Fiona Wood summarises the courts’ approach to periodical payments orders and the limited circumstances in which a stepped order will be appropriate ‘The decision in Aburn illustrates the difficulties that arise when trying to predict what will happen in the future.’ In Aburn v Aburn [2016], a smaller money case where a stepped periodical payments …
Continue reading "Periodical Payments: Future proofing"
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Joanne Hall summarises the courts’ approach to post-separation growth in assets and the diverging views of the judiciary ‘The judgment in JB v MB reinforces that the law on post-separation accrual is highly fact specific and discretionary but must also be consistent and predictable.’ If the title of this article sounds like a Star Trek …
Continue reading "Financial Provision: Continuum or new venture?"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | October 2015 # 153Having entered into a pre-nuptial agreement, WA (‘the wife’) married HA (‘the husband’) in 1997. The wife was an heiress and the husband brought modest assets of his own to the marriage. They kept their finances separate. The couple and their three children lived on a very large estate (‘the Z estate’) during the marriage and restored it using the wife’s finances.
The marriage broke down in 2014. Both the wife and husband instructed expert family lawyers which supported the brokerage of an agreement. Following disclosure of their respective gross and net incomes, it was agreed tha...
Deborah Levy analyses the approach to a marital agreement where needs and conduct were in issue ‘If a prenuptial agreement deals with these matters in a way that a court might adopt then there should be no difficulty with giving effect to the agreement.’ The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that …
Continue reading "Marital Agreements: A state of uncertainty"
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Hazel Wright and Phoebe Sutton suggest that despite the provisions of section 25 the standard of living of the parties is becoming less relevant ‘It is hard to see future courts awarding periodical payments based on the standard of living in the great majority of marriages.’ When family lawyers of a certain generation die, they …
Continue reading "Standard Of Living: Lifestyle factors"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | July/August 2015 #151A husband and wife met in 1999 and married in 2003. They had one child together, of primary school age at the time of the proceedings. In 2005 the husband and wife moved into a farmhouse owned by the husband’s parents. In 2009 the husband’s parents settled the farmhouse on a discretionary trust for the benefit of their children and remoter descendants. Subject to the power to appoint the capital and income to the discretionary beneficiaries, the farmhouse was held on trust to pay the income to the husband for life, and it was declared that the making of any land comprised within the trus...
Charlotte Conner outlines the challenges when dealing with cases involving trusts ‘This is an area fraught with difficulty as the court is being asked to deal with assets which are not legally owned by either party to the proceedings.’ The recent Court of Appeal decision in P v P [2015] brings into focus key issues …
Continue reading "Trusts: Available assets"
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Lisa Bray summarises the current case law on joint lives periodical payments orders and considers whether there is an increasing trend towards term orders ‘While the starting point is to put each party on the road to independence, the reality is that in recent years we have seen many judges showing a reluctance to make …
Continue reading "Periodical Payments: Road to independence"
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Frances Bailey and Adrian Clossick look at the potential impact of the Supreme Court decision in Wyatt v Vince ‘Successful applications [for financial provision] after a lengthy period of separation are likely to be rare and in the authors’ view limited to cases where (per Rossi) “there has been a very good reason for the …
Continue reading "Financial Provision: Limited consequences?"
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Claire Reid looks at what is required for the court to conclude that a party has made a stellar contribution ‘The difficulty in comparing different contributions risks discrimination against homemakers. This unfortunate application of the law generates a distasteful distinction in the 21st century.’ In Cooper-Hohn v Hohn [2014] one of the principal issues considered …
Continue reading "Financial Provision: Extra special"
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