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Jemma Pollock reviews the treatment of ‘copper-bottomed’ assets when compared to assets with a higher risk and less certain value in a case involving a private company ‘The impact of the uncertainty will of course be felt more in cases where resources outside of a family business are lower and where achieving a balance is …
Continue reading "Financial provision: Sharing the risk"
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Vikkie Chetcuti examines case law developments on pre-nuptial agreements, in particular as to legal advice, jurisdiction clauses, needs and sharing, in the post-Radmacher era ‘In Brack the Court of Appeal grappled with the issue of whether the mere existence of a valid pre-nuptial agreement meant the court was constrained as a matter of course from …
Continue reading "Pre-nuptial agreements: Agreeing to disagree"
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In the first of a two-part analysis, Bronwyn Bailey and Ethan Axelrod discuss the circumstances in which wider family wealth may impact on claims between spouses ‘The wife’s father maintained that he would not provide for the wife, nor prompt a trusts distribution, even if an order was made against the wife in the proceedings.’ …
Continue reading "Ancillary relief: All in the family"
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Judith Klyne highlights the significance of legal advice on the terms of a marital agreement, and whether the lack of such advice will be fatal to its validity ‘Legal advice will be a useful indication to the court that the parties have had the terms of their agreement explained to them, but the absence of …
Continue reading "Marital agreements: Loud and clear?"
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Michael Gouriet and Natalie O’Shea examine the government’s proposals regarding no-fault divorce and question whether sufficient consideration has been given to the wider implications of reform ‘It is fundamentally important to ensure that the changes do not unwittingly herald in a new era in which divorces are obtained quickly, but with more damage caused to …
Continue reading "Divorce: Not so fast"
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Helen Cort discusses how economic uncertainty can impact on the divorce rate, and the potential pitfalls that may be encountered if divorce proceedings are delayed until more certain times ‘It is vital for spouses to seek advice on the tax implications of separation, divorce and any proposed settlement at the earliest opportunity.’ It may be …
Continue reading "Delay: Proceed to go"
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Alex Shields looks at the potential unintended consequences and hidden tax implications that can arise when dealing with pension assets on divorce ‘The lifetime allowance (LTA) implications of pension sharing orders are complicated and should be carefully considered.’ Practitioners will be familiar with the pension options available when splitting assets on divorce, ie pension offsetting, …
Continue reading "Pensions: Perfect planning"
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Lehna Gardiner highlights the approach taken in TOLATA 1996 proceedings when compared with financial order cases ‘Evidence of time, effort and commitment in relation to improvement work on a property will be insufficient on its own – the claimant must prove a common intention to share the beneficial interest.’ Proceedings under the Trusts of Land …
Continue reading "TOLATA 1996: A different world"
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Simon Fisher explains his experiences of the HMCTS pilot schemes, which have the aim of speeding up the divorce suit and financial consent order processes ‘The online pilot scheme for financial orders is intended to speed up timescales, and as a consequence should provide certainty for couples who are keen to formalise their financial arrangements.’ …
Continue reading "In practice: Digital age"
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Antonia Barker analyses the outcome in long-running financial remedy proceedings, where the court drew adverse inferences from non-disclosure and was unable to achieve finality ‘In addition to their use of trust-owned properties, both husbands in Quan and Joy had access to what Mostyn J described as ‘‘financial assistance kindly given”.’ In Quan v Bray [2018] …
Continue reading "Financial provision: Looking beyond the evidence"
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