Financial remedies: A new way of working

Hannah Hughes summarises the impact of the below High Court judge level efficiency statement in the Financial Remedies Court The efficiency statement makes it clear that it is unacceptable for the court to be presented at the financial dispute resolution appointment (or final hearing) with competing asset schedules and chronologies. Parties must therefore collaborate to …
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Pensions: Ticking Pandora’s boxes

David Wilkinson and Alexandra Goldrein look at a case involving a cautionary tale of ‘moving target syndrome’ As HHJ Hess pointed out in T v T, there is a statutory life-jacket available for adrift non-member spouses facing the prospect of an underfunded pension scheme, which ensures that the prospective transferee is first given the option …
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Media access: Look before you leap

Mark Harper highlights the potential consequences of increased transparency in the family courts and whether issues such as privacy for children and data protection have been given sufficient consideration Ancillary litigation about the terms of a reporting order will add to the costs burden for the parties where, for example, parties are inevitably very anxious …
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Bankruptcy: A rare exception

Mark Pawlowski examines the case law on applications for sale of the family home after one year of bankruptcy What emerges is a model premised on the principle that the interests of creditors will invariably prevail over family concerns unless there are compelling reasons for refusing (or deferring) sale which are absent from the ordinary …
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Skills: Best behaviour

Hannah Holdaway discusses her findings from a recent research project exploring the interactions taking place between family lawyers and their clients There is a huge amount of research which demonstrates that the decisions we make in dealing with every area of our lives, including legal issues, are influenced by the emotions we are experiencing. It’s …
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Gender recognition: Slow progress

Jessica Keal considers transgender rights, the development of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and subsequent calls for further reform The calls for transgender people to be able to self-identify without the need for a medical diagnosis have not translated into any meaningful reform, with the main changes being to move the application process online and …
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Embryology: Hidden fertility icebergs?

In the first of a two-part consideration, Seamus Burns asks whether egg, sperm and embryo freezing are encouraging costly and harmful fertility gambling Where a treatment option is not available equally to all individuals, this violates the medical ethics justice principle and is hence iniquitous. It arguably puts too much emphasis and focus on individual …
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