'LAW WATCH' VIDEO FOR SEPT/OCT: LATEST LAW

Enough sun. Catch up with legal developments in a relatively painless way with a click for my latest free video. Feast on

• saving on power of attorney registration fee
• earning £24 an hour as a litigant in person
• less info for the public at Companies House
• lower interest on personal injury special losses
• the sanctity of the financial dispute resolution appointment
• getting paid for caring for a relative
  

You can also download the factsheet here.  

'LAW WATCH' VIDEO OUT FOR JULY/AUGUST

 Judge whether I need a haircut from my latest free video on law developments. This time -

• The Supreme Court ruling on (and try and say it) matrimonialisation.
• Business tenancy insurance commission - who does it belong to and why landlords and tenants will be checking their lease wording?
• Taking Fifi to court.
• How it is getting easier for domestic abuse victims to obtain social housing.

Click below for the video and fact sheet.

'LAW WATCH' LATEST VIDEO IS A MUST WATCH!

Pull yourself away from the box sets and suffer a few minutes in my company as we catch up with some of the latest legal developments. 

Increased awards for tribunal equality, unfair dismissal, tipping and other employment type claims. An express scheme for trying contested financial remedy cases. And some new consumer laws. 

Click below for a sight for sore eyes - and a fact sheet.

LAW FOR THE BEACH: LATEST 'LAW WATCH' VIDEO

I know I won't get you off the beach. Check out the latest legal developments amid the sand. I look at the latest ruling on air flight delay compensation claims, two major court decisions on  expert evidence and something for family practitioners and anyone else caught up in a financial remedy application - matrimonialisation. 

Dry off and click.

FAMILY LAW CHANGES PLUS MUCH MORE: LATEST 'LAW WATCH' VIDEO

Keep bang up to date with my latest video. Click below for -

• family law changes coming in on 29 April 2024
• trial scheme to make it easier for domestic abuse victims in family cases
• reporters in court for financial remedy contests
• child support application fee scrapped
• perils for litigants in person - and why to steer clear of Latin.

LATEST VIDEO: THOU SHALT MEDIATE - BUT WHEN?

The Court of Appeal has now ruled that parties to civil cases can be compelled to mediate. Just a click away and find out more PLUS the legal position on mediation in family proceedings and changes there in the pipeline. 

Click below. It won't hurt.

DISCOVER LATEST LAW ON VIDEO

 I'm back with a haircut and what's happening in the law which could affect - and benefit - YOU. Included are changes in during April 2023. 

It's free on video and won't hurt. Promise. Click below.

LATEST GOOD-TO-KNOW LAW - FEBRUARY 2023

My latest LawWatch video is up and running where you will find my face - sorry! - and these subjects covered

NEW MARRIAGE BAN

ADDRESSING THE JUDGE CHANGE

JUMPING FINANCIAL REMEDY QUEUE

MASTERCARD CLAIM LATEST

JAPANESE KNOTWEED TRAP

VISUAL INTRUSION AFTER TATE MODERN

COURT FUNDS INTEREST RATE UP

NEW CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES

MIXED WHIPLASH & NON-WHIPLASH CLAIMS

                    Do take a look. Just click here  

 

THE NEW DIVORCE LAWS, FINANCES & HOW COHABITEES CAN WIN

20% of couples after divorce are jointly applying for their freedom. That's possible under the new divorce laws for England and Wales. I explain these laws for those who do not have legal help (and lawyers too) on my free video. Click opposite or below on the thumbnail for episode 12 of my series of videos. Episode 1 is devoted to winning financial applications. And I haven't forgotten cohabitees. How they can seek justice is the focus of episode 2.  The videos are all free to watch and you won't even have to sign up to contribute towards the cost of my next haircut.

NEW LAWS FOR APRIL: WATCH FREE VIDEO

 

There's no catch. Honest. Find out by clicking on the box above all about the legal developments on those topics mentioned.

NEW FORM NEEDED FOR FINANCIAL REMEDY CONSENT ORDER

We have previously had a look at how to go about getting the court to make an agreed order for finances on divorce, civil partnership dissolution, nullity or separation without a court hearing. A draft of the proposed order  has to be accompanied by a statement of financial information. That statement is called a form D81. You know it makes sense.

The form is changing into a 23 page job which is designed to extract more detail so that the judge who considers it in the comfort  - sometimes discomfort -of his work room can decide whether it is fair to both sides. You won't get that agreed order simply because it is agreed. The judge must be satisfied that it is reasonable to make it. The more information the judge has, the less likely they will have to ask questions. Doing that can cause delay of some weeks.

The new form or the current form can be used as from now. But the new form must be used if the old form has not been signed up by both sides no later than Friday 18 February 2022. The moral. If you don't fancy the new form, pull your finger out with the current one. You will find the new form at - \https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1051993/D81_0122_save.pdf

FINANCIAL REMEDIES : INSIDER'S GUIDE TO THE BEST DEAL

If you are - or might be - involved in a dispute over finances following or in contemplation of divorce, nullity, civil partnership dissolution or separation, then you should watch my video. There's no catch and it's free. Honest. Do yourself a favour!

Incidentally, the new divorce laws are due into operation on 06 April 2022 in England and Wales and I will be keeping you up to date on the important procedural rules that will accompany them, here on this blog. And still no catch.

FAMILY CASE STATEMENTS & ORDERS: The President threatens!

If you are due to make or prepare a witness statement or draft an order in a family case - it could be about financial remedies after divorce or a child welfare dispute - ignore the memos just produced by the High Court's Family Division's President at your peril. He's obviously fed up and he's in threatening mode. 

The memo on witness statements guides on what should go into and stay out of them. Too many statements, he says, are prepared in breach of proper professional standards. Ouch. He is mirroring a lot of the practice which must now be followed in the Business and Property Courts and he says, in effect, that if you do not play ball then these requirements will be imposed on you by (not the stocks, not a suspended prison, not firearm to the temple (or Temple) but).....a Practice Direction. In the meantime, materially depart from the guidelines, and the evidence contained in the offending statement could be excluded by the judge.  

What must statements do? For example: use the maker's own words; be confined to facts of which the maker has personal knowledge; where the witness sets out matters of which they have information and belief, indicate the source of them. And - stand by for the real stinker - there must be appended to each statement a list of any documents the witness has been referred to or shown for the purpose of the statement and these documents should be identified or described so that they can be easily identified at the hearing. There are special rules to be obeyed by a lawyer or anyone else assisting in the preparation of the statement. No attempt to alter or influence, thank you very much.

What must statements NOT do? Quote at length from any document; seek to argue the case; take the court through any of the documents; set out a narrative derived from the documents; express an opinion; use rhetoric; or, ideally, exceed 15 pages although 25 pages should be regarded as the maximum.

Litigants in person should follow the guidance as well. But, for a non-complex child dispute (not a care case), the memo has a template statement which is useful and covers the documents stuff.

For the full memo, take a butchers at https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/PFD-memo-on-witness-statements-12112021.pdf

The President has not stopped there. Another memo, this time on drafting orders which is intended for the lawyers, has flowed from his pen. He is fed up in private law cases with unnecessary verbiage and great delay in the production of agreed drafts. Attributing views to the court which did not from part of the decision must stop. Recording the position of a party before or during the course of hearing must stop. Background material in a financial remedies order will generally be unnecessary. More latitude will be allowed with consent orders. But restraint! When a lawyer has advocated, the order must be agreed, drafted and lodged before leaving court or, with a remote, on the day. If wholly impracticable, within two working days.

Again, no ball playing and there will be a Practice Direction.

For this full memo, feast yourselves at https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/PFD-memo-on-orders-10112021.pdf

AVOID PROPERTY PURCHASE FEE HIKE

If you buy land in England and Wales - and, more often than not there will be a house or a block of flats stuck on it - the purchase will have to be registered at Her Majesty's very own Land Registry. And you guessed it, the registration will attract a fee. It's actually called a scale fee 'cos the amount of the fee generally depends on how much you have paid. The higher the price, the higher the fee.

The fees are being hiked on 31 January 2022.  That's down to the Land Registration Fee Order 2021 (S1 2021/1226). Lodge an application for registration on or after that date and the increased fee you will be required to pay. The moral is, get your application in before that date and there will be a saving. How much? Where the ownership of the land is already registered - and it will be so in the vast majority of cases - the increases range from 13% to 22% which adds on anything between £5 and £195, For example, if you are buying for more than £200,000 and  up to £500,000 you will pay £330 instead of £270. And if you are buying for £1,000.01 or more - in which event you may not give a fig - you will pay £1,105 instead of £910. The increases are lower when your conveyancer applies electronically for registration. 

Registration of a remortgage also attracts a lower fee which is increased but a new mortgage which is submitted for registration at the same time as the purchase will not generate a separate fee. The fee for registration of transfers under court order between parties to divorce or civil partnership proceedings are also increased but at a lower rate.

Where you can make a saving without moving heaven and earth, it makes sense to do so. 

'LAW WATCH' FREE VIDEOS FROM AUTHOR OF 'RETURN OF BREAKING LAW'

Don't waste your time ordering a box set. You can see my mug - no judicial wig as I have a bit of my own hair - in a series of videos packed with legal tips on a wide variety of legal topics. They are free to watch and are aimed at helping you win your case, whether you already have a lawyer acting for you or are going it alone as a litigant in person. And if they tempt you into buying my latest book for much, much more information, then that would help me with my increased car insurance premium. The book is available from the usual places which do not specialise in pornography and I see that the publishers have a special offer going till the end of next month. Actually, I am tempted to take advantage of it myself!

The first video is about financial remedy applications which determine who gets what of a lot, a little or nothing, when a relationship breaks up. Take a look. Of course, when you've watched it remember to subscribe so you know when I'm next on screen.  

FINANCIAL REMEDIES: IMPACT OF COVID & BREXIT ON COMPANY VALUE

The High Court in London has just ruled in a matrimonial financial remedies case * how the twin horrors of the pandemic and Brexit should be reflected in the value of a company which figured highly in the assets to be divided up between husband and wife. 

In focus was a company providing ducting to a wide range of customers in construction and other industries. A significant proportion of trading business was in the EU and, if there was 'no deal', the free trade tariff on which the company operated would end. The company had already experienced a significant decrease in demand. 

It was agreed that the court should take into account both the pandemic and Brexit in deciding what the company was worth. By how much should the value  be discounted? The wife argued for a discount of 10% not only to the trading value of  the company but to the company's surplus assets of cash and quoted investments. The judge ruled that it was right to knock off 10% but only on the trading value. There was no logic in applying any discount to the pile of cash and investments, he said. There was no evidence that they had suffered a decrease in value.

* OG vAG [2020] EWFC 52

New Procedural Rules For Family Cases

Here we go with some important changes for family cases (such as divorces, financial remedy applications and applications relating to children). Give thanks to the Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2020 SI 2020/135 and amendments to certain practice directions which will be published before 13 March 2020.

As from 6 April 2020, writing to the court on the sly will generally be taboo. As with civil cases, anything written to the court by a party to family proceedings of substance or about procedure,  must be copied to the other party or their representatives and state on its face that this is being done.  The only exceptions will be a compelling reason for non-disclosure provided it is explained and communications that are purely routine, uncontentious and administrative.

From the same date, there's confirmation that no use may be made in court of unofficial recording equipment without permission.  And clarification that apart from the parties, generally, anyone who seeks a transcript of a hearing requires permission and the money to pay for it. The court will also empowered to assist a litigant in person by directing the compilation and sharing of another party’s note of the proceedings.

As from 6 July 2020, parties to applications for financial remedies in the course of  matrimonial proceedings will have to comply with strict rules aimed at getting faster settlements and keeping costs under control. Each party must send to the court and the other party an open proposal for settlement after any financial dispute resolution appointment has failed to procure a settlement and usually within 21 days of that appointment.

Also from 6 July 2020, there is a toughening of the procedure for telling the court and the other side how much each party has so far spent on the case. These costs estimates will need to be sent to the court and the other side no later than one day before every hearing in a financial case (and a copy taken along to the court for the hearing), be verified by a statement of truth in the form which will be specified in the practice direction and there will be a special one for litigants in person. And, where the party has a solicitor, they must discuss the estimate  with the client  (although there is no obligation on the solicitor to have a bottle of smelling salts available in case the client passes out with shock).

You'll find lots and lots about financial cases and how to handle them in my book Breaking Law.

Nikah Divorce Defeat

The Court of Appeal has just scuppered the chance of thousands of Muslim women who have gone through an Islamic faith marriage without a civil ceremony, using the divorce laws of England and Wales to obtain financial remedies such as maintenance, property transfers and pension shares. For the background to the case see http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/search/label/Nikah%20ceremonies

In overturning a bold and groundbreaking High Court decision, the appeal court has ruled that the Nikah religious ceremony did not satisfy legal requirements to qualify for recognition as a marriage in the divorce courts of England and Wales.

For those with a Nikah but no civil ceremony whose marriage has broken down, there are the Sharia courts to whom they can go for an Islamic divorce but such financial protection as might be available to them from following this course is likely to be inferior to what would have been available had the High Court decision been upheld. But the law which is available to cohabitees in England and Wales who have never married but have lived with their partners in a property which is in their joint names or solely in the name of the partner will be available. Breaking Law spells out what is legally possible. 

Financial Orders On Divorce etc: Cheap Route to Getting Paperwork Done

Wanting to save legal costs on the preparation of a court order setting out what has been   agreed on property and money between you and your spouse or civil partner when the relationship has come to an end and there has been a divorce or dissolution.?  I looked at DIY orders and other ways of dealing with the situation at
                 http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/search/label/financial%20remedies

There is a danger with a DIY job, as I have explained. And there is also a danger in one side not obtaining independent expert advice on the proposed order, as I have explained. But what about a cheap job from a non-lawyer or from a solicitor with either of them acting for both sides? In a simple case, this may now be possible as a result of a recent High Court decision in a called JK v MK and another [2020] EWFC 2. Whether this is possible will depend on whether, in each case, there is a conflict of interest between the parties.

In the High Court case, a divorcing couple paid £300 to  amicable (with a small a), a commercial firm which accepted instructions from them both to draft the order and associated documentation where the couple were in complete agreement with what they wanted the court to do and their financial positions were straightforward. amicable concluded that there was no conflict of interest. And so did the court which meant it was prepared to make the order as the couple asked and on the strength of amicable's paperwork. There are other non-lawyer commercial firms in the market who perform a similar service to amicable and applying the same sort of model. 

Of course, you may prefer to go to a solicitor to deal with joint instructions from you both. In a straightforward situation and with the comfort of this recent High Court decision, some solicitors may now be prepared to do the necessary on joint instructions. Unlike non-lawyer commercial organisations, they are bound by strict rules imposed by their regulators. The solicitors’ code of conduct specifically permits them to act for clients jointly where the clients have a substantially common interest in relation to the matter or the aspect of it, or where they are competing for the same objective.

I fancy that in the majority of cases there will be a conflict of interest where no solicitor or no non-lawyer commercial organisation should be acting for both sides. But, in the minority of cases, this will be okay and money can be saved.

For much, much more on finances after relationship breakdown, divorce and civil partnership dissolution, grab a copy of my book Breaking Law. Or buy one!

Matrimonial Finance Cases: New Costs Rule

• 'Please be sensible and talk to me about the matrimonial finances.'
• 'Go to hell.'
• 'If you carry on like that, I'm going to court, not hell.'
• 'Bitch.'
• 'You attitude is going to mean big lawyers' fees for us both and that can only reduce what is available to be shared.'
• 'Bitch.'

Four months later

• 'We're in court in three weeks. My lawyers have sent you my proposals for settlement and you've torn the letter into small pieces and returned it to them. Not even a stamp on the envelope. Be sensible and accept the proposals or let me know how you suggest we settle. Please, please, please negotiate.'
• 'I don't negotiate with bitches.'

Whether it's a divorce, nullity, civil partnership dissolution or separation,  there is a near certainty that there will be finances to be sorted out and nothing in the proposed matrimonial reforms will change that. If the couple can reach an agreement about who is to get what in terms of capital and income, then the court can be asked to make a consent order which incorporates what has been agreed. Provided the agreement is within the range of what the court would regard as fair if it had to decide on the split, the order will be made. Probably no court attendances necessary and no crippling lawyers' fees or just a modest bill.

Many cases fail to settle because one of the parties is intransigent, bloody-minded or just refuses or neglects to engage in attempts to settle through negotiation. If you are involved in matrimonial finance proceedings and you recognise that attitude in your partner then your armoury has been strengthened by a legal change which came into effect on 27 May 2019. 

'My dear partner, do take a look at the Family Procedure Rules 2010 Practice Direction 28A. It's been amended with you in mind. If you don't start openly negotiating with me and fast, my lawyers will be asking the court to order you to pay my legal costs - so put that in your pipe and smoke it.'

The legal change covering England and Wales means this. Although the general rule is that in matrimonial finance cases, each party picks up their own legal bill, this rule can be ditched by the judge when this is justified. And now, when deciding whether to ditch the rule and order one party to pay the legal bill of their partner,  the court is to take a broad view of the conduct of that other party. It will generally decide on a ditching if the other party has refused to openly negotiate in a reasonable and responsible way.  

A party who fails to engage in open proposals and counter-proposals, openly offers peanuts or openly refuses manifestly fair offers could now be in costs conduct trouble. Making protected proposals which cannot be shown to the judge if there is a contested hearing - Calderbank communications the lawyers call them - will not get them off the hook. 

For much much more on dealing with matrimonial finances cases, treat yourself to a copy of my book Breaking Law.