Family Law

Katharine Landells

Solicitor, Withers LLP

In his article ‘A Judicial Safari tour of Ancillary Relief: J v J' published in October [2010] Fam Law 1111, Ashley Murray set himself the task of digesting and summarising Mr Justice Charles's judgment in the case of J v J [2009] EWHC 2654 (Fam), [2011] 1 FLR (forthcoming). What he described as the challenge of a lifetime was also the task that faced the Court of Appeal when they heard the case in November last year. Lord Justice Wilson's criticism of Charles J's judgment was less restrained than Mr Murray's when he described it as ‘far too long, too discursive and too unwieldy'. In characteristic voice, Wilson LJ went on to say that he refused to accept that modern principles of ancillary relief were as complex as the judgment given by Charles J would seem to imply.

The decision in Jones v Jones is an important one as far as the treatment of pre-marital or inherited assets is concerned. This article will discuss the decision of the Court of Appeal and examine the principles that can be extracted from it.

To read the rest of this article, see April [2011] Family Law journal.

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