David Burrows considers issues of “magnetic importance”
What steps can the parties and the court take—if any —to abbreviate the ancillary relief process where there is said by one to have been an agreement between husband and wife, but where there is no final court order? This question, so important if court time is to be saved and issues to be dealt with proportionately, was recently considered by Mrs Justice Eleanor King in S v S [2008] EWHC 2038 (Fam), [2008] All ER (D) 16 (Sep). Her conclusion gives encouragement to the idea that in particular circumstances the court process can be shortened to deal with particular issues which may determine the case between the parties.
The context was a marriage of some 29 years and assets in the region of £78m. An agreement had been reached, approved by solicitors and leading counsel on both sides, by which the wife (W) received around 45% of the family assets. A draft order was drawn up and further negotiation as to detail took place. When W filed her application for
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