Tucked away in the church grounds of a quiet village in Romania, there is a small room known as the ‘marital prison’. It was here that couples on the brink of divorce were once sent to solve their problems by the local bishop. So effective was this method that records show that there has only been one divorce in the area for the past 300... Read More
Resolution, with the support of the Personal Finance Society, have published a report for financial advisers that emphasises the benefits of the divorce market for those who position themselves as an expert, and highlights the need for more specialist financial advisers in this area of law.
The report estimates that the divorce market is worth... Read More
A distant relative of the Duchess of Cornwall, Mr Charles Alastair Hyde Villiers, has deemed his estranged wife's decision to file for maintenance in England following their separation an act of "divorce tourism". Mr Villiers, who is also a descendant of Mary Tudor, Queen of France, shared an 18th century manor house in the Scottish lowlands with... Read More
Section 10 of the Children and Families Act 2014 makes it compulsory for individuals to attend a family mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM) before making a family application to the court. However, there has been some doubt as to whether the legislation has been effective in ensuring mediation is tried by those looking to make this... Read More
This week, ONS published statistics on divorces in England and Wales in 2015. The data reveals many trends in modern relationships but this survey is particularly interesting because it is the first record of same-sex divorce. The statistics also showed that 2015 saw the lowest divorce rate in over 40 years.
Same-sex marriage was legalised in... Read More
On 1 May 2017, singer Janet Jackson uploaded a video to YouTube announcing that she that she has separated from her husband, multi-millionaire businessman Wissam Al Mana. In the video she confirmed that the couple were “in court" and that "the rest is in God’s hands”. The high profile, high net-worth couple attended a... Read More
Since the decision in the eponymous case in 1987, courts have been using Duxbury calculations to decide on spousal maintenance between parties who want a clean break. However, as every case presents different facts and challenges, in order to understand the principle of Duxbury calculations, it’s important to look at the questions which arise... Read More
The Court of Appeal has taken the significant step in departing from the “sharing principle” established by the House of Lords in White v White in a divorce between a very successful energy trader, Julie Sharp, and her IT consultant husband. Back in 2015, High Court judge Sir Peter Singer found that there should be a 50/50... Read More
Divorce proceedings and any financial remedy proceedings are going to be 'de-linked' and pursued separately in a move set to streamline the family court system nationwide and save weeks of delay. Under the current system, if one of the party's contests the other's application for financial remedy, all of the divorce... Read More
The hedge fund boss of a children’s charity has been ordered to pay his ex-wife’s own charity £282 million. In 2014, Sir Christopher Hohn, knighted for services to philanthropy and development, paid Jamie Cooper £337 million in their divorce settlement, at the time believed to be the biggest payout in UK legal history.
Sir Christopher Hohn... Read More