Family Law

Recently, the Family Team at Blacks have seen a significant rise in the number of enquiries from prospective Special Guardians obtaining Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs). What is a Special Guardianship Order? SGOs are private law orders made under the Children Act 1989 and were introduced in December 2005. They allow for one or more individuals […]

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 […]

In SHOCKING news the famous Muppets duo announced on social media via a joint statement that they have taken the decision to separate after decades of on-screen romance. Muppets fans will recall that the pair have spent many years contemplating marriage and in The Muppets Take Manhattan they walked down the aisle as part of […]

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 […]

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a wife’s right to lodge a claim for financial provision despite her divorce being finalised over 20 years ago. Ms Kathleen Wyatt has been successful in her bid to lodge a financial settlement application in pursuit of her now millionaire ex-husband Mr David Vince. The pair had lived a ‘new-age […]

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 […]