20 April 2011
WHSmith - shopping for divorce
WHSmith (WHS) has announced plans to provide ‘in-store’ legal advice which is likely to include family law. The backdrop is the implementation of the Legal Services Act which comes into effect in October. This seeks to de-regulate the provision of legal services which will no longer be the preserve of traditional law firms and so ‘alternative business structures’ will be licensed to provide legal services. WHS (in common with others e.g. Tesco) plan to offer legal advice in conjunction with new businesses set up for the purpose e.g. QualitySolicitors (a franchise of small rebranded law firms).
11 April 2011
London – Still the Divorce Capital of the World?
The Court of Appeal have upheld an award of £2.8 million to a 27 year old wife after a two year marriage. Both parties are Russian and lived in a £4 million property in Kensington. The husband is 26 and the parties have a two year old daughter. The husband contested the lower Court’s decision on the basis it was disproportionate to the length of the marriage, the majority of his wealth emanated from his parents and the English Courts had no jurisdiction.
30 March 2011
Matter of Trust
The question of whether assets held in trust should be counted as matrimonial assets has come to the fore again with reports in the press that Athelstan Whaley is appealing against the Judgment that he must pay his wife, Belinda, £3.75m. The basis of his appeal appears to be that the total matrimonial assets are actually approximately £4m, not the £10m the Court found by including trust assets.
23 February 2011
Mediation changes afoot…
Following our blog on 14 October, the Justice Minister has announced new rules (effective from 6 April) making mediation compulsory before most family law proceedings can be issued at Court. A new practice direction requires couples to have at least one mediation awareness session, to find out what the mediation process involves and whether they want to sign up to it. The Justice Minister is hoping that more cases will be resolved through mediation, avoiding the stress and cost of contested Court proceedings, saying “Mediation is proven to be a quicker, cheaper and more amicable alternative, particularly where children are concerned”.
17 February 2011
Marriage in all but name?
The equalities minister is expected to announce plans this week to give gay men and women the same rights to marry as heterosexual couples. It has been reported that same sex couples will be able to hold traditional wedding ceremonies in register offices and civil wedding venues. Religious groups will be able to decide whether to hold gay weddings, although the Church of England is unlikely to allow its churches to be used. The antiquated Marriage Act is to be updated and the legal definition of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman is also to be changed.
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- Anglo French Family Law
- Legal Updates
- Reflections on The Split
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