header-logo header-logo

13 May 2010 / Geraldine Morris
Issue: 7417 / Categories: Features , Divorce , LexisPSL
printer mail-detail

Bones of contention

Geraldine Morris reports on funding former spouses & hypothetical claims

Practitioner’s will be familiar with the scenario where a second spouse or partner is a bone of contention for a first spouse within financial proceedings. This issue has been considered previously by the courts, most notably in the following cases:
 

  • Roberts v Roberts [1968] 3 All ER 479 in which it was held, inter alia, that “a spouse must on marriage be presumed…to take the other subject to all existing encumbrances, whether known or not, eg…an obligation to support the wife or child of a dissolved marriage”.
  • Blower v Blower [1986] 1 FLR 292 where it was held that obligations to second spouses are a matter for the court’s discretion.
  • Delaney v Delaney [1990] 2 FLR 457 where it was emphasised that the moral obligations to a later spouse or partner or child cannot be disregarded by the court in determining financial obligations.

The facts in Vaughan v Vaughan [2010] EWCA Civ 349, [2010] All ER (D) 04 (Apr) are relatively

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Megan Bradbury

Clarke Willmott—Megan Bradbury

Corporate team welcomes paralegal in Southampton

Howard Kennedy—Paul Moran

Howard Kennedy—Paul Moran

London firm strengthens real estate team with partner appointment

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

NEWS
Pathfinder courts—renamed ‘Child focused courts’—are to be rolled out nationally, following a successful pilot where backlogs halved and cases were resolved up to seven and a half months faster
The Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed a £385,000 costs order against a father, in a case that centred on what is required to meet the threshold of ‘reprehensible or unreasonable’ behaviour
Centuries-old burial laws would be overhauled, under Law Commission proposals to address the burgeoning problem of shortage of cemetery space
The government has committed an extra £32m to women’s charities and services tackling addiction, trauma, abuse and homelessness
The Financial Ombudsman is poised for major reform to return it to a simple, impartial dispute resolution service
back-to-top-scroll