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NLJ this week: Could COVID-19 set aside your divorce settlement?

30 April 2021
Issue: 7930 / Categories: Legal News , Divorce , Covid-19 , Family
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Can your client cancel their divorce settlement because of the pandemic? Writing in NLJ this week, Jenny Duggan, senior associate, Stewarts, addresses this intriguing question in the context of a recent family court case.

In the case, FRB v DCA, the court held the pandemic was not an unforeseeable event which entitled the husband to set aside the financial remedy order made on his divorce. But, if the situation were different, could it be?

In this fascinating article, Duggan studies the case and explores the potential. Could the pandemic, for example, amount to a Barder event? If you and your client believe this is so then act quickly, she advises. If not, there are alternative options.

‘Indeed,’ she writes, ‘this may be the last pandemic that has the chance of being a Barder event, as it will be less arguable to claim that pandemics are unforeseen or unforeseeable in the future’.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

Kate Gaskell, CEO of Flex Legal, reflects on chasing her childhood dreams underscores the importance of welcoming those from all backgrounds into the profession

Dorsey & Whitney—Jonathan Christy

Dorsey & Whitney—Jonathan Christy

Dispute resolution team welcomes associate in London

Winckworth Sherwood—Kevin McManamon

Winckworth Sherwood—Kevin McManamon

Special education needs and mental capacity expert joins as partner

NEWS
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
In NLJ this week, Ian Smith, emeritus professor at UEA, explores major developments in employment law from the Supreme Court and appellate courts
Writing in NLJ this week, Kamran Rehman and Harriet Campbell of Penningtons Manches Cooper examine Operafund Eco-Invest SICAV plc v Spain, where the Commercial Court held that ICSID and Energy Charter Treaty awards cannot be assigned
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