Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2018 #173Mrs Akhter (A) and Mr Khan (K) underwent an Islamic marriage ceremony in England in 1998. They then considered themselves husband and wife and were treated as such by their families, community and state authorities. They had four children. Despite requests by A no civil ceremony was ever undertaken. The parties lived in Dubai between 2005 and 2011 and were treated as married by the UAE authorities, to whom they presented their Islamic marriage certificate.
A petitioned for divorce in 2016. K applied to strike out the petition on the basis that the parties had not entered a valid m...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2018 #171The High Court was asked to determine, as a preliminary issue, whether a potential claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (the 1975 Act) by a surviving husband against his late wife’s estate abated on the death of the husband. The wife (Mrs Milbour) died on 5 January 2014, the husband (Mr Milbour) shortly thereafter on 20 October 2014. Mr Milbour did not bring a claim under the 1975 Act against
Mrs Milbour’s estate during his lifetime.
The net value of Mrs Milbour’s estate was £16,776,054. By her will Mrs Milbour left...
Moji Sobowale examines non-matrimonial assets and the differing approaches to such assets that have developed in case law ‘The court has a wide discretion as to how to arrive at a fair apportionment of the capital assets and can simply apply a broad assessment of the division that would affect “overall fairness“.‘ The Court of …
Continue reading "Non-matrimonial property: Diverging views"
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Ellen Walker considers the treatment of prospective inheritances and when they might constitute a financial resource ‘Whereas normally it would be unfair for the court to rely on a future inheritance that may not materialise, in Alireza the forced heirship laws meant that, absent any evidence to the contrary, the court was perfectly entitled to …
Continue reading "Financial provision: Looking to the future"
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Kathryn Mason reviews the approach to pension assets accrued prior to marriage, including the significance of needs ‘Pension contributions made prior to the marriage fall into the category of assets that have not been “the financial product of or generated by the endeavours during the marriage”.’ This article considers the courts’ treatment of pre-marital pension …
Continue reading "Pensions: Balancing fairness"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2017 #169AAZ (W) applied for financial orders ancillary to her divorce from BBZ (H). H was the sole director of the second respondent C Ltd, a Cypriot registered company and the trustee of a Bermudian Discretionary Trust (the trust). P Ltd, the third respondent, is a Panamian company which H said was within the trust. P Ltd was said to hold the bulk of the wealth in the case. None of the respondents took any part in the trial. H was in breach of several court orders, including one compelling his personal attendance for the duration of the trial.
H and W had been married since 1993 when the...
Kevin Danagher examines the High Court’s decision in Christoforou v Christoforou, and the approach to evidencing claims that are non-matrimonial ‘Non-matrimonial property provides the court with a reason to depart from equality, and in some cases fairness suggests that the party with non-matrimonial property should be allowed to keep it, subject to issues of need …
Continue reading "Non-Matrimonial Assets: The significance of origin"
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Frances Bailey looks at the potential impact of physical or mental disabilities on financial awards, and the relevant case law ‘Poor health may impact on, and increase, income needs, particularly where a party has, or will have in the future, a need to pay for costs of medicines, care and support.’ Section 25, Matrimonial Causes …
Continue reading "Financial Provision: In sickness and in health"
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In the conclusion to a two-part analysis, Deborah Jeff considers the law on non-matrimonial assets and the key principles applied ‘While non-matrimonial property is subject to the sharing principle, it still typically results in a departure from equal sharing – anything from 0-100%.’ The first part of this article looked at the Privy Council decision …
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Priya Palanivel and Shantel Burbridge examine the Court of Appeal’s decision in Sharp v Sharp, and the potential impact on the approach to short marriages ‘The facts of Sharp meant it was “one of the very small number of cases” where the circumstances justified a departure from the principle of equal sharing.’ The duration of …
Continue reading "Financial Provision: Short but sweet"
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