Financial Remedies Journal – 2025 Issue 1 | Spring
Issue 1 of 2025 was published in March 2025.
Download the whole Journal as a PDF (for free) below.
All articles in the Journal are also available individually.
Trusts in Financial Remedy Proceedings
When studying for my A level in English literature I never quite worked out who Myrtle Brown was, nor whether Laurel was her sister or Ivy Neversere a friend of theirs. In History I studied the period when Milton was writing but I never found their names mentioned in the history books either.
Christopher Wagstaffe KC
Betting the Farm
In an area of law that has many dedicated sub-genres, few are perceived as being as abstruse and esoteric as the idea of the ‘farming case’. The term is rolled out with such precision and certainty that one could be forgiven for expecting a separate section of the Matrimonial Causes Act
Joseph SwitalskiBook Review: Pensions on Divorce: A Practitioner’s Handbook (4th Edition)
The 3rd edition of this handbook appeared in 2018, stating the law as at January 2018, and so a new 4th edition is to be heartily welcomed. The 7-year interval has seen two reports from the Pension Advisory Group (in 2019 and 2024), important reforms to pensions taxation legislation and changes to
David SalterFamily BarLink: The CFC Pro Bono Duty Scheme
Restrictions in the provision of legal aid following the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 have resulted in a sharp increase in the number of individuals unable to access legal advice and services in family proceedings. The public’s reduced access to legal services is
Cara DoneganFinancial Remedies – Next Steps on the Road to Reform?
On 18 December 2024 the Law Commission published its Scoping Report on financial remedies on divorce and dissolution. The Scoping Report sets out their findings that the current law does not provide a cohesive framework in which couples going through a divorce can expect fair and sufficiently certa
Professor Nick HopkinsDR Corner: Is NCDR Appropriate in Financial Remedy Cases where there is Domestic Abuse?
In October 2024, a Resolution multi-disciplinary working party published a report, <em>Domestic abuse in financial remedy proceedings</em>. Described as a ‘groundbreaking’ consideration of the interplay between domestic abuse and the treatment of finances on separation and divorce, this
Karin WalkerStandardising Financial Disclosure for Out-of-Court Resolution: Can We Trust the D81?
The principal forms we use for capturing financial data were drafted by different groups of people, at different times and with different purposes: and it shows. As technology and non-court dispute resolution (NCDR) continue expanding, now might be the time to consider if these forms are, first, fi
Caroline BowdenReflections on the Law Commission Paper Financial remedies on divorce and dissolution: a scoping report published on 18 December 2024
Whilst the figures do vary from year to year, a broad perusal of the official statistics suggests that each year in England and Wales approximately 250,000 couples get married and approximately 100,000 applications for a divorce (formerly divorce petitions) are made.
HHJ Edward Hess | Chair of the Editorial BoardThe Express Financial Remedy Procedure Pilot
Between the first (<em>A Paper to consider the future use of Remote Hearings in the FRC</em>) and third (<em>Transparency in the Financial Remedies Court</em>) Farquhar reports, the members of the FRC Recovery Group – initially set up by Mr Justice Mostyn and chaired throughout by His Honour
Samantha Hillas KCDOWNLOAD 2025 ISSUE 1 – Spring 2025 (PDF)
2025 Issue 1 (Spring 2025) is now available to download and read as a PDF. Click to download.
Tech Corner: The Intersection of Technology and Domestic Abuse: Legal Implications in the UK
While technological advancements offer numerous benefits, they have also opened new avenues for individuals to exert control, manipulate, and harass their partners and ex-partners in cases of domestic abuse. In this article, we will explore the unfortunate intersection between technology and domest
Steven BradleyWhen the Wife Becomes a Widow: The Effect of Death on Financial Provision Claims
In this world, nothing can be certain except death and taxes.’ So Benjamin Franklin is said to have written to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy. Taxes and their impact are usually closer to the front of the minds of those going through divorce or a dissolution of a civil partnership, but occasionally dea
Helen BranderMoney Corner: New Tax Landscape for High Net Worth Divorces
The dust has (almost) settled following the Autumn Budget and April 2025 will bring about one of the biggest overhauls of the way the UK taxes foreign individuals in decades. This piece covers the changes to the non-domicile (non-dom) regime and the other smaller measures announced in the budget th
Sofia ThomasInterview with Sir Nicholas Francis
Nicholas Allen KC and HHJ Edward Hess interviewed Sir Nicholas Francis over dinner in December 2024, a few months after he retired from the High Court Bench.
HHJ Edward Hess | Chair of the Editorial BoardFamily Proceedings and Litigation Capacity
An integral yet little discussed part of our role as family law professionals is to ensure that our clients, and other parties and witnesses, are able to fully engage in the proceedings. When we refer to proceedings in this context, it is important to note that this incorporates both the court proc
Laura FlanaganJames Turner KC (1952–2025): An Obituary
James Turner KC, who has died aged 72, was a titan of the bar. In an increasingly specialised legal world, he had a uniquely broad practice for a family barrister: financial remedies, child abduction, divorce, crime, judicial review, medical disciplinary work and administrative law.
Alexander Chandler KCPrinciples vs Resources: Conduct and the Law Commission Scoping Report
The Law Commission’s long awaited scoping report on financial remedies was published on 18 December 2024. It concludes that the law relating to financial remedy should be reformed. We asked the Law Commission to clarify whether their concerns in respect of the <em>fairness</em> of the outcome
Anita MehtaDomestic Abuse, Nuptial Agreements and Financial Remedies: A Cultural Shift?
As family practitioners will know, the dynamics involved in negotiating nuptial agreements are no less nuanced than those in other parts of our work. There can be power imbalances, cultural clashes and differing perceptions of fairness.
Polly CalverReport of the Duxbury Working Party (final), November 2024
A provisional version of this report was published on 2 October 2024 and invited representations for consideration by the Working Party ahead of publication of this final report. Such representations as were received are summarised in Appendix 6, and in a few instances in alterations to the text of
Lewis Marks KCReflections on the Law Commission Scoping Report in Relation to Pensions on Divorce
Chapter 10 of the Law Commission’s Scoping Report is devoted solely to pensions, an issue to which its terms of reference specifically refer. The report makes for concerning reading; it notes that many divorcing couples separate without a pension sharing arrangement in place and that some do
Jack RundallHer Honour Judge Isobel Plumstead (1947–2024) – An Obituary
HHJ Isobel Plumstead was born on 19 July 1947 and died on 30 December 2024. She was one of the best judges of her generation. The memories which have been shared since her death by lawyers who appeared in front of her, or whose careers she assisted, show that her qualities of great intellect, compa
Chair's Column (Spring 2024)
This is the first issue of the FRJ since the Law Commission’s ‘scoping report’ was published in December 2024. The essence of a scoping report is that it steps back and paints an overview. It presents options (to the government or to Parliament); but does not seek to recommend or
HHJ Edward Hess | Chair of the Editorial BoardThe Summary of the Summaries (Spring 2025)
Summaries of recent cases including <em>WW v XX</em> [2024] EWFC 330 (B)(HHJ Hess) – final hearing involving valuation and matrimonial nature of business – and <em>Mainwaring v Bailey</em> [2024] EWHC 2614 (Fam), <em>FC v WC</em> [2024] EWFC 291 and <em>A v M (No 3)</em> [2024] EWFC 299.
Liam KellyImportant Recent Case Developments (October 2024 to mid January 2025)
These are the noteworthy case-law developments since the last issue went to press in early October 2024. This period has seen a number of cases involving legal services payment orders (LSPOs), and we draw your attention to one in particular. In addition to this, there are several interesting cases
Polly Morgan | Case EditorWill Delays in Converting Arbitral Awards into Court Orders Deter the Use of Arbitration?
Since the Court of Appeal’s judgment in <em>Haley v Haley</em> [2020] EWCA Civ 1369 there have been numerous attempts to encourage litigants and legal representatives to use arbitration to resolve family law disputes. The recent case of <em>ON v ON</em> [2024] EWFC 379 illustrates the difficulties
Michael AllumDealing with Private Equity Investments in Financial Remedies Cases
Investments in private equity funds are a feature of some ‘big money’ divorce cases. In some cases, investments have been made in private equity funds and those investments, or profit sharing entitlements deriving from them, form part of the matrimonial or non-matrimonial property of th
Andrzej Bojarski KC
Latest
Of Dogs and Divorce
Of dogs and divorce: why treating pets as chattels is an anachronism.
This is Ernest, our beloved English bull terrier. According to English law he has the same status as the chaise longue upon which he is performing his Kate Winslet impersonation. How can this be right? How can he
Pre-Nuptial Agreements: an ‘Oven-Ready’ Solution to a Pressing Problem? A House of Lords Debate
Late last month, Baroness Deech brought a motion in the House of Lords, ‘That this House takes note of the law relating to prenuptial agreements’.
The debate came against the backdrop of Baroness Deech having (of course) long pursued financial remedies reform through her Divorce (Financial Provision) Bill. She has
Stamp Duty Land Tax and Divorce
This is sometimes the forgotten tax on divorce. Maybe this is fair enough as there is a pretty clear exemption in tax law that states that stamp duty land tax (SDLT) will not apply to transfers pursuant to divorce.
However, the last few years have seen the introduction of two