By Stuart Clark & Emma Chowdhury 

The English Family Courts strongly encourage any financial order made upon divorce or civil partnership dissolution to be final, i.e. not changeable after the event. This applies equally to orders reached by consent as it does to orders imposed by the court following a contested final hearing.

The UK government has just published this week a statutory instrument to provide for family law matters in the event of a no deal on leaving the EU.  It will be laid before the House in the next few days.  It has already been discussed by the Scottish executive.  This initial note examines the legislation which will be much considered by the profession in the event of no deal.

In C v C [2018] EWHC 3186 (Fam) Mrs Justice Roberts applied the principle confirmed in Waggott v Waggott [2018] EWCA Civ 727 to the product of income acquired post-separation, but prior to a financial settlement.

In Waggott the Court of Appeal posed the following question:

Every divorce is different. Every family has a different way of organising their finances and has come to their current financial position through their own unique journey.  If, however, financial proceedings are required to resolve division of assets and income on divorce then everyone must start by setting out their financial circumstances in the same format, the Form E.

Headlines

Celebrity Ant McPartlin is in the news again in the next instalment of his divorce from Lisa Armstrong, this time apparently arguing about who should get their beloved dog. When a relationship breaks down bitter custody battles can occur regarding who keeps the pet.

Heated arguments often ensue, and thousands of pounds can be spent in legal fees as emotions often run high. Sometimes disagreements over pets can derail the entire financial settlement negotiations.

When going through a divorce it is common to experience the fear of being left penniless by your spouse. This may be because he or she will dispose of assets so that no money is left to divide on divorce or by doing things such as transferring property into someone else's name, emptying bank/investment accounts or recklessly spending.

On 20 September 2018 the Court of Appeal granted Anne Orenga de Gafforj a Hadkinson Order preventing her husband from pursuing his appeal against the Order of District Judge Hudd of April 2017 unless by 4pm on 8 October 2018 he complied with a Legal Services Payment Order made in her favour.

When I read the news that UAE visa rules for divorcees were changing as from Sunday, 21 October 2018, I was tentatively and cautiously hopeful. 

With around an estimated 7.5 million expatriates residing in the UAE and divorce rates quite high within those communities this news could be very welcome to any separated or already divorcing expatriate couples living in the Emirates.

According to the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, UAE:

New EU family law comes into force on 29 January 2019 in respect of 19 member states.  It provides for agreements to be reached for married couples, and registered partners in an ancillary Regulation, to be registered and enforceable on either divorce or death regarding their marital property.  It is based very much on civil law principles and on any basis is acknowledged by EU lawyers, notaries and policymakers as complicated.  Even before the referendum, the UK had opted out but it will still be important for UK practitioners to have some knowledge of this EU law.  This note follows the writer’s attendance at the ERA annual family law update conference at Trier, Germany.  It does not purport to be an extensive analysis of the legislation.