Knowledge and resources

In this podcast, Ian Hawkins, Mary Waring, and Phil O'Connor discuss the many benefits that can be obtained from including a financial neutral within a collaborative meeting.

Draft legislation has been released which will impact divorcing or separating couples who are disposing of their main residence and/or transferring ownership to their former spouse or civil partner.

In this article for The Review Alison Palmer examines how the new rules will in most cases result in additional capital gains tax (CGT) by reducing the reliefs available. Some practical examples illustrate how the timing of transactions can have a significant impact on the resulting tax liability. As always, timing and detail are all-important in maximising the relief available, so professional tax-planning advice can be exceptionally valuable in such cases.

Moher v Moher provides a useful round up of how the courts should approach non-disclosure, as well as some thoughts on the interaction of an order to make periodical payments with the grant of a get.

Must the judge who was present at the FDR hearing be disqualified from considering those points? This was the question that needed to be determined in the recent High Court case of Shokrollah-Babaee v Shokrollah-Babaee. Austin Chessell reports for The Review.

Universal credit has been on the cards for what seems like years now, but its malign effects are starting to show up in cases. Anita Mehta looks at this for The Review.

Since 25 November 2013, the Child Support Agency (CSA) will no longer accept new child support cases. All new applications are now dealt with under the new scheme, with new rules, by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).

Marital agreements are becoming an everyday part of many family lawyers’ workload and it is in recognition of this increasing role that this guidance note on dealing with them has been revised. If these agreements are not a mainstay of your practice then it is important for you to consider instructing specialist counsel to provide an opinion on the content of the proposed agreement, review the advice you have given or draft the agreement itself.

The procedure for financial dispute resolution appointments (FDRs) is set out in Part 9.17 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR) and Practice Direction 9A (PD 9A). They are meetings “held for the purposes of discussion and negotiation”, "to reduce the tension which inevitably arises in family disputes and facilitating settlement of those disputes" (para 6.1 PD 9A).

The degree of recalcitrance in this case was rare but not unique, and reminds practitioners to ensure clients comply with their obligations, including full and frank disclosure, from the outset

A practitioner’s guide to obtaining external funding in financial remedies cases

Listen to the Finance Update presented at Resolution's National Conference 2019 by Grant Howell and Andrew Newbury (5th April 2019).

The issues discussed in this section arise when the financial resources of a couple divorcing in England & Wales include an overseas pension or the family lawyer is contacted by an overseas lawyer to explain that the financial resources of a couple divorcing abroad include a pension from an English provider.

This section summarises various types of trusts and what steps the family solicitor should consider when faced with one. It is beyond the scope of this guide to provide more than a brief overview of this complex subject.

Until future case law clarifies how former civil partners will be treated under the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (MFPA), this section focuses on the law relating to formerly married couples as applied in England and Wales.

When a marriage or civil partnership fails, the courts use their discretion to decide how a family’s finances and property are divided up. This means that they look at all the circumstances of the case but will put the welfare of the children first.