David Wilkinson sets out the key principles to be applied in cases involving obligations owed by the parties and what may categorise a debt as hard or soft A hard obligation should appear on the judges’ computation table but where an obligation is in the category of a ‘soft’ obligation or loan, the judge may …
Continue reading "Liabilities: Minding your P v Q"
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Ellie Foster looks at the potential ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic and the likelihood of a successful application based on Barder There have been pandemics historically but does the immediate and ongoing impact on the global economy of Covid-19 put the 2008 crisis in the shade such that its scale could never have been foreseen? …
Continue reading "Financial provision: A long shot"
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Henry Hood provides insight on the approach to private limited company assets, including valuation and methods of division ‘A clean break can be more difficult to achieve where a company is involved because sharing over time will commonly imply ongoing income payments and a deferred lump sum on sale, or as liquidity allows.’ Coleridge J’s …
Continue reading "Business assets: Sharing the golden goose?"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Spring 2019 #174A company was incorporated by the husband and a friend in 1978 as equal shareholders. The husband and wife started living together in 1986, and married in 1989. At this point, the husband acquired 99% of the shares and the wife 1%. They separated in 2015.
On a wife’s application for a financial remedy order, the judge found that the capital assets were £182m in properties and pension funds, and 100% of the shares in a private company, which he valued at £221m before tax and costs of sale. He found that 80% of the company’s value was marital property, by applying a straight-line ap...
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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Rachel Nicholl examines the courts’ approach to business assets and the different orders that may be made to deal with such assets ‘While the court must consider the value of all the assets in the case in order to properly exercise its discretion, given the expenses involved in instructing an expert, this is something that …
Continue reading "Business assets: Open or shut?"
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Joe Ailion highlights a case in which, inter alia, a lack of legal advice in relation to a pre-marital agreement did not protect a dissenting party ‘It would be impractical, and prohibitively expensive, for parties to obtain advice in any of the multiple possible matrimonial regimes in which a “globe-trotting” couple may divorce.’ In a …
Continue reading "Marital agreements: Proceed with caution"
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Joanne Green looks at business assets including valuations, issues of liquidity and the options available to the court ‘When deciding how to deal with the business assets, the court should first consider whether there are any available funds in the business and if there are, the most tax-efficient way of extracting them from the business.’When …
Continue reading "Business Assets: Back to reality"
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Richard Adams examines the factors that may justify an unequal division of assets ‘A special contribution should only be taken into account if there was such a disparity in the parties’ respective contributions to the welfare of the family that it would be inequitable to disregard.’ Practitioners will be familiar with the strong feelings that …
Continue reading "Financial Provision: Sharing the wealth"
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