News/Blogs  

  ‘Black Coffee’, Clarity And Convenience: The Commercial Logic Behind Prenups  

Despite all the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, one clear economic indicator emerged in the UK. According to figures issued by the House of Commons’ library earlier this year, the number of trading businesses increased by 112,700 during 2020, taking the total to approximately six million (https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06152/). To put a human face on those […]

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  Pensions, “DIY Divorce” and the Changing Nature of Settlements  

Recent decades have seen a number of changes in the nature of domestic relationships across England and Wales. Two of the most notable have arguably involved shifts in when and how couples divorce. Although the ages at which marriages come to a legal end and how that process is administered might seem to be unconnected […]

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  The Business of Divorce  

It is not unusual to see media reports of high-profile divorces making reference to celebrities trying to “do a deal” in order to bring their marriages to a close. Even those couples who are yet to embark upon a life together are confronted with the apparent language of business in the growing clamour among lawyers […]

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  Putting the ‘Age’ In Marriage  

“The past”, the poet L P Hartley once wrote, “is a foreign country; they do things differently there”. Since he penned ‘The Go-Between’ in 1953, the world in which we live has undergone many significant changes, including in the home. In that year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), roughly two-thirds of men […]

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  (Multiple) Affairs of the Heart  

It is often said that technology is a great facilitator and it is true that the advances of the last three decades have – literally – put rich potential in the palms of our hands. However, while shopping, working and keeping in touch with friends and family might not necessarily leave those hands idle, some […]

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  I’m Sorry: Marital Collapse and Contrition  

Over the course of centuries, upsetting personal circumstances have proven to be the inspiration for lots of great art. And, in sitting down to write this ‘blog, I find myself unable to screen out the strains of one of Sir Elton John’s best-known ballads. “Sorry”, you may recall him singing, “seems to be the hardest […]

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  Pure Genius? Divorce, Spouses and “Special Contributions”  

We live in a sensational age. By that, I don’t necessarily mean the scale of accomplishment but the degree of hyperbole and exaggeration applied to almost any aspect of our daily lives. Consequently, individuals who achieve a level of profficiency in their chosen profession can rapidly be dubbed a ‘genius’. However, there is a vast […]

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  The Inequality of Equality  

Of all the changes in British domestic life since the turn of the century, the legalisation of same-sex partnerships has arguably been the most notable. The introduction of civil partnerships in 2004 was the first significant step, providing individuals with broadly similar rights as married couples if their relationships did not last the course. When […]

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  News: The Financial Backlash of a Quick DIY Divorce  

As we discussed in our previous blog, there has been a rise in the amount of couples seeking a divorce without legal representation, as a means of speeding up the proceedings and cutting costs. Statistics have shown this can create more problems that it solves when it comes to financial settlements in these scenarios. Due […]

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