TOLATA 1996: Making allowances

Lehna Gardiner and Greg Williams consider equitable accounting and in particular the circumstances in which an occupation rent may be payable and how it will be calculated ‘Where one party is excluded from the enjoyment of the property, it is likely that a claim to an occupation rent will arise in principle.’ Socrates is reputed …
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Financial provision: Path of destruction

David Wilkinson reviews the court’s approach in a case involving conduct, multi-faceted litigation and a family business ‘It is arguable that a “predicament of real need” would be exactly what the husband would have been in had the final order penalised him in terms of his conduct.’ Cohen J’s judgment in TT v CDS [2019] …
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International pensions: Running out of options

Ellie Foster highlights the ways in which overseas pensions may be addressed and the need to plan ahead for changes post-Brexit ‘Post-Brexit, unless parties can rely on the primary grounds of jurisdiction, enforcing foreign orders against pensions in this jurisdiction may be at best difficult or at worst impossible.’ The Pension Advisory Group (PAG) report …
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Tort: Secrets and lies

Abby Buckland examines a claim in tort between spouses and its relationship with financial remedy proceedings ‘In the presence of ongoing financial remedy proceedings, and the mandatory requirements under s25, MCA 1973, the husband’s claim was fundamentally incompatible with, and amounted to an improper collateral attack on, the court’s jurisdiction.’ In the first reported High …
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Domestic abuse: Fundamental failings

Harry White discusses a controversial decision involving the approach to evidence of domestic abuse and procedural requirements in such cases ‘The judge’s conclusions were predicated upon a presumption that the mother should have physically resisted the father in order to establish her non-consent, which was plainly wrong.’ On 8 August 2019, HHJ Tolson QC made …
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Set aside: Dealing with dishonesty

Matthew Taylor analyses a case involving an order obtained by fraudulent conduct and the steps that may be taken by the court in such cases ‘If fraud is established, the order must be set aside unless the court is satisfied that the fraud would not have influenced a reasonable person to enter into the order …
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Consent orders: A word of caution

Helen Cort looks at the fundamentals of effectively drafting financial remedy consent orders and provides some practical tips ‘The careful drafting of the operative provisions of the consent order is key, but practitioners should not overlook the importance of the preamble section.’ A failure to correctly draft a financial consent order can lead to delay, …
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