Financial Provision: Divisional conflict

Stephen Smith highlights areas of conflict between family law and other divisions and the potential issues that may arise ‘The Supreme Court will decide in Prest whether the need for a fair result on the family issues enables private corporate arrangements to be disrupted and the corporate veil pierced.’ As a family lawyer I, along …
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ADR: New world models

Felicity Shedden examines whether the hybrid ADR process of mediation-arbitration is dangerous territory or exciting opportunity ‘In England and Wales med-arb is already with us in the world of commercial litigation, but, until recently, it was not an available option in the family law arena.’ With the advent of the Institute of Family Law Arbitrators …
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Schedule 1: Defining benefits

Kirstie Gibson considers the court’s approach where a Schedule 1 application is made by a non-resident parent ‘The father’s obligations relating to housing and maintenance related only to the child, and to the mother only insofar as they related to the child.’ In N v C [2013], an interesting decision regarding an application under Schedule …
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Trusts: Trust issues

Huw Miles analyses issues of evidence regarding complex trust and corporate entities as highlighted in the decision of CR v MZ ‘It was the conveyancing solicitors who apparently advised that it would be “more efficient” to put the property into a company. The file contained no explanation of that advice and it did not in …
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Children: Proroguing jurisdiction

Emily Watson provides clarification on when EU children cases can be dealt with in England and Wales ‘The mother was “proroguing jurisdiction”, ie agreeing that the Spanish court could exercise jurisdiction despite the English court having general territorial jurisdiction.’The case of Re S (A Child) [2013] was heard by Cobb J and dealt with an …
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Capital Orders: Interim measures

Fiona Wood looks at the type and appropriateness of interim capital orders that may be made under a variety of provisions It is possible under a variety of provisions to obtain an “interim” order for sale of a property or an interim lump sum order. However, the circumstances in which these applications are likely to …
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In Practice: Informed options

In the first part of a two-part article on the changing legal market, Paul Linsell and Kate Stovold discuss the importance of costs information ‘The place at which family law services are delivered is an interesting point at present, with technological advances paving the way for more “remote servicing”.’ If you speak to any family …
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