UD v DN (Schedule 1, Children Act 1989; Capital Provision) [2021] EWCA Civ 194721 December 2021
Published: 25/02/2022 09:00
https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2021/1947.html
Moylan LJ (judgment), King LJ and Newey LJ.
The Court of Appeal allowed a father’s appeal against a settlement of property order in favour of the parties’ two younger children (17 and 12 at the date of the application, 19 and 14 at final hearing). The order required that at the end of the trust period 6.5% of the value of the family home would be held on trust for the benefit of the children absolutely. General observations about the long-term impact of abuse on children were not sufficient to surmount the high threshold of special circumstances required to justify the capital award extending beyond the children’s minority.
The Court of Appeal approved Williams J’s analysis at first instance that the jurisdiction to make an order under Schedule 1 is triggered at the point of the application (see Moylan LJ’s analysis at [59]--[74]). Both judgments should be considered core components of any practitioners’ reading list.
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