International Focus: A world apart

Suzanne Kingston, Mark Haranzo and Delphine Eskenazi review the approaches to pre-nuptial agreements, privacy and alternative dispute resolution in England and Wales, France and the US ‘In the US, property owned by a party prior to marriage, as well as inherited and gifted property received during marriage, is typically considered separate property not subject to …
This post is only available to members.

Divorce: Absolutely special?

Emily Watson analyses recent case law developments on deferring the decree absolute ‘Only “special circumstances” will suffice in order to delay decree absolute in a non-separation case where the court is asked to exercise its inherent jurisdiction.’ This article looks at the High Court decision in Thakkar v Thakkar [2016], and the guidance provided as …
This post is only available to members.

Litigants In Person: Equality in arms

Vanessa McMurtrie looks at the challenges of dealing with unrepresented parties and offers guidance on the tricky area of court bundles ‘Realising the litigant in person is not necessarily at the same junction as your client will help in dealing with them as courteously as possible.’ The right to a fair trial is fundamental to …
This post is only available to members.

Service: Against the clock

Alice Couriel examines the issue of delay in the service of a petition, and the implications as to jurisdiction ‘Where a respondent is deliberately evading service, should the petitioner be at fault in the eyes of the court, or even prejudiced if service does not take place within a specific time?’ In Thum v Thum …
This post is only available to members.

Enforcement: Securing compliance

Spencer Clarke and Max Myers outline the recommendations of the Law Commission’s report on the enforcement of family financial orders ‘The Commission takes the view that, currently, there are insufficient means by which the creditor can obtain information about the debtor.’ On 15 December 2016, the Law Commission published its report on the enforcement of family financial …
This post is only available to members.

Mediation: Seeking solutions

Andrew Baines considers dispute resolution in the post-truth era and how mediation can help parties find the right ‘truth’ for them ‘Mediation doesn’t work on the basis that there is an absolute truth out there to be discovered. It accepts that there are many possible solutions to the quandary, none of which can be shown …
This post is only available to members.

Pensions: Off limits

Francesca Norris highlights the implications of the decision in Goyal v Goyal as to orders that may be made in relation to foreign pensions ‘The judge at first instance purported to make an order “ancillary” to the “statutory functions” under MCA 1973, however, given he had overtly accepted the court’s lack of power to make …
This post is only available to members.