where One Spouse Will Not Co-operate with a Court-Ordered Sale?
The recently reported case of WZ v HZ [2024] EWFC 407 (B) (1 May 2024) provides guidance on how to manage the common occurrence of one spouse holding out in the family home despite an order for sale.
- Blog
- Sale of Property
!06/02/2025 08:00
Post-Separation Income: Has Rossi Survived Waggott and Standish?
In Rossi v Rossi [2007] 1 FLR 790 Nicholas Mostyn QC adopted a formulaic approach in relation to ‘a post-separation bonus or other earned income’. He stated that ‘[a]lthough there is an element of arbitrariness’ he would not allow a post-separation bonus to be classed as non-matrimonial ‘unless it related to a period which commenced at least 12 months after the separation’.
- Blog
- Post-Separation Accrual
!05/02/2025 11:51
ST v AR [2025] EWFC 4
The Husband is 70. The Wife is 51. They have a 9-year-old daughter. They cohabited from February 2003 and in early 2012 separated due to the wife’s affair. In August 2012 – c.9 months later – they reunited. They married on 8 October 2012. The wife applied for divorce in May 2023. They therefore had nearly 20 years together, albeit not seamless cohabitation.
- Blog
- Matrimonial and Non-Matrimonial Property
- Matrimonialisation
- Needs
!29/01/2025 09:27
Of Dogs and Divorce
Of dogs and divorce: why treating pets as chattels is an anachronism.
- Blog
- divorce
!28/01/2025 10:02
James Turner KC (1952–2025): An Obituary
James Turner KC, who has died aged 72, was a titan of the bar. In an increasingly specialised legal world, he had a uniquely broad practice for a family barrister: financial remedies, child abduction, divorce, crime, judicial review, medical disciplinary work and administrative law.
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- Journal
- Obituaries
!24/01/2025 10:42
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