Chair's Column (Winter 2024)

For more than three decades the Duxbury tables have held a strong position in the determination of outcomes in financial remedies cases involving the capitalisation of maintenance obligations…

• Journal

• HHJ Edward Hess | Chair of the Editorial Board

!22/11/2024 06:00

The Winds of Change – Case Management and the Financial Remedies Court

Once upon a time, not so long ago, ‘ancillary relief’ was something of a legal backwater. Cases were determined solely by reference to ‘reasonable requirements’. Procedural rules, to the extent they existed, were short and loosely applied. Parties filed narrative affidavits of means and answered requests for further and better particulars.

• Journal

• Procedure
• Financial Remedies

• Alexander Chandler KC

!22/11/2024 06:00

Demeanour and Denial (or Don’t Mention the Data)

In his groundbreaking 1925 work, Die Verneinung, psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud postulated the existence of the psychological defence mechanism ‘denial’, whereby facts too painful to process or accept are rejected. Examples of its applications abound.

• Journal

• Fact-Finding
• Witness Evidence
• Demeanour
• Evidence Given Remotely

• Brent Molyneux
• Nicholas Bennett
• Madeleine Whelan

!22/11/2024 06:00

As the English Family Court Grapples with a New Direction of Travel for Non-Court Dispute Resolution, What Are the Likely Impacts of Recent Changes and Are We at Risk of Putting the Cart before the Horse?

Over recent years, there have been an increasing number of public consultations and reports considering how to support the earlier resolution of civil disputes, both within the Family Courts and across other areas of practice. A key driver behind the perceived need for additional focus on this area is the overwhelming backlog of cases within the court system.

• Journal

• NCDR

• Alex Brereton
• Polly Atkins
• Eri Horrocks

!27/09/2024 08:00

Non-Court Dispute Resolution and the New Protocol – Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth…

Whilst there are a multitude of options available to separating families – both in terms of finding outcomes but also support along the way – too often the last resort when the going gets tough has continued to be a court process. The new protocol is exactly what was needed to force a change of direction.

• Journal

• NCDR

• Katharine Landells

!27/09/2024 08:00

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

Balancing the Books: Equitable Accounting in Trusts of Land Disputes

This article aims to provide the busy family practitioner with a fairly comprehensive guide to the what, where, when, and how of equitable accounting, specifically in the context of trusts of land, to assist you in getting such claims off on the right footing.

• Journal

• TLATA Applications
• Cohabitation
• Equitable Accounting

• Charlotte John
• Cameron Stocks

!22/11/2024 06:00

Delaying a Divorce Because of Financial Prejudice: The New No-fault Law and Practice

There can be real loss and prejudice in some divorce cases if the final divorce order, previously the decree absolute, is granted before the final financial settlement and its implementation in circumstances when the paying party then dies.

• Blog
• Journal

• divorce

• Professor David Hodson OBE KC(Hons) MCIArb

!07/10/2024 22:10

Hemain Injunctions: How to Get Them and When not to Resist Them

A Hemain injunction application is typically made in the context of jurisdiction and/or forum non-conveniens proceedings. It is designed to restrain the respondent from progressing their rival overseas divorce petition pending the English court’s decision whether to dismiss or stay the English petition.

• Journal

• Injunctions
• divorce
• Jurisdiction
• Forum Non-Conveniens
• Suit
• Hemain
• International Family Law

• Lily Mottahedan

!22/11/2024 06:00

Companies House – Housing Companies’ Information

Companies House is an executive agency of the UK government’s Department for Business and Trade. It holds the UK’s register of companies, as well as the Register of Overseas Entities. It is maintained by three registrars, one each for England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Their objectives are to ensure proper delivery and accuracy of documents, to maintain a truthful register, and to prevent unlawful activities by companies and individuals. It is the published company information that we are interested in when it comes to financial remedies.

• Journal

• Company Accounts
• Limited Companies
• Companies House
• Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
• Financial Accounts
• Financial Disclosure
• Financial Records

• James Hardy

!22/11/2024 06:00

A Practical Guide on How to Select your Expert, Reviewing the Expert's Report and When to Consider Engaging a Shadow Expert

Fiona Hotston Moore is an accredited expert witness, instructed on 40–50 matrimonial cases each year. A significant number of these instructions are as single joint expert or party expert providing an opinion on the valuation of a business or shareholding. This article shares her practical guidance as a valuation expert for family lawyers and barristers.

• Journal

• Experts
• Business Valuation

• Fiona Hotston Moore

!22/11/2024 06:00

Valuation and Treatment of Business Interests on Divorce in England and Australia

The definition of ‘value’ is the present value of expected future net economic benefits to be generated by an asset. This definition alone gives an indication as to the complexities in arriving at a reasonable value of an asset. The complexities when seeking to determine the value of an asset where there is no sale/purchase negotiation underway increase exponentially.

• Journal

• SeparateSpace
• Tech Corner
• Access to Justice
• AI
• Legal Tech
• Innovation

• Michael Allum
• Jacqueline Woods

!22/11/2024 06:00

Dame Jennifer Roberts: An Appreciation

On 13 June 2024 a packed Lady Chief Justice’s Court was the scene of affectionate tributes to Mrs Justice Roberts, known to all as Jenny, who died on 10 June 2024. The sadness evident on that occasion and in writing an obituary for Jenny is mingled with the pleasure of recalling such a fine and lovely person.

• Blog
• Journal

• Obituaries

!18/06/2024 13:42

DR Corner: Early Reflections on Pre-Application Protocol – Seismic Shift or Damp Squib?

When the combined wisdom of a thousand cases leads to the identification of a particular problem, what are family judges to do about it? Publishing a judgment provides the most obvious and immediate answer. But often such pleas resemble the proverbial pebble dropped into the bottomless well.

• Journal

• DR Corner

• Harry Gates
• Samantha Woodham

!22/11/2024 06:00

Tech Corner: Separate Space – How Tech can be Leveraged to Bridge the Access to Justice Gap

In this article, Victoria Nottage and Amanda Bell argue that not only will technology bring positive changes to the ways that lawyers provide services to their clients, it also presents exciting opportunities to bridge the long-standing gap in access to justice.

• Journal

• Business
• Companies
• Business Assets
• Business Valuation

• Amanda Bell
• Victoria Nottage

!22/11/2024 06:00

Money Corner: EBITDA – The Valuer’s Measure of Profit

EBITDA – the valuer’s measure of profit, and other measures that may be considered.

• Journal

• EBITDA
• Revenue
• Single Joint Experts
• Profit
• Market Value
• Business Valuation
• Market Approach
• Valuations

• Jessie King

!22/11/2024 06:00

Book Review: Research Handbook on Family Property and the Law

Dr Charlotte L Bendall reviews Research Handbook on Family Property and the Law by Professor Margaret Briggs and Dr Andy Hayward, published by Edward Elgar in 2024.

• Journal

• Conceptualisation
• Family Property
• Evolution
• Legal Recognition
• International Comparison
• Book Review

• Dr Charlotte Bendall

!22/11/2024 06:00

Financial Remedies Case Round-Up (End April 2024 to Start October 2024)

These are the noteworthy case-law developments since the last issue went to press in April 2024.

• Journal

• Polly Morgan | Case Editor

!22/11/2024 06:00

The Summary of the Summaries (Winter 2024)

Summaries, beginning with TY v XA [2024] EWFC 96, where Moor J reiterated that Potanin had not changed the basic test for the grant of leave to apply for financial relief under Part III MFPA 1984, which should from now on be on notice. The test is as set out at the 1984 Act, s 13.

• Journal

• Liam Kelly

!22/11/2024 06:00

Interview with Nigel Shepherd

Joanne Edwards interviews Nigel Shepherd, a former partner and national head of Family Law at Mills & Reeve, retiring as a consultant at the firm in October 2024. He was national Chair of Resolution 1995–1997 and again 2016–2018, the only person to have held that role twice and was given lifetime membership of Resolution in 2018.

• Journal

• Interview

• Joanne Edwards

!22/11/2024 06:00