Financial provision: A rare thing

David Wilkinson navigates the leading authorities on applications under s27 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 The Court of Appeal’s judgment in Villiers is based upon the status quo ante as regards the jurisdictional position, and sets out in helpful detail the correct approach to the determination of s27, MCA 1973 applications, including what matters …
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Financial remedies: A battle royale

Sophia Leeder outlines the approach to interim orders in a case where a party has delayed in making their application and spent excessively in the meantime, as well as key practice points Where jurisdiction is in dispute, this does not prevent the court from making an interim order, but in MG v GM Peel J …
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Maintenance: A fair adjustment?

Deborah Jeff concludes a two-part analysis of the impact of SS v NS on the approach to spousal maintenance The preference is for a term order, with a transition to financial independence as soon as possible, and only marital assets to be subject to sharing, not a marital-generated earning capacity. The first part of this …
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Maintenance: The road to independence

Deborah Jeff reflects on the approach to maintenance following the seminal decision of Mostyn J in B v S and how the principles in that case have subsequently been applied A spousal maintenance award is properly made where the evidence shows that choices made during the marriage have generated hard future needs on the part …
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Enforcement: Continuing relevance

Molly Betts examines the ongoing significance of the EU Maintenance Regulation in relation to non-EU member states It was argued on behalf of the father that, had the proceedings which were actually issued in Monaco been issued in another member state, then those proceedings would have had priority under the EU Maintenance Regulation and the …
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International focus: Out in the cold?

Victoria Batstone and Sean Hilton highlight potential issues if the UK is unable to rejoin the Lugano Convention 2007 It is increasingly difficult for family lawyers to provide clear and certain advice to multinational clients who are considering issuing proceedings. The European Commission’s (on behalf of the European Union) block in relation to the UK’s …
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Enforcement: Be careful what you ask for

Eleanor Mills examines the Court of Appeal’s approach to a case where the wife sought to rectify a correctly made order on an incorrect application In Des Pallieres, the narrow ambit of the slip rule did not encompass the rectification of the order the wife sought, as no mistake had been made in the making …
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Child maintenance: Few and far between

Beth Kivelä considers when the court may capitalise child maintenance and the exceptional circumstances required for it to do so Although the inherent difficulties in making certain predictions about the future might provide the court with good reasons not to capitalise a periodical payments order, such difficulties have no bearing on the existence of the …
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Maintenance pending suit: In the here and now

Alice Rogers examines applications for maintenance pending suit and useful practice points arising from a decision of the Court of Appeal As practitioners, we are duty bound to ensure that maintenance pending suit applications are only brought if proportionate and necessary, while advising parties of the litigation risk, particularly in light of the court’s wide …
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Brexit: Cross-border conundrums

Graeme Fraser and Eleri Jones explore the recognition and enforcement of maintenance following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU It is vital to consider these issues at the outset due to the ‘indirect’ jurisdiction rules which apply if enforcement abroad in a 2007 Hague Convention country is likely to be required. Since the UK referendum …
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