April 2019 #185 – Law Journals

Divorce: Not so fast

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 …

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Delay: Proceed to go

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 …

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Pensions: Perfect planning

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, …

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TOLATA 1996: A different world

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 …

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In practice: Digital age

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.’ …

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Financial provision: Looking beyond the evidence

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] …

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Funding: Bridging the gap

Alexis Campbell QC, George Williamson and Katie Alexiou set out the key issues when considering litigation funding ‘The judge cannot compute the value of assets and make orders about how they should be shared between the parties without clear and reliable evidence as to how this can be done.’ Akhmedova v Akhmedov [2018] involved an …

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