Divorce is common in the UK with almost half of all marriages sadly ending in divorce. Many people no longer see marriage as a life time commitment. Couples are often keen to finalise a quick divorce and settlement of finances to reduce heartache, stress and emotional strain. At present, the sole ground for divorce in […]

In the news recently a heterosexual couple have been seeking to challenge why civil partnerships are not currently available to couples of the opposite sex http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35352629 A High Court Judge has permitted a legal challenge to proceed in the recent case involving Rebecca Steinfield and Charles Keidan. An online petition has so far attracted almost 3,000 […]

A landmark decision handed down by seven Supreme Court Justices has enabled two divorcees to have their cases re-opened. This to allow them to seek larger payouts as a result of their former husband’s dishonesty when disclosing financial information in their divorces.  The telegraph reports on this here. In 2004, Mrs Gohil accepted £270,000 and the […]

An award of 100% of a couple’s assets to the wife has been upheld on appeal. There is no set formula for calculating financial divorce settlements and the Court has always had a very wide discretion in deciding who gets what. Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (the MCA), the Court has a duty to […]

Whilst English law has recently caught up with the 21st Century by the passing of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013; a lesser known fact about divorce means that there is still inequality within the law. This issue was thrown into the media spotlight recently when a woman tried to divorce her husband on […]

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics – An update The Office of National Statistics has released latest figures which show the marital status and living arrangements of people aged 16 and over in England and Wales from 2002 to 2014. These reveal some interesting trends. The 1950s saw a mere 31,000 divorces in England and Wales. […]

Permission has now been given to two divorcees to re-examine the issue of dishonesty when disclosing financial information pending a divorce before the Supreme Court. Alison Sharland and Varsha Gohil accepted financial settlements from their former husbands but both turned out to be the subjects of significantly dishonest representations. Now, the Court has the chance […]

About 2,000 children are thought to be born to surrogate mothers every year in the UK. However, unlike the comprehensive framework adopted in certain countries there exists a lacuna within family law where some semblance of a statutory framework covering the issue seems largely overdue. There exists no infrastructure, psychological screenings, contracts or anything akin […]

Prior to pension sharing, pension earmarking orders were commonplace. This is where one spouse would effectively keep their pension in their name but part of the lump sum and/or the pension income would be “earmarked” for the benefit of their former spouse. Nowadays most people use Pension Sharing on divorce rather than earmarking. The difference […]

Resolution, which has 6,500 members including family lawyers and other professionals advocating for the constructive resolution of family disputes, has called for major overhaul to the laws surrounding divorce and separation with the launch of a new Manifesto for Family Law. Resolution describes the Manifesto as “a wake-up call for current and future politicians”. The […]

In a landmark ruling the former wife of a leading equine surgeon has been told she will not be ‘supported for life’ by her ex-husband following their 2008 divorce. Mrs Wright was seeking to overrule a High Court judgment which would put an end to her yearly maintenance award of £75,000 but was instead informed […]

The Cohabitation Rights Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 12 December 2014 and has now passed through to the Committee Stage. The news was welcomed by many supporters who have long campaigned for this area of law to be updated in order to reflect the standards of a modern society. […]