Special enough? The doctrine of special contribution

• Work v Gray provides little further guidance on how judicial discretion should be exercised when considering the issue of special contribution, beyond the principles which have already been set out in previous cases.

The Court of Appeal acknowledged that the appeal in Work v Gray [2017] EWCA Civ 270, [2017] All ER (D) 61 (Apr) on the doctrine of ‘special contribution’ provided ‘an opportunity for this court to review the issue of special contribution and its proper scope, if any, when the court is determining a financial claim under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973’. Unfortunately, however, the judgment provides little further guidance on how judicial discretion should be exercised when considering the issue of special contribution, beyond the principles which had already been set out in the previous cases of Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane [2006] UKHL 24, [2006] 3 All ER 1, and Charman