A guide to protecting non-matrimonial assets in divorce – Family Law

Posted July 14th, 2022 in divorce, financial provision, matrimonial home, news by tracey

‘A key consideration in any divorce is how to divide your assets. Assets which are acquired or built up during the marriage (matrimonial or marital assets) are generally divided equally. But what if you came into the marriage with significant premarital wealth or received a substantial inheritance before or after your separation? You may feel that it is unfair for these assets to be divided at all, and you may want to protect them in the event of a divorce.’

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Family Law, 14th July 2022

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

E v L [2021] EWFC 60 (Fam): Short Marriages, Section 25 Criteria and White Leopards Reconsidered – Becket Chambers

Posted November 2nd, 2021 in divorce, financial provision, matrimonial home, news, valuation by sally

‘The purpose of this article, is to consider the application of the section 25 criteria and in particular the issue of company valuation in the case of E v L [2021] EWFC 60, as decided by Mostyn J.’

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Becket Chambers, 29th October 2021

Source: becket-chambers.co.uk

Proprietary Estoppel and the Matrimonial Home on the Death of a Spouse – Anaghara v Anaghara & Ors [2020] EWHC 3091 – Pump Court Chambers

Posted November 24th, 2020 in bereavement, domicile, estoppel, married persons, matrimonial home, news by sally

‘It is rare that a spouse needs to pursue a claim in proprietary estoppel to secure occupation of a matrimonial home owned by the other spouse on the latter’s death: the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 will usually provide a remedy. But where, as here, the deceased is not domiciled in England and Wales the 1975 Act does not apply and an interesting point arises. The trial judge had found that there had been repeated representations to the effect that the wife might live in the property for so long as she wished made over a period of more than 20 years. The wife had reasonably relied upon those representations (understandably so one might think). However, the estate argued that the wife’s long “rent-free” occupation of the property owned by her husband counted as a “countervailing benefit” which the court was obliged to weigh in the balance and might mitigate or extinguish her equity. Such a countervailing benefit has been taken into account in the case of a licensee who harvests a crop (Henry v Henry [2010] UKPC 3) of a live-in carer paying no rent (Jennings v Rice [2002] EWCA 159) and of a son-in-law paying no rent to his parents-in-law after the death of his wife (Sledmore v Dalby (1996) 72 P & CR 196). In the latter case the benefit was sufficient wholly to extinguish the equity.’

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Pump Court Chambers, 20th November 2020

Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com

Financial Remedy Update, February 2020 – Family Law Week

Posted February 13th, 2020 in cohabitation, divorce, financial provision, joinder, matrimonial home, news, third parties by tracey

‘Sarah Hunter, Senior Associate and Eleanor Cawthra, Associate Mills & Reeve LLP consider the important news and case law relating to financial remedies and divorce during February 2020.’

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Family Law Week, 12th February 2020

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Divorcing couples: beware the capital gains tax trap – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 10th, 2019 in capital gains tax, divorce, matrimonial home, news, penalties, sale of land, time limits by tracey

‘A change to the capital gains tax (CGT) rules from April 2020 means divorcing or separating couples in the UK will have a shorter period of time in which to sell their interest in the family home without being hit by tax penalties.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 8th October 2019

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

BC v BG – Challenging arbitration awards in divorce cases – Transparency Project

Posted February 20th, 2019 in arbitration, divorce, matrimonial home, news by sally

‘Divorcing couples who cannot agree how to divide their property can, as an alternative to costly and time consuming litigation, refer the matter to an arbitrator. But if one of them isn’t happy about the outcome, the matter could still end up in court. The recent case of BC v BG [2019] EWFC 7 considers the different ways this can happen, and confirms what should be the preferred approach.’

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Transparency Project, 19th February 2019

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Single Name Family Home Constructive Trusts: Is Lloyds Bank v Rosset Still Good Law? – Radcliffe Chambers

Posted February 8th, 2019 in constructive trusts, divorce, matrimonial home, news by sally

‘The breakdown of a loving relationship can cause both emotional and legal uncertainties. From a property law perspective, the key question is: who gets what? In most cases, the most valuable part of this question is: who gets the house?’

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Radcliffe Chambers, 14th January 2019

Source: www.radcliffechambers.com

Stand by your man? The clash of criminal law and family law concerning inter-spousal transfers of assets – Family Law

Posted July 11th, 2018 in confiscation, divorce, fraud, matrimonial home, news, proceeds of crime by tracey

‘The judgment of the Court of Appeal in R v Hayes [2018] EWCA 682 is a stark and unsettling reminder of how occasionally a family court and a criminal court may deliver contradictory judgments on the same facts.’

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Family Law, 11th July 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Interim Sale of the Family Home in Financial Remedy Proceedings – Family Law Week

‘Philip Newton, barrister, Becket Chambers Canterbury considers whether it is possible to obtain an order for sale of the family home before the final hearing.’

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Family Law Week, 23rd May 2018

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Bloom v Bloom: The risks of failing to provide full and frank disclosure in financial remedy proceedings – Family Law

‘Bloom v Bloom [2018] Lexis Citation 16 concerned the applicant wife’s application that judgments in the financial remedy proceedings, where the respondent husband had been found to have defrauded her parents, should be published un-anonymised. The application was granted.’

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Family Law, 22nd March 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Attempting modernisation: the Divorce (Financial Provision) Bill – Family Law

‘Momentum is growing for the modernisation of the statutory approach to the financial division of assets on divorce, the recognition of pre- and post-nuptial agreements, and an overhaul of spousal maintenance. Over the last few years the great and the good have been beavering away in an attempt to find the Holy Grail, a way of modernising family law to provide more certainty and clarity.’

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Family Law, 2nd February 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Privacy and the Princess – Transparency Project

Posted December 13th, 2017 in divorce, freedom of expression, human rights, matrimonial home, news, privacy by sally

‘Once upon a time, His Royal Highness Louis Xavier Marie Guillaume, Prince of Luxembourg, Prince of Nassau and Prince of Bourbon-Parma married Tessy Antony, now Her Royal Highness Tessy Princess of Luxembourg, Princess of Nassau and Princess of Bourbon-Parma. Unfortunately, they did not live happily ever after, as, after 11 years of marriage and two children, they are now divorcing in the High Court in London.’

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Transparency Project, 11th December 2017

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Our House, in the middle of … Ambridge: Rogers v Burns – Tanfield Chambers

Posted August 22nd, 2017 in cohabitation, estoppel, housing, matrimonial home, news by sally

‘Thirty-something lovers Fallon Rogers (barmaid) and Harrison Burns (police constable) didn’t have much money between them. What little they had was Harrison’s – enough for a deposit on a modest house, in fact. Fed up with all the broken boilers and other hassles of renting, Harrison thought it would be an idea for them to look at buying a property. Fallon was unable to obtain financial assistance from any of her cash-strapped family to help her fund any such purchase. But all was not lost….’

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Tanfield Chambers, 20th July 2017

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Finance and Divorce Update, August 2017 – Family Law Week

‘Naomi Shelton, Associate with Mills & Reeve LLP, analyses the news and case law relating to financial remedies and divorce during July 2017.’

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Family Law Week, 2nd August 2017

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

The equity of exoneration reconsidered: Williams v Onyearu [2017] EWCA Civ 268 – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted May 16th, 2017 in appeals, equity, housing, matrimonial home, news by sally

‘The equity of exoneration is a principle which arises at the difficult intersection of the law of sureties and proprietary interests in jointly-owned property – commonly, family homes. It is a common law doctrine which saw much development in the latter part of the 19th Century, and had not been properly considered by the Court of Appeal since 1898 before the case of Williams v Onyearu.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 9th May 2017

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

DW and another v CG – WLR Daily

Posted April 27th, 2017 in bankruptcy, divorce, financial provision, matrimonial home, news by sally

DW and another v CG [2016] EWHC 2965 (Fam)

‘On the dissolution of their marriage a husband and wife had resolved their respective financial remedy claims by way of a final consent order made in 2009 (“the 2009 order”), which required the husband to make a significant lump sum payment to the wife in a series of instalments. The order further contained provision entitling the wife to sell a number of properties, held in the husband’s sole name, should the husband default on payment and a right for the wife to continue to reside in one of those properties (“the property”) until payment by the husband of the final lump sum instalment. The husband failed to pay the final instalment and, in 2010, the court made an order for sale of the property with the outstanding interim payment to be provided to the wife from the net proceeds of sale. That order was never implemented and in 2011 bankruptcy proceedings were commenced against the husband. The wife registered a restriction against the property before the husband was made bankrupt in 2012. Following an initial agreed period of inactivity in the family proceedings the husband and his new partner were both discharged from bankruptcy in 2013. In 2014 they both entered into a settlement agreement to purchase any interest their estates in bankruptcy “may” have had in respect of the properties and other assets and, between themselves, entered into a declaration of trust in relation to the property with the apparent effect of frustrating the wife’s claim. The wife recommenced her application for sale of the property and such an order was duly made with the requirement that the net proceeds of sale be paid in to court. The husband was then invited by the court to make representations as to why the wife should not receive the final instalment from the net proceeds of sale. He contended, inter alia, that the terms of the 2009 order had never created an equitable interest in the property in the wife’s favour and consequently there was no basis on which the court could go further and consider whether that interest fell outside of, or how it was effected by, his bankruptcy. The husband and his new partner appealed against the decision that the wife was entitled to receive her outstanding instalment payment from the net proceeds of sale.’

WLR Daily, November 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Divorce settlements open to challenge as lawyers ‘unaware of stamp duty change’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 30th, 2016 in appeals, divorce, financial provision, housing, matrimonial home, news, stamp duty by tracey

‘Thousands of divorce settlements could be left open to appeal because the Government’s new stamp duty surcharge is leaving estranged partners unable to buy their own home following a split.’

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Daily Telegraph, 30th June 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Conduct versus Needs – Park Square Barristers

Posted June 2nd, 2016 in divorce, matrimonial home, news, sexual offences by sally

‘Not long ago I was involved in financial relief proceedings involving a couple both of whom were on their second marriage (of some 12 years duration). The wife had children in their twenties from a previous marriage. As usual, the most substantial asset was the Former Matrimonial Home, with a notional net equity of nearly £400,000. This had been purchased with funds mainly, but not quite exclusively, provided by the husband who was retired. Neither party had a high income.’

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Park Square Barristers, 26th May 2016

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

Grandmother who lived with partner until his death wins High Court battle after his estranged wife inherited half their home – Independent

‘A grandmother who lived with her partner for almost two decades until his death has won a High Court battle after his estranged wife inherited half their home.’

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Independent, 16 February 2016

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Finance & Divorce Update November 2015 – Family Law Week

‘Edward Heaton, Principal Associate and Jane Booth, Associate, both of Mills & Reeve LLP analyse the news and case law relating to financial remedies and divorce during October 2015.’

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Family Law Week, 3rd November 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk