Family and Matrimonial

Although pre-nuptial agreements are persuasive rather than binding in the British courts, a recent ruling of the High Court on a French ‘pre-nup’ illustrates clearly the current approach of the courts. It involved a very wealthy French couple...

A court ruling that a spouse’s lottery winnings were not ‘matrimonial property’ so were not subject to the usual rule of equal division between the spouses when the marriage broke up received much publicity recently. The normal rule on...

When a marriage or civil partnership breaks up and there is a significant risk that one party may move assets (normally cash in bank accounts) ‘out of sight’, it is sometimes possible to obtain a ‘freezing order’ to prevent the sums...

The cardinal rule in proceedings involving children is that the welfare of the child comes first. In some cases, the interests of individual children in a family are sufficiently different for them to be considered separately. In a case involving a...

A husband has lost his appeal against an order made in July 2010 for ancillary relief (the legal term for financial provision for an ex-spouse) that put family assets of £10 million, including £7 million held in two trusts, into the pool of...

A father who sought to have a hearing regarding his contact with his children adjourned so that new evidence could be obtained found his argument rejected by the Court of Appeal recently. The family court had issued an interim order that the father, who had...

A woman who paid more than 90 per cent of the cost of a £3 million property purchased for her daughter, in whose name the title is held, has failed in her attempt to have the ownership of the property changed to reflect her contribution. It would seem...

A recent divorce case has confirmed the general position that when wealth is inherited, it is not normally subject to the ‘equal shares’ rule that applies to assets built up during a marriage. The case involved a couple who married in the UK...

A recent case shows how unwilling the court will be to change an adoption order once it has been made. The case concerned a child who was removed from his mother’s care because she was unable to look after him due to drug dependency. This was...

A divorced man has won the right to retain £1 million of his pre-marital assets before a 50/50 division of the remainder of the couple’s joint assets is made. The assets were valued at around £9.5 million, after provision had been made...

The Court of Appeal has overturned the decision of a lower court to allow a father, against whom allegations of violence towards the mother of his child had been made, to vary the terms of contact arrangements made earlier so that he could continue to see...

When a person goes bust, what is the position regarding a debt they owe to the Child Support Agency (CSA) with regard to arrears of maintenance payments? This question arose recently when a man applied for a creditors’ voluntary arrangement (CVA). At...

The English courts are well known worldwide as being amongst the most ‘generous’ to divorcing spouses in terms of financial settlements: they start with the premise that assets built up during the marriage should be split equally unless there is...

When settlements in divorce cases are being determined, the contributions made to the marriage by each party will often be relevant. However, a recent decision of the Court of Appeal illustrates that the future earning capacity of the husband or wife at...

The Court of Protection has ruled that Hillingdon Council acted unlawfully in detaining a 21-year-old autistic man, Steven Neary, for almost a year against his wishes. Steven’s father, Mark Neary, wanted to care for his son at home and waged a long...

The Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of a local authority to place a baby born in prison in care, after the behaviour of the mother was believed to have put the child’s life in danger. After the local authority had obtained a separation order,...

In deciding immigration cases, the rights of any children who are British citizens and who would be affected by the decision must be taken into consideration. This was the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of a Tanzanian woman who had made three failed...

When a couple who are retired or approaching retirement get divorced, one of the major issues to be settled is the division of pension entitlements. In this situation, the first step is to obtain a valuation of the pension rights. Where large sums are...

It is sometimes tempting to try to have an agreement reconsidered and the UK sees more than its fair share of family law cases with an international element, where one party to an agreement made abroad seeks to revisit the issues because of the comparatively...

The Court of Appeal has recently handed down a judgment in a ‘big money’ divorce case which shows the approach the courts are likely to take towards financial settlements on divorce when one of the spouses has substantial inherited assets. The...

Judges are not perfect and when a judge recently considered a child placement order, there were inadequacies in the judgment. The judge had not stated correctly the test for the criteria to be considered when making a placement order. On the basis of the...

Financial problems are one of the most common factors in family relationship breakdown, so divorce cases are not uncommonly carried on against a background of insolvency. A recent case shows the sort of problems that can arise. It involved a couple who...

The half-sister of two children in the sole care of their father has been allowed indirect contact with them, following a ruling of the Court of Appeal. Previously, a family court hearing was told of the father’s concern that allowing his daughter to...

In a recent judgment dealing with child maintenance payments for a mother who left her husband and formed a stable monogamous relationship with another woman, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that the mother’s obligations towards her...

The Court of Appeal has ordered a divorced husband to pay an additional £481,000 in ancillary relief to his former wife, five years after the original divorce was settled, because he hid information about a profitable share deal. In April 2005, the...