Divorce and Dissolution
The Office of National Statistics has released its figures for divorce data in 2012, and advises us that the number of divorces in England and Wales increased by 0.5% to 118,140 compared with 117,558 in 2011. Of those 118,140 divorcing couples the “fact” proven in the petition was as follows: Year of divorce Party to whom…
So the dust has started to settle on the newly minted Law Commission report, after last week’s media flurry. There were several themes in the report that particularly caught my eye, but most of all was this concept of “bargaining in the shadow of the law”. The report describes how the work of a family…
For ease of reference, here is the link to Family Court Fees and Family Court Forms: http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex050-eng.pdf http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/FormFinder.do
I was asked this week about who exactly is divorcing. Not in a Daily Mail celebrity “WHO IS DIVORCING?” way but rather, which sectors of our society are choosing to divorce? A really interesting question. The implication behind the question was that the removal of legal aid for family law is intended to have an…
We all know the old adage about death and taxes being the only certainties in life. Following a hearing in the High Court in November*, we are unable to add “receipt of your spousal maintenance” to that list. In 2004, a wife was awarded £750 per month in spousal maintenance on a joint lives basis….
I am a Francophile, and enjoy keeping up with the French news when I can. Their media is as interested in divorce as our media is here in the UK. This week I read a family law story about a consultation which is currently under way as to whether judges really need to be involved…
The current cost of a divorce in the courts of England and Wales is £410. For this sum your petition is checked, issued and posted anywhere in the world, the acknowledgement of service document is considered by a clerk and sent to you, your Decree Nisi application is set down for a hearing by a District Judge,…
It has been said that “Divorce is a game played by lawyers”. Whilst I am reluctant to refer to something as serious as divorce as a game, it is a helpful analogy. If divorce is a game, the instruction sheet for that game now has two versions, one for the DIY self represented person, and…
Milton Keynes was chosen last week to be the UK pilot town for the driverless car: Vince Cable announced that a £1.5 million pilot scheme would start with 20 driverless vehicles in 2015 being available to take rail passengers to Centre MK, leaving the passengers free to email and surf the on screen web en…
I have written before about a young man in 1916 who promised a young lady the earth (including an engagement ring) but failed to honour the word that she took as binding. Gladys took him to court for child maintenance and for breach of promise – and secured herself the princely sum of £35 in…
