Geraldine Morris reflects on changes in family law in 2009
As the American legal scholar, Roscoe Pound, once said: “The law must be stable and yet it must not stand still.” 2009 was a year in which family law certainly did not stand still but some would question whether the family justice system, with the ongoing pressures of delays and funding, remained stable.
The following are some (but not all in an eventful year) of the key developments which emerged during the course of 2009 in family law.
Variation
Several reported variation cases involved the reduction in the value of assets or significantly changed circumstances post an order or agreement, with decisions also on upwards variation of maintenance and the “compensation” strand developed in Miller; Macfarlane [2006] 3 All ER 1.
The unsuccessful appellant was a feature of capital variation cases. In Myerson v Myerson [2009] 2 FCR 1 the ground rules were re-emphasised.
The Court of Appeal referred to the criteria set down in Cornick v Cornick [1994] 2 FLR 350 as
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