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How Cohabitation Reform Could Reduce Pressure on Public Finances

How Cohabitation Reform Could Reduce Pressure on Public Finances

Introduction 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, I set out why legislating for

Prenups Aren’t ‘Sign and Done’: Why Reviews Matter Just as Much as the Ring

Prenups Aren’t ‘Sign and Done’: Why Reviews Matter Just as Much as the Ring

I am 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. If you think about it, anyone looking to make marriage/civil partnership vows should do this before

Sham, Adverse Inferences and the Burden of Proof: Awolowo [2025] EWCA Civ 641

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’. Lord Sumption put it best

NCDR Update – Are the Tides Turning for Failing to Mediate?

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. Practice Direction 9A now includes

Legal Research, AI and the Canary in the Mineshaft

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

Judicial Immunity: an Update

Judicial Immunity: an Update

Overview A decision in Australia in August 2023 held that a family court judge at first instance had no judicial immunity when taking a decision outside his power and distinctive family court jurisdiction and was liable in damages to one of the parties. I wrote an extensive article and commentary