Virtual Conference – Family Law Update 2020 – Recorded 19th October

KEY SUBJECTS

• FINANCIAL REMEDY – CASE LAW UPDATE
• FINANCIAL REMEDY – PRACTICE AND PROCEDURAL UPDATE
• PENSION UPDATE
• UNDERTAKINGS IN FINANCIAL REMEDY PROCEEDINGS
• PRIVATE CHILDREN LAW – RECENT CASE LAW AND DEVELOPMENT
• THE END OF EU LAWS: WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING BEFORE NEW YEAR’S EVE AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT MY PRACTICE?

SPEAKERS

Lucy Loizou, Partner, The International Family Law Group LLP

Marc Saunderson, Partner, Mills & Reeve LLP

Mena Ruparel MCIArb Solicitor, Arbitrator and Trainer

Safda Mahmood, Solicitor, Author and Lecturer

David Hodson OBE, Partner, The International Family Law Group LLP, Deputy District Judge at the Central Family Court

PROGRAMME

9.30am CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

FINANCIAL REMEDY UPDATE

These two comprehensive talks on financial remedy update will provide a clear analysis of the developments in the law over the last 12 months. The focus will be on case law, procedure and practice which can be applied to the day to day running of cases.

FINANCIAL REMEDY – CASE LAW UPDATE

• Practical considerations for financial remedy cases during/post COVID 19
• Spousal maintenance update to include joint lives orders, term orders, clean break and quantum
• Categorization of Assets
• Interim Applications
• Unusual issues in financial remedy cases

Lucy Loizou, Partner, The International Family Law Group LLP

FINANCIAL REMEDY – PRACTICE AND PROCEDURAL UPDATE

• Online Divorce Update
• Calderbank Consultation
• No fault divorce
• Reporting in the Family Courts
• Missing Decree Absolute Certificates
• Other Topical Practice and Procedural updates

Marc Saunderson, Partner, Mills & Reeve LLP

PENSION UPDATE

This talk will address the issue of how to deal with pension cases after the publication of the Pension Advisory Group (PAG) report and will highlight important parts of the report, how practitioners should be implementing it and those sections to pay particular attention to.

• Looking at pensions practice and procedure following Covid 19
• Considering the recent case of W v H (divorce financial remedies) [2020] EWFC B10 with reference to pension sharing v offsetting; ring fencing premarital pension contributions and whether to use capital or income values to divide pensions
• Essential action points
• Computation of pension assets and methods of division
• The treatment of pensions in needs based cases
• The treatment of pensions in sharing cases
• Dealing with pensions fairly on divorce
• Pension offsetting

Mena Ruparel MCIArb Solicitor, Arbitrator and Trainer

UNDERTAKINGS IN FINANCIAL REMEDY PROCEEDINGS

Undertakings are commonly used in financial remedy proceedings and have been the subject of much judicial scrutiny in the past few years. This talk will look at the recent cases in which undertakings have been successfully varied as a result of an application by the person giving the undertaking, starting with the Supreme Court decision in Birch v Birch [2017] UKSC 53. This talk will also look at the changes to the way that undertakings are drafted and enforced in the Family Court.

• Practical considerations for financial remedy cases during/post COVID 19
• Where are we following the decision of Birch?
• The case of A v A [2018] EWHC 340, will this change the way that undertakings are given?
• Viable alternatives to giving undertakings – are there any?
• The standard order precedents approach to undertakings
• CH v WH [2017] EWHC 2379 – Mostyn J’s last word on the drafting of undertakings using the standard order precedents
• The enforcement of undertakings

Mena Ruparel MCIArb Solicitor, Arbitrator and Trainer

PRIVATE CHILDREN LAW – RECENT CASE LAW AND DEVELOPMENT

This talk will aim to provide an update on recent developments and the following topics will be discussed:

• Proposed Review of the Child Arrangements Programme
• Intractable Contact Disputes – Options Available
• Parental Alienation and “Short-term pain versus Long-term gain”
• Domestic Abuse Bill and Fact Findings
• Party Status and Representation of Special Guardians: Consideration of Re P-S and Subsequent Developments

Safda Mahmood, Solicitor, Author and Lecturer

THE END OF EU LAWS: WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING BEFORE NEW YEAR’S EVE AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT MY PRACTICE?

EU laws come to an end at 11 PM on 31 December 2020.  If a lawyer may wish to rely on EU family laws now or over the next 20 years or so, during the minority of any child or whilst child or spousal maintenance is payable, proceedings must be issued this year.  From 1 January 2021, there are new laws e.g. regarding divorce jurisdiction in all national cases.

Every practitioner now has clients with some connections abroad.  This very timely seminar, with just 10 weeks to go, will cover what lawyers should do, in which cases they should be issuing proceedings, when they should be delaying until January and what they should be advising their clients.

It will cover:

• Divorce jurisdiction, forum with the race to court, recognition around Europe and the new jurisdiction and forum law from 1 January 2021
• Children arrangements including child abduction, recognition of orders, contact arrangements and new jurisdiction for Sch 1 claims
• Maintenance, needs-based claims as to jurisdiction, forum, recognition and enforcement, variation, specifically claims to be made before the end of the year and those which should be better put off until January
• Other changes such as recognition of domestic violence orders and foreign service

David Hodson OBE, Partner, The International Family Law Group LLP, Deputy District Judge at the Central Family Court

5.00 pm CLOSE OF PROCEEDINGS   

 

Sponsors