Under Section 27 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 73), a party to a marriage may apply to the Court for financial provision where the other party has failed to maintain them or a child of the marriage. There was formerly a common law duty for a husband to provide for a wife. This [...]
Once a Financial Remedy Order has been made by a Court there are only very limited and exceptional circumstances in which it can be overturned or set aside. One of those circumstances is when what is known as a ‘Barder’ event occurs. The 1987 case of Barder v Barder [1987] 2 FLR 480 established that a court can [...]
In the recent case of Yorston & Ors, Re (Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: Improper Petitions), the Family Court dismissed 28 divorce petitions, all of which alleged unreasonable behaviour. The petitions had all been drafted by the same company on behalf of the petitioner and contained identical particulars and behaviour allegations. The Family Court found that [...]
In the recent case of Goddard-Watts v Goddard-Watts [2019] the Court set aside a final financial Order because of the husband’s material non-disclosure of valuable assets. The parties divorced in 2010 and a Consent Order was made in June 2010. The wife however discovered that the husband had failed to disclose that he was the [...]
