Family practitioners warn against reducing current legal flexibility
Family practitioners have warned against adopting a “formulaic” approach to property division on divorce.
The Law Commission’s recent paper Consultation on Matrimonial Property, Needs and Agreements proposed reform to clarify the way courts deal with matrimonial property disputes.
The Family Law Bar Association warned that reducing the “current flexibility in favour of a prescribed or formulaic approach” could make it more difficult for separating couples to reach agreement.
Family barristers were divided on the issue of couples who separate following a “short, childless marriage” or civil partnership. Some thought more restrictions on the court’s powers could be justified in these cases, which “may become bitterly and disproportionately contested”, while others thought these cases could be complex.
Resolution, the family lawyers’ organisation, agreed with the Commission that the law on spousal support “should be founded on a principled basis”.
According to its members, there were “wide differences of approach across the family courts”, resulting in a “postcode lottery” for divorcing spouses.
However, it advised against introducing a formulaic approach, and asked for “robust judicial training”, which it said would lead to more uniformity whether or not reforms were implemented.
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