Court to rule on unmarried couples’ property rights
Watch this space for news on a potentially highly significant family law case judgment relating to the legal rights of unmarried couples.
There is currently a massive chasm between the rights of married couples and those who are unmarried.
The case is especially significant given that there are estimated to be some 2,000,000 unmarried couples in England & Wales.
The case relates to a couple who have been together for many years. They split up and the female partner had paid the mortgage for some 13 years, yet the court has thus far rule that both parties have equal entitlement because that was the formal co-ownership option they agreed when buying the property, but which does not allow the court to look at the reality of the relationship, as is the case in divorce. The case has now reached the Supreme Court.
Nicholas Francis QC, a senior London barrister who specialises in family law, advises that this is a a very important family law precedent and that if the law remains unaltered after the Supreme Court ruling, this will underline the importance of unmarried couples deciding how much of the home each owns in a declaration of trust.
TRACING ASSETS: WHAT CAN BE DONE IF EITHER PARTY REFUSES TO DISCLOSE ?
By Simon Wolman, Lloyd Platt & Co
INTRODUCTION
Since the case of Imerman divorce lawyers country wide have been concerned at its impact and the fact that the previous raft of information that as ready available for investigation is now entirely limited. It is a criminal office to break into someone’s emails, to listen to their phone messages or look at their text messages. Accordingly, even if information shows that your partner has been hiding assets, the method by which you have come by this information is all important. Since Imerman has now restricted this, lawyers have been looking to use various different types of Court order to ensure that they have a full financial picture of the other side and to assist the Court knowing that they have the full picture when dividing up at the assets on divorce. Continue reading →
Grandparents Access to children to gain importance in family law ?
Agreements allowing grandparents access to their grandchildren after parents split up are being proposed in a review of the law in England and Wales. The review’s panel spent a year speaking to children, parents and those who work in family justice and advocates the use of so-called “Parenting Agreements” providing a comprehensive set of arrangements for children’s care after separation and focusing on where the child spends time. It seems that these would also incorporate a role in many cases for grandparents, since in modern society, due to the necessity often for both parents to be working, grandparents are commonly involved in child care. Under the current law, grandparents have no contact rights, and the new proposals do not change this but represent a shift towards the possibility of grandparents rights at some stage achieving some kind of legal acknowledgment. A public consultation on the new proposals will make its final recommendations in the autumn.
Other recommendations include:
- A new Family Justice Service
- A single family court system
- Reduced use of expert reports
- Assessment for mediation and helping separating parents to understand the impact of conflict on children.
Planned reductions to the legal aid budget will mean that there will no longer be legal aid available for advice. Education law had become a far more significant legal advice area over the poast decade and it encompasses such issues as :-
- appealing to the local authority or Special Educational Needs (SEN) Tribunal regarding decisions
- advice on school admissions and appealing school admission decisions
- advice regarding long-term pupil exclusion or refusal to provide education
- school bullying; and advice on claims for negligence in education.
The Government claims that the proposed removal of legal aid for this area of law will not create significant unfairness or prejudice by stating that because the Tribunal process is less formal than the courts, many parents are able to represent themselves. We have our 
doubts that this is the case and law is still law, with all it’s complexities and the opponent will almost certainly have paid and experienced representation.
Storing up trouble for later
There is also an argument that withdrawal of legal aid in education matters is shortsighted and may add to overall costs to the econmony, since if a significant number of children with genuine needs do not receive help due to inability to enforce rights, those children may in the future add to welfare, community care or criminal justice.
Alternative sources of advice ?
As regards the claim that there are alternatives to legal aid funding, these already advise that they are massively oversubscribed with requests for help.
Few area of law are as emotive or controversial as family law, whether it relates to divorce, children law or family finances, and to define “justice” in this context is very difficult. There are rarely any “winners” when issues of law intertwine with the most personal of relations.
This blog will look at recent examples of the law and invite debate on whether the law appaers fair and in what sense it can be considered just or unjust.
We of course also recognise that there is a plethora of useful debate on family law already available and some excellent specialist family law solicitors who may be requested to advise on an in-depth basis on these issues.
