President calls for reform
written by John Bolch
on Monday, October 01, 2007
In an interview with The Times today Sir Mark Potter, President of the Family Division, states that the matrimonial property regime is "ripe for review by the Law Commission". This is pleasing - I (and many other family lawyers) have been calling for a review for some time. I note in particular that Sir Mark refers to European jurisdictions, where they have set rules on ownership of matrimonial property - hopefully, Sir Mark envisages that we have a similar set of rules, which should clarify matters significantly and make it far easier to advise.
My only gripe is that the calls for reform seem to be stemming from dissatisfaction with the decisions in the recent high money cases. Reform is needed across the board, not just for the super rich.
October 14, 2007 7:30 PM
I coulnd't agree more; the system is imploding at every level and the divorce courts in Britain cannot sustain themselves nor the parties that come to it to seek financial help when they divorce. The advice given is clumsy, as many practitioners (principally the District Judges) are not financially literate to an appropriate level. The financial orders made often cause the divorcing parties life-long problems and in many cases inhibit them from ever recovering from their marriages.
It is often the average income band and below that suffers the most and it is this bracket of humanity that is exposed to the sub-standard service the family courts offer on a regular basis, not the super wealthy.
A new site has launched, which addresses this issue and calls for change. You might find it an interesting read.
The site can be found at:
http://www.sobk.blogspot.com
Sobek.