this-week

Week beginning Monday 14 May 2012

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:58:15 +0100

Greetings

I am in the office as normal this week.

Financial disclosure

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:22:28 +0100

It is sometimes tempting to start negotiating a financial settlement on divorce before getting financial disclosure. Resist the temptation. Get full financial disclosure before you start discussing financial settlement. Don't skip disclosure. If you do, you will be negotiating without knowing the effect of any agreement. For example, will a lump sum of £x represent 50% of the overall capital? How can you possibly know if you haven't got full disclosure?

Week beginning Tuesday 8 May 2012

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:40:58 +0100

Greetings

Back to work after the bank holiday weekend - I'm in the office as normal for the rest of the week.

The ultimate divorce song?

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:13:11 +0100

Talk about serendipity. On Friday evening I was watching 'Later with Jools Holland' on TV - a programme I hadn't watched for years - when on came the Carolina Chocolate Drops with 'I'm no man's momma now'. I'd wondered if anybody had ever written a really good song expressing their feelings after a divorce, and here it was - and what a song! You can find it on BBC iplayer (it's 37 minutes into the programme) but unfortunately it's only available until Saturday 5 May.

Week beginning Monday 30 April 2012

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:00:11 +0100

Greetings

I'm in the office this week as normal, although I'm not sure yet about my movements on Friday 4 May - I shall definitely be out from 1pm, but I may be out all day. If I'm going to be out all day I'll leave a voice message to that effect.

When the wife is the breadwinner

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:56:13 +0100

My thanks to Marilyn Stowe for an interesting article on what happens on divorce when it's the wife who's the breadwinner.

Week beginning 23 April 2012

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:52:59 +0100

Greetings

Back to normal this week - I'm in the office all week.

Child contact cases with an international element - forthcoming change in the law

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:38:34 +0100

From 1 August 2012 child contact orders will be automatically enforceable internationally as though the order had been made as a domestic order in the court which is asked to enforce.

For further details, follow this link (the relevant bit is at section 2.2 'The 1996 Hague Convention').

Week beginning Monday 16 April 2012

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:06:08 +0100

Greetings

I am in the office on Monday and Tuesday this week and also on Wednesday morning. From Wednesday midday onwards for the rest of the week the office will be closed. In emergency please call me on 07963 367793.

Directions

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:03:59 +0100

When a judge stipulates what is to happen next in a case, that is called 'giving directions'.

For example, a party may be required to make a written statement and send it to the court ('file' it) and to the other side ('serve' it) by a stated date. A party may be given permission to obtain a report from an expert, for example a report on the value of the matrimonial home (usually the direction is for a report from a single expert jointly instructed by the parties, to be obtained only if the parties are unable to agree on the value of the property). The case may be 'set down' for a final, contested hearing, usually after a stated date and saying how long should be allowed for the hearing, for example 'on the first available date after 1 June 2012 with a time estimate of half a day'.

A directions order can be as short as a single sentence or run to many detailed paragraphs.