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Spring Budget 2021—Private Client analysis

The following Private Client news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Spring Budget 2021—Private Client analysis

Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Foreign Process Section’s availability update

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Assessment of financial claims following divorce in Russia (AG v VD)

The following Family news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Assessment of financial claims following divorce in Russia (AG v VD)

Family monthly highlights—February 2021

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Featured Family content

Notice of acting

Case number [insert number][In the principal registryORIn the [insert court location] FAMILY court]Sitting at [insert place]Notice of...

Private children—paramountcy of the child's welfare

The paramountcy principleWhen any court determines any question with respect to:•the upbringing of the child, or•the administration of the child's...

Pension attachment orders

The power to make pension attachment orders (previously referred to as earmarking orders) arises from the insertion of sections 25B–25D of the...

The no order principle

This Practice Note explains the no order principle contained in section 1(5) of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989). It explains when the principle...

Practice notes

Sequestration (confiscation of assets) within contempt proceedings

Sequestration is a process for dealing with a contempt of court that would be otherwise punishable by a committal under which the assets of the...

Produced in partnership with David Salter, deputy High Court judge and Recorder 12th Jan

Practice notes

Decree absolute—divorce

Online divorceWhere a divorce is proceeding via the online service note that while rules relating to divorce proceedings are generally to be found in...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Application to vary, extend or discharge a non-molestation or occupation order

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance has been issued, including by the President of the Family Division, regarding all proceedings in the Family Court in...

9th Nov

COVID-19

Practice notes

Drafting the terms of a financial consent order

This Practice Note sets out the basic principles to be applied when drafting a financial consent order including the preparation and structure of the...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Emergency prohibited steps and child arrangements orders

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance has been issued, including by the President of the Family Division, regarding all proceedings in the Family Court in...

9th Nov

Practice notes

The grounds on which a marriage is void

A void marriage is one that will be treated by the court as never having taken place. The grounds on which a marriage will be void are set out in...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Undefended divorce proceedings

Online divorceOn 6 May 2018 the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) launched its online divorce service nationwide for the public acting as litigants in person....

9th Nov

Practice notes

Void and voidable marriages

The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) sets out the grounds on which a marriage is void or voidable and the bars preventing the grant of a decree...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Working with counsel

Instructing counsel to advocate on a client’s behalf should be a matter of careful thought and preparation. The role of counsel is to provide...

Produced in partnership with Ursula Rice of Family First Solicitors Ltd 12th Jan

Practice notes

Child Arrangements Programme—the procedure for section 8 applications

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance has been issued, including by the President of the Family Division, regarding all proceedings in the Family Court in...

9th Nov

COVID-19

In-house

Practice notes

Statements of truth in family proceedings

This Practice Note is impacted by the exit of the UK from the EU on 31 January 2020. This has implications for practitioners when considering an...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Amended, supplemental and further petitions

The distinction between an amended petition, a supplemental petition and a further petitionWhere it is necessary in some way to amend a petition...

9th Nov

Precedents

Specimen statement of issues for a first appointment—financial remedy application

In the Family Court sitting at [location][Case No]Between1[insert name] ApplicantAnd2[ insert name] RespondentStatement of issues for the First...

9th Nov

Practice notes

The grounds on which a marriage is voidable

A decree of nullity granted after 31 July 1971 in respect of a voidable marriage operates to annul the marriage with effect from decree absolute and...

9th Nov

Practice notes

General principles—lump sum orders

This Practice Note sets out the general principles to be applied by the court when considering whether to make a lump sum order within financial...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Declarations of parentage—procedure

The procedure for an application for a declaration of parentage is governed by the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, Pt...

9th Nov

Most recent Practice and procedure content

Q&As

Can an application for a financial order be made after decree absolute? What is the impact of remarriage?

Can an application for a financial order be made after decree absolute?There is no prohibition on an application for a financial order being made...

13th Feb

Q&As

The decree absolute in divorce proceedings was pronounced over 20 years ago. The parties did not deal with finances at that time and the party who now wishes to make an application for financial orders has since remarried. Neither party retained a copy of the divorce petition. How can it be ascertained whether a prayer for ancillary relief was included in the petition? If that information is not available, what would be the approach of the court?

Section 28(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) provides that after the grant of a decree dissolving or annulling a marriage, if either...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

Does the court have the power to order the payment of a mortgage and outgoings in a consent order, or does this have to be included as a recital only? The Precedent Standard order 2.1—financial remedy order—omnibus provides for the payment of outgoings in the main body of the order, but the court has just refused to approve it on the basis that it should be a recital instead.

The Precedent: Standard order 2.1—financial remedy order—omnibus derives from the suite of Precedent orders issued by the Financial Remedies Working...

13th Feb

Q&As

Is there any guidance or case law on a scenario where a party is using a third party's bank account as their own, to the effect that the bank account should be disclosed as part of financial remedy proceedings? For example, where a party is paying money into a new partner’s bank account but refuses to disclose the bank account in their Form E.

It is a fundamental principle that full and frank disclosure of the financial position of husband and wife in financial remedy proceedings is made, in...

Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

Can an application be made for exemption from attendance at a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM) where the applicant is no longer in employment and seeks to urgently vary a periodical payments order?

The requirements as to attendance at a mediation information and assessment meeting (MIAM) are set out in the following Practice Note:•Non-court...

13th Feb

Q&As

Where a petition for nullity is issued, does the same procedure under Family Procedure Rules 2010, SI 2010/2955, Pt 9 apply, as it would in relation to a divorce or judicial separation proceedings, on an application for a financial order? Is the position different if the marriage is void/a non-marriage, as opposed to being voidable? In both cases, will the court have regard to the factors set out in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 in relation to the application for a financial order?

A marriage may be annulled either on the ground that it is void, or that it is voidable. Section 11 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) sets...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

If one party to financial remedy proceedings on divorce has a very significant inheritance at the outset of the proceedings what are the requirements for them to disclose the extent of that inheritance and when? Can requests for information be made of third parties eg the executor?

The court is not specifically referred to the question of inherited assets or the parties’ inheritance prospects by section 25 of the Matrimonial...

Produced in partnership with Nick Starks of St. Ives Chamber 13th Feb

Q&As

Can a party apply for an interim lump sum order to be made in advance of a final hearing where the solvency of their business is a concern and the business is likely to fail if an order is not made prior to the final hearing?

The starting point is section 23 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973), which gives the court jurisdiction to make lump sum orders and...

Produced in partnership with Marissa Allman of The 36 Group 13th Feb

Q&As

Can information in a Form E be disclosed to a third party’s solicitors regarding proceedings that are unrelated to the financial remedy proceedings?

Case studyIn financial remedy proceedings Form Es have been exchanged. The husband is engaged in civil litigation with the wife's step-father. The...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

A financial consent order provided for a jointly owned property to be sold on the parties’ child reaching a specified age and for the proceeds of sale to be divided between the parties. If one of the parties dies shortly after the triggering event, is that party’s estate entitled to their share of the proceeds of sale under the order?

When a property is owned by a husband and wife as joint tenants, they both own the entirety of the property and the death of one results in the...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

A financial remedy order provides for the family home to be sold. In the event that a purchaser cannot be found, can the parties agree that one of them should buy-out the others interest in the property? If an agreement cannot be reached regarding transfer of the property and there are no prospective purchasers, what steps can be taken to conclude the matter?

Section 24A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) provides that the court may make an order for the sale of a property in which either or both...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

Where voluntary disclosure is dealt with by the exchange of Forms E, is there a requirement for a signed statement of truth?

The pre-action protocol set out in the annex to Family Procedure Rules 2010, PD 9A (FPR 2010) states (at para 12) that:‘If parties carry out voluntary...

13th Feb

Q&As

In a financial remedy consent order, can the court order one party to pay a share of future bonuses to the other party or should it be drafted as an undertaking to pay?

In some cases, a party’s bonus can make up a significant part of their income. Although bonuses accrued post-separation may be the result of the...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

Where a party is made bankrupt in the course of financial remedy proceedings, prior to a final order being made, and the only significant asset is a jointly-owned property, will the non-bankrupt spouse have any entitlement to the proceeds of sale?

It is not uncommon for financial remedies proceedings and bankruptcy proceedings to be ongoing at the same time, sometimes with the specific intention...

13th Feb

Q&As

Can a district judge grant the decree nisi at the first appointment of a financial remedy application, where both parties are present and in agreement that the decree nisi should be pronounced?

In the case of an undefended petition for divorce, the parties will typically receive notice of the date, time and place of the hearing of the decree...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

What is the difference between a financial remedy and a financial order?

The Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955 made changes to the terminology used in relation to proceedings for financial provision. The...

13th Feb

Q&As

If a party to financial remedy proceedings on divorce enters into an individual voluntary arrangement, how will this impact on the proceedings and any order made in those proceedings?

Under an individual voluntary agreement (IVA), a debtor avoids bankruptcy by entering into a repayment plan with their creditors. If the former spouse...

Produced in partnership with Katherine Illsley of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

What is the impact on appeal proceedings in relation to a final financial remedy order where decree absolute has not yet been pronounced and one of the parties dies?

The court has the power to make final orders in financial remedy proceedings on the pronouncement of decree absolute. Other than certain interim...

Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk 13th Feb

Q&As

Where a party has not complied with the terms of a financial order, and intends to make an application to set aside that order on the basis of an inheritance received by the other party, will the set-aside application and any enforcement as to the non-compliance be dealt with at the same time or will the party who seeks to enforce the order need to make a separate application for enforcement?

A financial order may be set aside on the basis of fraud, mistake, material non-disclosure, or a significant change of circumstance (often referred to...

13th Feb

Q&As

What is the procedure to withdraw an application for a financial order after the first appointment has taken place, and what are the costs consequences of doing so?

The only general provision in the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955 relating to withdrawal appears in FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, 29.4,...

Produced in partnership with Nicholas Starks of St Ives Chambers 13th Feb