header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
06 October 2019 / Graeme Fraser
Issue: 7859 / Categories: Features , Family , Brexit
printer mail-detail

Brexit: a cautionary tale for divorcing couples?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
Brexit is not divorce writ large but there are some parallels when it comes to brinkmanship & punishment, says Graeme Fraser
  • Like Brexit, divorce has traditionally been framed in similarly adversarial and belligerent terms and this has also led to counterproductive behaviours.

Brexit has been characterised as a divorce so often that it has become a cliché. Two parties are ending their formal relationship, with emotions running high and a financial settlement looming large. However, Brexit and divorce are not quite as similar as they might appear. 

Brexit is vastly more complicated than divorce. Divorce involves two individuals, while Brexit involves a supra-national organisation, 28 culturally-diverse states and a combined population of over half a billion people with wide-ranging viewpoints. International and domestic politics come into play in Brexit with no equivalence in divorce. The EU are concerned to discourage other member states from following the UK’s lead and must consider the Good Friday Agreement. Meanwhile, the UK Government must ensure any deal is approved by Parliament.

Brexit

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll