Alison Hawes: Courts will lose vital flexibility if family law becomes formulaic

The introduction of a formula to bring consistency to how divorce cases are handled in the English courts could mean some of the ability for judges to base rulings on the individual circumstances of each case are lost.

A public consultation has been launched by the Law Commission to consider how financial issues should be treated during the separation process looking specifically at:
  -   The extent to which one spouse should be required to meet the other's needs as well as what is meant by needs;
  -   How property owned by one of the partners before the relationship or acquired during it should be treated during the divorce process.

Due to run until December the consultation is also asking for views on whether the introduction of a formula to work out divorce settlements could prove beneficial.

It is vital that care is taken with plans to introduce such...

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