Blog
Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
25 April 2018
Divorce and maintenance orders: Waggott v Waggott signals the end of ‘a meal ticket for life’
The Court of Appeal’s latest family judgment of Waggott v Waggott [2018] EWCA Civ 727 (Waggott) provides another indication that the ‘meal ticket for life’ (via the joint lives maintenance order) is no longer something that wives can expect from the English courts.
20 April 2018
English Court of Appeal follows US case example in deciding earning capacity is not a matrimonial asset to be shared
London is often seen as “Divorce capital of the world“ by wealthy expats, usually the wives, wanting a generous divorce settlement, but this latest UK case shows there are limits. The English Court of Appeal issued an emphatic “No” in April 2018 to an attempt by a wife to argue that her husband’s earning capacity is capable of being a matrimonial asset, to which the sharing principle applies and in the product of which, as a result, she had a continuing entitlement to share.
11 April 2018
Russell Crowe and the divorce auction - stuff matters
Good on you Russell Crowe for tackling the issue that is often the curse of the divorce settlement....all the stuff, baggage and chattels. Admittedly, his decision post-divorce was allegedly to help finance the unhappy event but he should become a role model in this often forgotten outpost of the divorce settlement. Usually, this is the last hurdle to be faced and often the straw that breaks the negotiating camel’s back as a consequence - divorcing couples really get serious over the dinner service, the marital bed, the dog and the well, the valuable things.
10 April 2018
Domestic abuse and controlling & coercive behaviour in an intimate or familial relationship
Each unhappy relationship is unhappy in its own way. Sadly for some, emotional and physical abuse is an every-day reality. A combination of fear, loyalty and coercion often prevents action, much to the disbelief of family and friends. Words like these seem extraordinary in 2018. Surely no one need live like this? The reality is that it is only in the very recent past that both criminal and family law have fully evolved to provide real recognition and protection for adults and children in abusive relationships. Victims of domestic abuse don’t have much to be thankful for but it is good news that the law is finally on their side.
10 April 2018
International surrogacy - the legal challenges for US nationals bringing a surrogate child to the UK
Surrogacy as a way of having a family is often talked about more openly in the US than in the UK. As a consequence, people’s knowledge and understanding of the process differ greatly. In some US States, such as California, surrogacy is a mature industry in which surrogacy arrangements are well regulated and contracts (where a surrogate agrees to carry a child for intended parents for payment) are enforceable. However, documents or agreements which purport to be a surrogacy contract are not enforceable in the UK.
