Q&As

A party to financial remedy proceedings is the beneficiary of several trusts. Orders have been made directing the trustees (who are the parents of the beneficiary party) to provide information regarding one of the trusts, but they deny its existence. An application for a penal notice has been unsuccessful. What other options are there to obtain information regarding the trust?

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Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk
Published on: 04 July 2019
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The court in financial remedy proceedings will ordinarily seek to assess whether a spouse who is the beneficiary of a trust has by way of that beneficial interest a financial resource (see, generally, Charman v Charman and Browne v Browne). Such interests can be considered by the court as part of the circumstances of the case and may be treated as an asset in the balancing exercise to achieve a fair result. This will particularly be the case where the interest under the trust is a defined interest which is easily accessible now or in the reasonable future. There may be arguments, subject to needs, that trust assets should be treated as being non-matrimonial,

Chris Bryden
Chris Bryden

Barrister, 4 King’s Bench Walk

Chris was called to the Bar in 2003 and since that time has built a busy practice across a range of areas, with an emphasis on Chancery practice. He enjoys a well-deserved reputation for his knowledge and expertise in each area. He appears regularly in the County Court, Family Court and the High Court as well as various specialist Tribunals, and has been involved in cases up to and including the Supreme Court. He regularly is instructed at Appellate level. He has extensive and wide-ranging experience particularly in the areas of wills, probate and inheritance disputes; property including adverse possession, boundary disputes and issues arising out of trusts of land; company and commercial work and financial remedies. Chris is head of the Family Group and head of the Property Team at 4KBW.

Chris is the author of numerous articles in publications such as the New Law Journal, Counsel and Family Law, amongst many other titles, and is the co-author of Social Media in the Workplace: A Handbook (2015, Jordan Publishing).

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Financial remedy definition
What does Financial remedy mean?

A financial order is a type of 'financial remedy' within proceedings for divorce, dissolution, judicial separation or nullity.

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