Under plans put forward by the Ministry of Justice, people in cohabitating relationships would benefit from the same rules of intestacy as civil partners and those who are married. Currently, unmarried couples have no legal claim to their partner’s estate if their partner dies without a will. The new framework would also see individual’s given … Read more

House prices in the UK fell by 0.6% to £278,024 in May, according to Nationwide’s house price index. The decline follows a 0.4% increase in April and reflects a broader downturn in consumer confidence. Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner commented: “Given the uncertainty caused by developments in the Middle East…some loss of momentum was to … Read more

Alison McKee, partner and head of family law at Lindsays, cautions against relying on AI for legal advice, particularly in family law. She notes that AI can provide misinformation, complicating sensitive negotiations. While AI can assist with research, it lacks the ability to understand individual circumstances and human emotions. Ms McKee emphasises that tailored legal … Read more

New research highlights the financial impact of divorce, especially for those over 50. On average, incomes drop by £7,753 in the year following a divorce. A quarter of over 50s struggle to rebuild savings after a divorce, with 13% believing they will never recover financially. 

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will become the new anti-money laundering supervisor for the legal sector, consolidating oversight currently spread across nine regulators. The shift aims to address the IJlCs El00bn annual money laundering issue. Priya Giuliani, a financial crime investigator, noted the urgency for the UK to present a credible supervisory system to the … Read more

A High Court judge has overturned a family court decision that dismissed allegations of domestic abuse as “largely historical. ” The mother reported multiple incidents, including rape and threats, while the father disputes these claims and seeks more time with the children. During the appeal, counsel for the mother, Alex Laing, argued that the court’s … Read more

The Government today announced (09/04/19) after years of avoiding a decision to make new provisions to enact “no fault divorce”. The current adversarial system means that husbands and wives had to allege adultery or unreasonable behaviour to start divorce proceedings immediately otherwise they had to wait for a minimum period of two years and prove … Read more

Divorce has always been a highly discretionary area of law and in a recent case the presumption of lifetime maintenance for one partner – usually the wife, has changed.  Courts are now much keener on terminating dependency by achieving a clean break in respect of all financial claims.  However, this is always easier where there … Read more

Baroness Hale of Richmond, President of the Supreme Court, has called for the introduction of no-fault divorces. Appearing at a conference of family law specialists in Bristol, she said that the current rules assigning fault to one party to a marriage can trigger unnecessary conflict and encourage people to accept unfair blame.  She also suggested … Read more

Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division, has warned that scores of newly-divorced couples may still be married because of mistakes ranging from submitting petitions too soon after marriage or officials approving divorces before the parties had spent enough time apart. A spokesman for Resolution, the national body of family lawyers, commented, “with the … Read more