Money for Nothing? Crypto-Assets and their Implications in Matrimonial and Private Client Work – Pump Court Chambers

‘For the matrimonial finance and private client lawyer, crypto-assets can form a major part of a client’s estate and we are seeing them with increasing frequency. It is vital that we can identify, value and understand them, and advise on their implications for clients, for others interested in client assets, and to assist the court, if necessary.’

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Pump Court Chambers, 19th March 2021

Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com

Capitalisation of Child Maintenance: a very rare bird – Family Law Week

‘Jo Carr-West, partner with Hunters, considers the implications of Mr Justice Mostyn’s recent judgment in AZ v FM.’

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Family Law Week, 16th March 2021

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

A final account problem – JSM Construction v Western Power – Practical Law: Construction Blog

‘The final account is normally a wrap-up of the contractor’s valid claims for extra payment. It’s particularly helpful if claims were not submitted or assessed as works progressed. So, what happens if the contract doesn’t have a final account procedure but there are claims outstanding once the works are finished? Can a final account procedure be implied under section 110(3) of the Construction Act 1996?’

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Practical Law: Construction Blog, 8th March 2021

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Barder: Where are we now? – Family Law

‘Few would have thought back on 1 March 2020 that we would, some 12 months later, be facing the first birthday of the strictest restrictions on personal freedoms in living memory. As we approach the anniversary of the first lockdown on 23 March 2020, it seems appropriate that we reconsider one of key questions of family lawyers back in Spring 2020, that of whether the pandemic was likely to satisfy the principles set down in the 1987 case of Barder v Barder [1987] 2 FLR 480. Unprecedented times, there is no doubt, but unprecedented enough to constitute a Barder event?’

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Family Law, 12th March 2021

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Money for Nothing? Crypto-assets and their Implications in Matrimonial and Private Client Work – Family Law Week

‘Helen Brander, barrister of Pump Court Chambers, considers the current treatment by the courts and taxation authorities of crypto-assets.’

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Family Law week, 3rd March 2021

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

What is a Cohabitation Agreement, and do I need one? – Family Law

Posted February 26th, 2021 in cohabitation, families, financial dispute resolution, news by sally

‘Many couples, despite living together, never seek to legally formalise their living and financial arrangements. They mistakenly believe that the concept of a “common law” husband and wife applies to them namely that they will automatically have financial claims against each other simply because they live together. The reality is far from this. Cohabitants do not have the same financial protection and security on the breakdown of their relationship as is afforded to married couples/those in civil partnerships.’

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Family Law, 26th February 2021

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

The Covid-19 Pandemic as a Barder Event – Family Law Week

‘Richard Kershaw, partner at Hunters Law LLP, considers the implications of Mr Justice Cohen’s judgment in FRB v DRC (No 3).’

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Family Law Week, 25th February 2021

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Financial Remedy Update, January 2021 – Family Law Week

‘Naomi Shelton, Associate, Mills & Reeve LLP considers the important news and case law relating to financial remedies and divorce during December 2020.’

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Family Law Week, 21st January 2021

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Is “Compensation” Back to the Fore in Financial Remedy Proceedings – Becket Chambers

‘The brief facts of the matter are that the parties cohabited and were married for a total of 11 years. They had two children, aged 8 and 10. When they met both the Husband (H) and the Wife (W) were working as solicitors with H an associate and W a trainee although W became an associate on qualifying in 2001. They started a relationship in 2002/3 and in that year, H became an equity partner. By 2019 he earned net of tax just short of £1m per annum. In 2006 W became a managing associate, and in 2007 cohabitation started. Later that year W left the firm to be an in-house lawyer at a bank (on the promise she could work part time if she had children). In 2010 she was made a director, although after her maternity leave she found she was not permitted to work part time in the legal department, and took a part time role in the business team. In 2016 she was made redundant, and she did not work after that.’

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Becket Chambers, 2nd November 2020

Source: becket-chambers.co.uk

Costs and proceedings – Law Society’s Gazette

‘Recent changes to the Family Procedure Rules (FPR) 2010 and views expressed from the bench mean that there has been an increased emphasis upon parties making open offers and seeking to narrow the issues in financial remedy proceedings. Not since the long-lamented demise of Calderbank letters have there been so many cases with clear warnings about costs.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 16th November 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Appealing an arbitration award – Transparency Project

‘The question the court had to decide recently was what was the test to be applied by the court in those cases where the parties had agreed to arbitration, but one party was dissatisfied with the award?’

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Transparency Project, 26th October 2020

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Financial Remedy: OG v AG [2020] EWFC 52: Value of a business, Covid, Brexit and Beyond – Becket Chambers

‘During these troubled times, when a reliable crystal ball would be helpful, the case of OC v AG [2020] EWFC 52 in which judgement was handed down on the 29th of July 2020, is of interest.’

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Becket Chambers, 2nd October 2020

Source: becket-chambers.co.uk

How cohabiting couples should protect their finances – Family Law

‘Historically, cohabitation agreements, sometimes known as “no-Nups”, were frowned upon as they were seen to encourage sexual relations outside of marriage. Thankfully, times have moved on and that’s no longer the case. The general view is that such agreements are enforceable if they deal with cohabitees’ property and affairs, and provided they are entered into freely with full information. Often, disputes between cohabitees following separation relate to what was or wasn’t intended, for example, in relation to the property in which they live. Having a clear record of the cohabitees’ intentions in a cohabitation agreement can avoid expensive disputes about those issues.’

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Family Law, 30th September 2020

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Costs rules: what you need to know – Family Law

Posted September 18th, 2020 in costs, divorce, families, financial dispute resolution, financial provision, news by sally

‘“No one enters litigation simply expecting a blank cheque.” Francis J in WG v HG [2018] EWFC 84. But is this the case, or are we experiencing a new wave of litigants chancing their luck at the roulette wheel? Costs in financial remedy proceedings have come increasingly under the spotlight in recent years, most recently highlighted in some interesting and important commentary by Mostyn J, Francis J and Cohen J as to the manner in which litigation is conducted.’

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Family Law, 16th September 2020

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Treatment of pensions on divorce – Law Society’s Gazette

‘In July 2019, the Pensions Advisory Group (PAG) published its essential guide to the treatment of pensions on divorce. The report is available on the Nuffield Foundation website. The impact of the report can be seen in the weight attached to it in three recent decisions concerning the treatment of pensions on divorce.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 20th July 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

The New Cost Rules – A Focused Approach – Becket Chambers

‘A client who is successful in most forms of civil litigation can expect to recover some if not all their costs. Since the abolition of the Calderbank offer, it has been difficult to obtain cost orders in financial remedy litigation and the general rule is that the court will not make an order requiring one party to pay the costs of the other (FPR 28.3 (5)).’

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Becket Chambers, 6th July 2020

Source: becket-chambers.co.uk

Beware of issuing ‘hopeless’ Inheritance claims in expectation of settlement – St Ives Chambers

‘Ever since the well-known case of Ilott v The Blue Cross and others [2017] where an adult child was awarded £50,000 from her mother’s estate (notwithstanding their estrangement), practitioners are regularly approached by adult children in order to claim from an estranged relative’s inheritance. There is often reference to a “10% rule” based on what was awarded in Ilott.’

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St Ives Chambers, 3rd July 2020

Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk

M v M – more than just costs by Nick Power – Broadway House Chambers

‘The recent flurry of legal observers commenting on the eye-watering and disproportionate costs incurred in this case such that out of £630,000 liquid capital, £594,000 had been spent on costs has justifiably attracted much attention. There is however, within this case, an incredibly helpful analysis for practitioners as to when, and in what manner, the court can have regard to family support which may be available in the future for the parties.’

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Broadway House Chambers, 10th June 2020

Source: broadwayhouse.co.uk

Pensions in Needs-Based Financial Remedy Proceedings – Becket Chambers

‘The issue of pensions in financial remedy proceedings is a complex area and has been subject to much change over the years. As many of you will be aware, the Pension Advisory Group (“PAG”) published a comprehensive report, “A Guide to the Treatment of Pensions on Divorce” in July 2019. It was a much-welcomed publication that provided definitive guidance on the approach to pensions in financial remedy proceedings.’

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Becket Chamber, 11th June 2020

Source: becket-chambers.co.uk

Law firm defeats broker’s claim for £100k introducer fee – Legal Futures

Posted April 14th, 2020 in fees, financial dispute resolution, law firms, loans, news by sally

‘A Liverpool law firm has defeated the claim of a finance broker who sought a £100,000 fee for introducing it to a new loan provider.’

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Legal Futures, 14th April 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk