FAMILY LAW

Lord Justice Wall said that the “big money” cases which have reached the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords are of very limited assistance in dealing with smaller cases in which there is simply not enough money to go round. In every case the court must ask itself two questions:

(i) is the outcome fair in all the circumstances of the case and

(ii) is it in any way discriminatory? The court must follow White v White [2001] 1 All ER 1, and look at the extent to which the court has departed from equality. But this latter exercise is a check: the primary objectives remain fairness and an absence of discrimination.