Joy v Joy-Morancho & ors [2015] EWHC 2507 (Fam) – Law Journals

Financial provision: If not now, then when?

Richard Adams looks at the adjournment of capital claims in financial proceedings and the need for practitioners to be alert to potentially fabricated disclosure The justification of a departure from normal practice does not necessarily need to include a real possibility of capital from a specific source becoming available in the near future, as fairness …

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Maintenance: A fair adjustment?

Deborah Jeff concludes a two-part analysis of the impact of SS v NS on the approach to spousal maintenance The preference is for a term order, with a transition to financial independence as soon as possible, and only marital assets to be subject to sharing, not a marital-generated earning capacity. The first part of this …

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Family and trusts: Forewarned is forearmed

Claire Blakemore and Jemma Thomas explore how the courts consider assets held in trust upon divorce ‘The cases provide helpful insights into how trust structures will be viewed on divorce, so that we can discern tips and practice points on creating and managing trusts most effectively.’ The court’s approach to assets held in trusts seems …

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Divorce: A matter of trust

Oliver Auld gives the lowdown on what happens to trusts in the event of a divorce ‘Trustees need to be aware of not only the range of orders the family courts can make in relation to trust assets, but also the strategies they should potentially be adopting in the best interest of their beneficiaries, both …

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Interim orders: Lack of consensus

Katie Lowe and Clare Williams look at the options for an interim order for sale, and the differing approaches taken by the courts ‘Cobb J appears to differ from Mostyn J as to whether an application to terminate home rights under s33(3)(e), FLA 1996 can simply be inferred, especially as the court is unable to …

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Trusts: A safe foundation

Claire Blakemore suggests that when dealing with trust assets, even the powers of the family courts have their limits ‘Any inconsistencies between how the trust is used or the trust documentation and the presentation to the court can have a significant impact on the outcome.’ The law on the treatment of trusts on divorce is …

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Costs: Behaving badly

Lyn Ayrton and Claire O’Donnell suggest that costs orders penalising ‘litigation conduct’ may be on the rise and discuss some recent cases ‘There has been a notable increase in reported cases in which the court has made substantial costs orders for various aspects of litigation conduct.’There are two main types of conduct that may be …

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Trusts: An elaborate charade

Financial remedy case Joy v Joy-Morancho [2015] has valuable pointers for practitioners. Alexandra Hirst and Sofie Hoffman examine the outcome ‘The sensible approach must surely be to continue to tread carefully and advise trustees to be cautious when taking any steps which might render the trust susceptible to an argument that it has been nuptialised …

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Trusts: Every penny counts

James Lister and Sean Hilton summarise the approach to trust assets in family proceedings Case law demonstrates the need for absolute clarity from the outset, the nuanced nature of cases involving trust assets and the enhanced duties of the lawyers involved to give judges proper guidance so as to avoid unsafe decisions. It has always …

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