FRJ stage

Nicholas Allen KC

Nicholas Allen KC

Barrister and Joint Head of Chambers at 29 Bedford Row (London). Door Tenant at St. Ives (Birmingham). IFLA arbitrator and PFDR/ENE tribunal. Appointe...

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The Having of Children ‘Changes Everything’ – But in What Way?

The Having of Children ‘Changes Everything’ – But in What Way?

How (if at all) should future non-financial contributions yet to be made by one of the parties to a marriage or civil partnership be taken into account when calculating the quantum of periodical payments? MCA 1973 s 25(2)(f) states as follows: ‘(f) the contributions which each of the

D(R) Day: Today’s Changes to FPR Parts 3 and 28

D(R) Day: Today’s Changes to FPR Parts 3 and 28

FPR Part 3 has historically been underused. This is strange given that: 1. FPR 1.4(1) provides that the court ‘must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases’; and 2. FPR 1.4(2)(f) states that active case management includes ‘encouraging the parties to use a non-court

Quantifying Periodical Payments by Reference to the Needs Principle: Surveying the Wood Not the Trees

Quantifying Periodical Payments by Reference to the Needs Principle: Surveying the Wood Not the Trees

Tensions between competing propositions in financial remedy cases are not unusual. For example in Re P (Child: Financial Provision) [2003] 2 FLR 865 Thorpe LJ at [48] referred in the context of CA 1989 Schedule 1 to: ‘an inevitable tension between the two propositions, both correct in law, first that

What Is the True Extent of FDR Privilege?

What Is the True Extent of FDR Privilege?

In L v O (Stay of Order; Hadkinson Order; Security for Costs) [2024] EWFC 6 (26 January 2024) Cobb J considered whether a judge hearing a Barder (or Thwaite) application can/should be made aware of what took place at the FDR appointment where the original order was agreed and

Financial Dispute Revolution? The Family Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2023

Financial Dispute Revolution? The Family Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2023

There was a time when an unwritten rule seemed to provide that a marriage could only be described as long once the parties had celebrated their china anniversary and entered a third decade together, but times change, and so eventually do some rules. On any view, however, 20 years is

The Unopposable Application for a Penal Notice

The Unopposable Application for a Penal Notice

There are relatively few applications for a court order in financial remedy proceedings that cannot be opposed and which are bound to succeed. One is an application for a penal notice. As paragraph 59(c) of the Interim Report of the Financial Remedies Group dated 31st July 2014 stated: '

Fresh Carrot, Bigger Stick: Forthcoming Rule Changes and the ‘Encouragement’ of NCDR

Fresh Carrot, Bigger Stick: Forthcoming Rule Changes and the ‘Encouragement’ of NCDR

FPR Part 3 has historically been underused. This is strange given that FPR 1.4 provides that the court ‘must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases’ and FPR 1.4(2)(f) states that active case management includes ‘encouraging the parties to use a non-court dispute resolution’, or